Bob Noonan sent email about his service at Operation Dominic 1.
From: "Noonan" bobandjoan@rcn.com
To: pdxavets@aracnet.com
Subject: Msg to the Originals, A.K.A Pioneers of Weapons Test "Participants" at PPG
Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2002
I'm Bob Noonan of Boston/now of its western suburbs, one of the "newer" members of the men ( and I can say that due to no females allowed, unlike current time) that contributed time and talent to Christmas and Johnston "activities".
My employer was E G & G-Boston and my mentor was Ed Tucker of R.I. who had been there with the first groups. My son ,now 37 relates how he saw me off to travel via a Helo from the local motel parking lot. Looking back that was the most life-threatening part of the trip!
As I read Bill Searle I wanted to get to you to let you guys know what contributions you made for the U.S.A. We had it made on Johnston, given the three-story concrete "hotel" complete with the ever-burning 100 watt lamp in the clothes closet to ward off mildew.
Christmas was unlike Johnston for living conditions, and on one occasion, I was touring and came across the "KAPU" signs, and to be told not to disturb the coral dust. Could the above island blasts have taken the above water matter right down to sea level? I heard the Brits suspended the device below barrage balloons ( WWII-surplus) on a 2,000 meter tether, do you recall hearing / seeing that?.
My times out there were "62-65" until John Kennedy signed the test-ban treaty. Got to do some underground at Carlsbad and Hattiesburg MS also.
Some parallels come to mind from Bill's message as one evening one of our newlywed Engineers tried to drive a jeep ( discarded from U.S.M.C. so you know it wasn't safe at any speed, or gear for that matter ) home to Boston.
My role at Christmas was to ride the C-130 as a photo-data collection platform for fireball growth analysis back at LRL-LASL, Kirtland AFB. Shake, rattle and / roll but that aircraft really stood up to the test (at blast altitude).
We had a Russian "fishing boat" cruising on the edge of the restricted area so steps were taken to minimize their ability to gather data. Well, compared to you guys we really had it made, and I should have stayed in the shade but my cancer is only from local sun.
Closing, please accept my thanks for what you do and did for our country. What was the line" Never have so many......
Best regards to all your colleagues, past and present.
Bob Noonan
Email: bobandjoan@rcn.com
From: "Noonan" bobandjoan@rcn.com
To: "Keith" pdxavets@aracnet.com
Subject: Re: Msg to the Originals,
Date: Tue, 8 Jan 2002
Ah, for the day we shut down US Route 66. At EG&G I WAS the test readiness dept. The corporation (EG&E) had to comply with AEC demands to be set to resume with minimun notice!
I began in June (at 69 years I've blocked out the year I started) and my role was to recondition the old gear returned from you guys,after the rad safety team said it had cooled off! No joke. The egg gear to record yield using em wave and photocell light level. After playing with them for three months I got to make a dozen from thirty odd units.Back to the ?, I was in the Timing and Firing Group, so after (at Carlsbad) I got to go down in the cage 2,000 feet to the bottom of the shaft to set up our measurement station. The Bureau of Mines AND the Public Health Service were very nervous about that "elevator".
Did you ride the 2M 50S drop. If you did do you recall how you couldn't grab the chicken wire to steady yourself as it bumped down the rails (now the rails were 4X4 heavily greased) well anyway one of the REECO (Reynolds Electrical) supers told me the plugs on the ends of the were mounted wrong and would blow at blast pressure.
Do you recall the radioactive steam shooting across ground zero from the air intake AND the exhaust ducts? And how come when I went in to recover test data with the rad safety on the fender of their pickup, LIFE magazines' photographer was leaving the area on foot----no throwaway suit, no boots with the duct tape at the cuff, mask or gloves. Wonder where he is now.
Remember the calibration pile of HE next to the CP trailer, my job was to fire it off 60 seconds AFTER the blast? Well what a shock inside the trailer when it let go. Who would ever think that the earth excursion would heave up to jolt the railroad relay into contact closure and "you know the rest of the story" and this chapter end as it began......Route 66 traffic holds for the end of the "hot" steam. Great to have power, even though it was taxpayers $ that was the bottom line. Got to leave the reminiscences to be continued..............enjoy recalling the fruits of my labors.
Best regards
Bob Noonan
Email: bobandjoan@rcn.com
Keith Whittle
January 8, 2002
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