Operation Dominic 1962
US Atomic Veterans
Frank Oberg
Frank Oberg sent email about his duty at Operation Dominic
From: "Frank A. Oberg" fmoberg@frontiernet.net
To: pdxavets@aracnet.com
Subject: Operation Dominic I
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2002
I was on the USS Newell (DER 322) during the testing. I was an ETN2. I
still have my certificate from that operation. I remember being in port
at Pearl Harbor when on of the rocket tests was conducted. All of the
night sky in Oahu lit up and changed different colors. I don't remember
the sequence but I recall the sky was orange, red , and a greenish
color. It was quite a sight.
We did observe a couple of detonations at sea while we were in the
vicinity of the test area. I looked at the maps in your website showing
various ship positions and don't see Newell there. I notice some of the
squadron's sister ships ...Falgout, Lansing etc. I don't know why Newell
isn't shown. I can recall being on the O1 deck with my head buried in
the crook of my arm until the Captain gave us the "okay" to look after
the detonation. Some of the on watch crew were able to view the
explosion through special eye protection lens. I remember every crewman
had to wear two different "dosimeters" which measured the amount of
radiation we were exposed too during the tests.
I would be interested in seeing any maps that depicted the Newell's
position within the test area. Unfortunately I was not a diary keeper so
I didn't record exact dates of Newell's participation.
Regards,
Frank Oberg
ETN2
Email: fmoberg@frontiernet.net
Keith Whittle
March 25, 2002
[ OperationDominic ]