Nuell W. (Bill) Paschal
From: "sue paschal" paschal@starband.net
To: "Keith" pdxavets@aracnet.com
Subject: Fall River
Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003
Department of Veterans Affairs
Regional Office
1600 E. Woodrow Wilson Ave.
Jackson, MS 39216-5102
October 15, 2003
Dear Members of the Committee,
My name is Nuell W. Paschal USN 3590232. I was quartermaster aboard the USS Fall River CA131 engaged in Task Force One, Operation Crossroads, in the Marshall Islands, Bikini Atoll, 1946. I was one of 42,000 healthy young men who were used as human guinea pigs for this test. I am now 75 years old, one of only 15% left out of the original 42,000. It has been almost 60 years since the blasts and I am just learning the true extent of the damage to my body these tests caused.
I grew up in Stout, Texas during the "Dust Bowl" and the remainder of the Great Depression. My father was a veteran of WWI, totally disabled after being shot through the stomach. Against my fathers wishes my grandmother signed the papers for me to join the Navy. At the age of 17, I hitch-hiked to Tyler, Texas and was sent to San Diego, California to boot camp.
After basic training I was loaded on the USS War Hawk, in San Francisco and sent to the South Pacific to Aeia Heights where we were transferred to Camp Catlin, a marine base where we underwent intensive quartermaster training for six weeks. We were given "Q" clearances and promoted to SIC {QM Striker}. During my training much time was spent learning to use the sextant to take azimuths, to measure the angle between heavenly bodies and the horizon to determine their height. I did not know I was training to participate in an atomic bomb test with Task Force One, for which my ship was to be the flag ship, USS Fall River. We proceeded to the Marshall Islands, Bikini Atoll to be exact and trained for the exercise for a month or so.
We were never told about radiation. Such complete secrecy surrounded us with our "Q" clearances and known consequences of breaking security oaths that we did not ask questions or even talk among ourselves of the risks. In my case I only learned of the declassification and the "openness law" about three years ago.
"D" day came at 8AM on July1, 1946. I was assigned to Mr. Clair Beaumont, artist for Life Magazine. I took measurements for him and marked them every 15 seconds. There was an explosion at 2000 feet, 12,000 feet, and 25,000 feet. The cloud rose to about 42,000 feet in 1 ½ minutes! We had no protective equipment for this test. I was given a pair of dark glasses and ordered to watch for the initial flash, take them off immediately and take azimuths.
The heat wave and fall-out could easily be felt where we were positioned on the East side of the blast. We were anchored 7.8 miles from ground zero. Given the 1500 hundred extra yards where the fly boys missed their target and dropped closer to us, this is closer than the 10 miles that has been reported. We immediately went into the lagoon to access the damage to ships and measure their angles in the water to determine the impact of the explosion. The most noteworthy ship was the Nevada which had been painted red and was supposed to be the target but was missed by 1500 yards. It was fitted with two tri-pod masts, one forward housing the bridge and navigation, and one aft which was a conning tower. These were held up with 16 inch steel posts, and in seconds the heat had melted them like wet noodles and the masts collapsed onto the bridge. On the ships decks we had placed all sorts of animals and fowl and they were a pitiful sight.
This was the end of Able so we had nearly a month to finish assessing the damage and to train for the Baker blast. We did our daily work which included scrubbing down the radioactive ships with radioactive water. We had several beach parties on Bikini, in which we were supplied plenty of 3.2 beer, swam in the radioactive water, we drank the radioactive water, walked barefoot on the radioactive sand and slept on the radioactive ships.
On July 25, 1946, the Baker bomb went off as scheduled. The bomb was suspended 90 feet under one of the concrete barges. This is the blast about which there has been so much controversy. I am convinced the government did not want the world to know how awful this bomb really was, indeed did not realize just how much until after the blast. When the bomb went off in the lagoon the wall of water was ¾ mile wide and rose to 15,000 feet in a few seconds. It blew the entire aircraft carrier Saratoga 2200 feet into the air where it broke in two pieces at the bridge then fell bow down and stern down and slowly sank. I know for a fact that this happened because I took the azimuths of it. In seconds the column of water rose three miles in altitude. A thick fog rolled toward us as the column fell. I have now learned that this "Base Surge" was highly radioactive. Only a few days after this blast, I became deathly ill and was transferred to the hospital ship, Benevolence, by long line. I was there for 21 days and lost from 165 pounds down to 121. I was unconscious for 15 of these days and when I came to I could not walk, and had to learn all over again. I was given injections of something I had never heard of and I was raised in the house with a doctor. I was told I had Malaria. I now know what I had was sickness from radiation exposure. I realize now the health problems I have had since were caused. by this exposure.
I was sent back to the USS Fall River a couple days after my 18th birthday, August 16, 1946. Ironically this was the day after the entire operation was called off because of the deadly radiation levels and the third test, "Charlie" was canceled.
We arrived back in the United States around November 7, 1946. We took this huge cruiser up the Columbia River for a Navy Day show off. After this we were sent to Terminal Island, San Pedro, California, where I was mustered out on a hardship release but was not discharged until 1951. My blood pressure was so high they had to keep me for two weeks on medication and R&R. This has plagued me all my life since and has been the cause of the health problems I have had, including a quadruple coronary by pass and a stroke which claimed 1/3 of my vision in both eyes.
Although I was initially told that my medical records could not be found, they were then sent to me in 2000. My records show that upon entering the Navy, I was in perfect health but only 1year and 4 months later the records show 3 fractures, fractured hips, and Malaria, along with a notation no records of this could be found in H.R. They did admit to a definite loss of hearing. However my blood pressure numbers showed lower than when I went in!
I have prostate cancer which was diagnosed nearly two years ago, and was treated with hormones and radiation therapy. I am still having severe problems from the effects of the radiation therapy and am now told that my earlier exposure to the radiation from the atomic bombs definitely has a bearing on this. My cancer has returned and they are telling me I have to go through treatment again. I have had severe pain in my back and hips for years but since having the radiation therapy, I have unbearable pain in my legs as well. I take pain pills daily. Again I am told side effects from radiation therapy. I am totally disabled and depend on my wife for most of my daily care and to drive me to my VA appointments. She is at risk of losing her job because of missing so much work. I live entirely off my social security and we must have her income.
I filed for pension in 2000 and was told none of my problems were service related and they could find no records. I filed again in October, 2001, a claim for my cancer and I have been put off by red tape and finally got a response on August 16, 2003, from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency that they "are in the process of modifying their radiation dose reconstruction program in accordance with recommendations made by the National academy of Sciences. THEREFORE IT MAY TAKE UP TO SIX MONTHS TO COMPLETE THEIR RESPONSE".
Now we come to a very sore spot, the Radiation Reconstruction Program. I cannot believe the government is using this as an excuse to cut a few more poor souls out of what is due them. There is enough information since the Openness Act, and enough new laws in the making to charge that this is just another stall tactic put in place. Wait long enough and everyone will be dead. You cannot reconstruct where the radiation was most concentrated or who stood in it more, etc. and the government knows this. The Navy de-commissioned and dismantled the battle-cruiser that I served on because it was too radioactive to serve; this ship was only 3 years old. The fact this multi billion dollar ship was de-commissioned after 3 years of service should be all that is needed to state my case! The bow portion stands today at the entrance to Battleship Cove in Fall River, Massachusetts. It "remains as a testament to those brave sailors who fought for our country from aboard her decks".
I am a proud man, I was proud to be in the Navy. Our government should be ashamed of itself for forcing people who are already suffering to go through this red tape. Our government should be ashamed of itself for making people beg for compensation that should have been readily offered. The government has names of the enrolled men that served, we should not have to do the research and write the letters. That was not what I signed up for. I believed in my country, I believed that the United States of America took care of its servicemen. My beliefs have been shattered.
I am totally disabled and need the compensation that is due me. I never asked the government for anything until I started using the Veterans Hospital in June of 2000 when my insurance was cancelled and I could no longer pay for medical care. I MAY NOT HAVE 6 MONTHS TO WAIT. I would appreciate your considering the suffering I continue to have, and expedite this matter.
Sincerely,
Nuell William Paschal
Carthage, MS
Email:paschal@starband.net
[ Operation Crossroads ]