Operation Crossroads
US Atomic Veterans
Glen Pense
From: "Glen Pense" glen224@sinfo.net
To: "Keith" pdxavets@aracnet.com
Subject: Operation Crossroads
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 2000
To: Keith: Atomic Bomb Veterans
From: Glen Pense
Colon, Republic of Panama
Date: 01/08/00
Subject: Story of my experiences at: OPERATION CROSSROADS
Here is my story about Operation Crossroads. I can close my eyes and see it before me, just like it had happened yesterday and not more than 54 years ago. My mind is still sharp as a razor (even at 74). I never again want to live through such a thing. I went through hell in the war, but was never as scared as I was at Bikini Atoll. It was September 1945, and I had just returned from overseas after two years in the Pacific Theater of War. Sailed from the Solomon Islands to Okinawa, during some of the heaviest fighting.
I was reassigned to the USS Gendreau (DD) and sailed to Pearl Harbor
in late December 1945. We spent most of the new year 1946 in and around Pearl. During a freak accident, I fell and broke my left wrist and was sent to the Navy Hospital in Honolulu for treatment. During this time, my ship sailed without me. I was then reassigned to the USS Wilson (DD 408) in 03 May 1946, my arm still in a cast.
Aboard the Wilson, it was not announced that we were going to Bikini Atoll for Atomic Bomb tests. In fact we were told nothing about our assignment.
In late May 1946, the Wilson arrived at Bikini Atoll. I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw all those ships in the harbor, looked like we were getting ready for another invasion.. The harbor was full of all kinds of ships, Battleships, Cruisers, light and heavy, Aircraft carriers, Destroyers and many of them were former Allied and even Axis ships, German and Japanese.
All Hands were told shortly after our arrival what was going on and what was going to happen. We were going to be involved in two Atomic Bomb tests. This would be only the fourth and fifth atomic bombs dropped in the world. None of us were very excited about this assignment. Bikini Atoll was the gloomiest place on earth.
All Hands were told we were in Operation Crossroads and two bombs would be dropped, one called the Able test and the other one called the Baker test.
I remember the Wilson moved out of the lagoon, about 10 miles. We were told the first test, Able would start early 01 July 1946.
All Hands assembled on deck and were told to find a place to sit, cover our eyes with our arms and turn away from the blast.
I remember, the PA system started a countdown, 10,9 down to zero. You could hear a leaf fall, nothing, no noise at all. Then suddenly a couple of minutes later, a blast of hot air hit the ship and the waves rolled the ship from side to side. The blast of air was very hot and then just as suddenly we heard this god-awful sound. We all ran to the side of the ship and looked towards the lagoon. My heart jumped into my throat. All I could think was, this has to be a nightmare, and god I hope I am dreaming and wake up soon. I could see this giant fireball speeding higher and higher into the sky, going like a bat out of hell.
In fact that is what it reminded me of, what hell really must look like if there is such a place. Much later we could see that many of the ships had been sunk and or badly damaged. The Wilson steamed back into the lagoon later the next day and we saw some dead animals on the ships, and a lot of damage to the ships. More damage than was ever told to the press or anyone. It looked like the end of the world to me.
We saw ships going back and forth into the lagoon and looking at the damaged ships and putting men aboard these damaged ships. The Wilson went into the lagoon as close as 3 miles, I estimate. I for one did not relish the idea of going anywhere near the damaged ships or the lagoon. We just kept sailing all around the area. Never did find out what we were supposed to be doing.
Then in late July 1946, we got ready for the Baker Test, which they told us would be exploded under the sea. This time we didn’t have to cover our eyes or turn our backs to the blast. Same type of countdown and then this huge billowing mushroom of white smoke (which we found out later, was thousands of tons of water) many seconds later we heard the loud explosion, it was all powerful. Aboard ship we could feel a tidal wave, it shook the ship back and forth, it was scary. None of us rushed this time to the sides of the ship, we took our time. After sometime this tremendous gusher of water subsided, we noticed more damage to the ships, many ships were gone, sunk immediately. By now the entire crew and officers were getting anxious to get the hell out of this area. Even the Captain came on the PA and announced we might be going home soon, thank God, he said.
However, we stayed for sometime. When we finally received our sailing orders, I remember a loud cheer went up and everyone was smiling from ear to ear. We had just been granted an exit from hell.
When I returned to the States, I was told that, Walter Winchell, a famous radio newscaster at the time, had claimed all the people involved in Operation Crossroads would be dead within eighteen months from radiation poisoning. This made me very uneasy for many years.
I will never forget my experience, even now 54 years later. Even to this day, I believe that all hands aboard the USS Wilson were exposed to severe radiation. Many of my shipmates have probably died of cancer caused by our exposure to radiation. I have since heard that more than half of the 42,000 men who took part in Operation Crossroads are now dead and 1,000 die each day. Thank God I have not been affected with any cancer, yet. I was told sometime in 1950, that the USS Wilson was used as a target ship during Operations Crossroads. That is news to me, since I served aboard the ship for almost a year. If the Wilson was a target ship, then me and the entire crew was not aware of it. As I have said in my story, we did sail into the lagoon several times, as close as 3 miles from the bomb drop zone. Why we did this I never knew.
Glen Pense
glen224@sinfo.net
--Keith Whittle
August 7, 2000
Operation Crossroads