Hiroshima
1945
U.S. Atomic Veterans
Walter Petreyko
From: "imaant" imaant@charter.net
To: pdxavets@aracnet.com
Subject: atomic radiation exposure
Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001
Hi ,
I ran across your web page and I am interested in getting more information. I was in Japan shortly after the occupation began and I vividly recall the terrible result
of the bomb on Hiroshima. It was a weekend pass that
I was on. I can remember walking across the ground zero that was fused together like glass. The only souvenier I brought back from the site was a painted silk cloth that had a scene that reminds one of burning trees. There were no restrictions on entering the area. Many G.I.s made the same visit. Is it possible that we were exposed to a problem. Has there been any activity relating to this kind of situation at the V.A.????????
I do not recall the ship that brought me to Yokahama Japan. I was assigned
to the Red Cross as an entertainment director and coordinated the USO shows
that came into Zama a replacement depot. Later I was
sent to the Osaka area where I was assigned to run the PX. As you can see I
fell into some pretty good assignments that enabled me to have access to a
jeep
which I used on my passes and trips.
A buddy and I decided to go to
Hiroshima, like many other GIs. I will always remember the strange feeling
of walking across fused ground. The utter nakedness of the area. The
suffering people , still bandaged so many months after the blast. There were
no restrictions...we were able to walk about...no one bothered us ... there
were M.P.s around who may have been stationed there.
I was in the 4th Infantry and later in the 27th Infantry.
Walter Petreyko
imaant@charter.net
--Keith Whittle
September 26, 2001