Operation Plumbbob 1957
US Atomic Veterans
Robert Pitts
Robert Pitts sent email about his duty at Operation Plumbbob
From: "Pitts, Bob" BPitts@nucor-yamato.com
To: Keith pdxavets@aracnet.com
Subject: RE: Atomic Veteran (Operation Plumbbob)
Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2000
I was in the Marines used for security stationed on a Navy Sea Bee base. Our
duties required top secret clearances and assigned to Armed Forces Special
Weapons Project and as I remember as apart of the AEC. Lake Mead was AFSWP
munitions storage depot. We received cargo from incoming C-124's taxied
out to our secured Air Head. We preformed armed lock and load security
inside LMB and for convoys coming out to designated test areas north of Las
Vegas. There was a lot of deception in security. Some was real and some was
fake. All we knew that all of it was real. I was never in the MLR trenches.
But observed from a farther distance.
As my memory serves me, "Plumbbob" was the most publicized test series
especially after the shot "Hood". We were warned on liberty to keep shut. If
you were in and around Vegas you were warned, as we were, that it was full of
KGB. However the press knew more about what was going on than we did. I
understand our old LMB is now a federal prison of some kind.
I did witness most all of the "Plumbbob" testing. "Hood" was the one I
remember because it was the largest above ground test on the US Continent. This one lit up the desert like gigantic spotlight brighter than the sun. A week before and
sometime after you would see a lot of Army Airborne, Marines and even some
Canadians in uniform in Vegas.
We were told in all the training we had that even though we have the big
bomb that troops would still have to occupy. I am not the most intelligent
Marine but I knew that there was nothing left there anywhere close to ground
zero to occupy.
I am 63 now and healthy except for a low thyroid regulated with medication.
My wife and one of my daughters have this problem and it seemed to occur in
each of our cases between 36 and 40 years of age. Low thyroid is not
uncommon from the Arkansas River Valley. There is an Arkansas Nuclear One
power plant in Russellville, AR. I once worked there for a short time. When
people who were in hot areas went through the detectors and people went
static, then they would strip you down and get scrubbed until you were
clean. A & B particles ingested in lungs, stomach or skin can eventually
kill you according to Entergy. And too many gamma rays will also harm you.
Nothing will stop all the gamma rays not even lead. Everyone knows that now.
And a lot of people knew it then.
During 1956 through 1958
when I was stationed at LMB, Las Vegas was only a population of about 50,000
people. A small town community except for the influx of tourist gambling.
All the Atomic Bomb Testing during this time was highly publicized. The
local radio stations interrupt our rock and roll radio stations for a live
countdown until the blast. They would interrupt Elvis, Pat Boon, Little
Richard and all the other rock n rollers and songs of the day and give a
report like, "10 minutes to zero" and so on they announce " minus 60 seconds
to zero and so on. The start the seconds count at 20 seconds and down. Some
of the people civilian and military would get up as early as necessary to
see the test from their front yards etc.
All my respect to the soldiers and marines in the MLR trenches, that had to
maneuver around and to ground zero.
Robert L Pitts
Blytheville, AR
Email: BPitts@nucor-yamato.com
Keith Whittle
September 22, 2000
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