Operation Hardtack 1
1958
US Atomic Veterans
Bill Simonton
Bill Simonton sent this email about his Air Force duty on Eniwetok
From: "Bill Simonton"simontonb@tsf.net
To: pdxavets@aracnet.com
Subject: Eniwetok
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1998
I was stationed in Eniwetok From January 1958 to December 1958. I was an aircraft electrician.
Our group was exposed to the radiation during the tests that year. The shot that we received the fallout from on the 14th of May was detonated at Bikini 2 days before on the 12th. All the shots were named after trees. The largest one caused a tidal wave to come over our island. It was quite a sight.
I haven't received any correspondence from the Nuclear Dept. or the Air Force since 1984. I would be glad to hear from anyone that has any knowledge about this . I would like to hear more about how things looked when you were there.
William (Bill) Simonton
Email: simontonb@tsf.net
To: "Keith" pdxavets@aracnet.com
Subject: wetok
Date: Fri, 1 Jan 1999
Hi Keith,
I was with the 4951st Support Squadron at Eniwetok. I also went to Bikini about once a month to work on a our planes there. It was a treat to go there just for the food. They had ( AEC ) cooks at Bikini and they seemed to do a better job than the Army cooks at Eniwetok.It was also nice to see some trees at Bikini. If my memory serves me, we only had 2 trees at Eniwetok. Once in awhile I would fly over to Parry Island to work on a little plane. That only took about 15 minutes to get over there. They had trees too.
I didn't know that I had received any fallout until several years later. Some of my friends saw a bulletin on T.V. about anyone that was involved in the nuclear tests should get in contact with the Nuclear Agency. They had a phone number on T.V. for people to call. After I finally got in contact with them , I started getting a lot of mail from them with questions about my military time at Eniwetok and about my health. I am almost 60 years old now and to my knowledge I haven't had any health problems related to the radiation exposure.
I remember when we were going to have a big shot such as ( OAK ) we would have to put on our long pants and long sleeved shirts. We would take the sheet off of our bunks and cover ourselves with it. That was our protection from the terrific light from the blast. They did tell us ahead of time that the waves would come up on the island. I can remember feeling like I had been put in a huge oven . Then they would tell us over a loud speaker that we could take the sheet off and look at the mushroom cloud. That was quite a sight.
I would really like to have the Hardtack videos. I will be glad to pay for them. Please send me the information as to where to send the check.
I have had some time to read some of the articles from the other people involved. Thanks again for all the information. It brings back a lot of memories.
William (Bill) Simonton
Email: simontonb@tsf.net
Keith Whittle
January 1, 1999
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