Operation Crossroads
US Atomic Veterans
Marvin Van Sickle
To: pdxavets@aracnet.com
Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2000
Subject: Operation Crossroads
From: Marvin A Van Sickle mvans_50125@juno.com
I was a 17 year old seaman second (quartermaster
striker) on the staff of Adm. C. A. F. Sprague aboard the USS Shangri La
(CV 38) for both the Able and Baker blasts.
I will put together some remembrances and send them to you. After
that many years, some of the remembrances may be fiction. Memories
change. I used stories about Operations Crossroads and other experiences
in the navy in my teaching for many years and I'm sure I embellished them
somewhat. Fact and fiction tend to blend.
Thanks.
Hi, Keith--
Here are some remembrances of Operation Crossroads. Wow! Fifty-four
years ago!
I completed a sixteen-week quartermaster (and signalman)school in
Gulfport, Mississippi about Easter, 1946. I went back to Iowa for leave
then to Treasure Island, CA for transfer to my assigned duty. I was
taken aboard one of the "President" troop-carrying ships (I think it was
the USS McKinley.)and taken to Pearl Harbor. Boy, did I get sick going
under the Golden Gate Bridge. I stood duty at the entrance of officer's
country because we were also carrying dependents to Hawaai. I didn't
care if they shot me. I just laid down and slept! I vaguely remember
officers, and others, stepping over me to get to their quarters.
When we arrived in Pearl Harbor, I was transferred to the USS Shangri La
(CV 38) and became a member of the staff of the Commander of Carrier
Division Three - Adm. C. A. F. Sprague. (It could have been Carrier
Division Two. Over the next few years, we switched a couple of times.)
We proceeded to Roi-Namur Island in the Kwajalein Atoll and were based in
the lagoon there. We sailed in and out once in a while.
Then, all of a sudden, it was time to go to Bikini. (This was a long
time before the Bikini bathing suit.) When the fateful day came for Test
Able, we took up station about 28 miles from the lagoon. Those of us on
Adm. Sprague's staff occupied Flag Plot and we had our own bridge.
That's where I witnessed the Able cloud.
There were no precautions that I remember--we merely were told to cover
our eyes and not to look until we were told we could. I don't recall any
shock wave. Just the weirdest smoke cloud I've ever seen; and one of the
most beautiful, too. Our job was to radio-control six F6Fs (drones)
through the cloud to see if they could survive. They did and were
landed, I seemk to remember on Roi-Namur where they were isolated for a
long period because of the high degree of radioactivity they picked up
from the cloud.
When it was time for the Baker blast, the Shang was sent to a position
eight miles from ground zero. We witnessed the underwater blast from
there. I don't recall any precautions that were taken there, either.
I'm not sure we even covered our eyes. The morning after the Baker test,
we entered the lagoon. Then, we learned later, someone opened a valve
for the ship's fire mains and allowed radioactive lagoon water to enter
the ship' s system. What occured then is not clear in my mind, but it
seems we were told of the occurance and told we might not be able to
father children for the next several months. That didn't bother me,
because we were at sea and I wasn't married, anyway.
I seem to remember that were also told that no birth defects were likely.
And, if there were some, they would most likely occur in the second
generation, not the first. I got that information somewhere. Our four
children showed no signs of any defects. However, fifteen years ago our
first grandchild was born, and she could not see. I was scared to death.
However, it was later determined that the cause was a genetic problem and
not one connected to radioactivity. Lauren is still sightless, but is an
intelligent, lovely young lady.
That's what I remember. Ever so often something triggers me and I
remember other items. Then I promptly forget them. Long term memory is
great!
I am enclosing a poem that I wrote home to my mother from Flag Plot right
after the Able blast. I know those details are correct because I wrote
them down within a few days of the blast.
Good luck!
Marv Van Sickle
Atomic Bomb Test Able
As the bomb hovered over the glassy sea,
we all wondered what the outcome of the test would be.
Then, as we heard the terrific exploding roar,
we still had a second to wonder more.
Then as the huge cloud began to rise above the lagoon,
we knew the worst effects would come soon.
And, the instant we turned around and uncovered our eyes,
we saw that beautiful cloud of destruction climb higher in the skies.
The cloud was billowing out and rising still.
No one would believe it could kill.
Finally, it appeared in its characteristic mushroom form.
We watched it as we would the approach of a violent storm.
The cloud was of a red and orange hue,
as if it reflected the light of a sunset long due.
A giant cleft appeared. We all knew
it would hurt our drones as they went through.
On the bridge, we watched through the long glass
and waited for the beautiful pillar of smoke to pass.
We spotted the little F6Fs start through the cloud.
"Wonder if they’ll make it", we all said aloud.
The crowd on the fight deck, on the starboard side,
was watching with an excitement they couldn’t hide.
Every man of them had their eyes glued to the sight
of the exhibition of the tremendous man-made might.
As we looked back, the cloud reached its maximum height
and still it glowed pink and orange with internal light.
Over our high-frequency receivers we heard orders being sent
to the planes and ships for whom they were meant.
Then our eyes noted that the cloud began to shift,
spread in four directions, the wind began to lift.
In a few minutes that radioactive stuff
began to mix with the natural cumulus fluff.
Then we realized that our part in the test was through
but the sight stayed in our minds as few things do.
There isn’t much more I can say,
but that our ship helped make history that day.
Marv Van Sickle
Indianola IA
mvans_50125@juno.com
--Keith Whittle
September 7, 2000
Operation Crossroads