Operation Ivy
US Atomic Veterans
Frank Vasquez
Frank Vasquez sent email about his duty at Operation Ivy.
Date: 04/Sep/07
From: Frank Vasquez
Subject: Passing of a shipmate and Atomic Vet.
To: pdxavets@aracnet.com
Dear Keith, I' sorry to inform you of the passing away of a shipmate of mine and fellow Atomic Vet though I doubt if he ever joined our organization. His name was Al Heep
and he went aboard the USS Fletcher DDE 445 when I went abourd in July of 1952. We also went through boot camp togeather and he like me stayed abourd for his entire hitch
He died from the same type of cancer that I have been diagnosed with, which is
SQUAMOUS CELL CANCER (NON-SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER). The VA approved both
him and I at differant times for "presumption of service conection" disabilty, due to our exposure to fallout from Operation Ivy at Enewitok. He was and I am also proud to have
served.
He died on April 26, 2004. Rest in peace old friend and shipmate.
Regards
Frank C. Vasquez
Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2007
From: fcvas445@sbcglobal.net
Subject: Reply to request
To: Keith pdxavets@aracnet.com
My name is Frank C.Vasquez and these are some of my recollections of operation Ivy, which included the first hydrogen bomb test, code named Mike and an atomic bomb blast.
I had arrived aboard the USS Fletcher DDE 445, while she was in dry dock at Pearl Harbor, on I think, July 1, 1952. So needless to say, I did not know anything, having reported aboard right out of bootcamp. Our first cruise out of Pearl was to Eniwetok Atoll although we did not know that. All we were told after we were out at sea, was that we were going on a secret mission. Sometime after we had already been out for quite a time I got a letter from my Dad asking me if I was in some kind of big trouble because the FBI had been around our neighborhood asking questions about me. Thats how secret the mission was, but we didn't know it.
On one of our Dungeree Liberty Trips to an island, Japtan, I think. I out swam a shark out of terror. We had been horsing around under the pier and I had unknowingly scratched my leg up and I started swimming out to a floating raft or something, when everone started shouting, Shark Vas Shark! I didn't know that I was bleeding from my leg scratches so the big fish had smelled it and came after me but I outswam it to the raft. So thats how and why I out swam a shark at that time.
On November 1, 1952, I witnessed the most horrific sight that I could not have ever imagined in my life. I was a Stewards Mate and as such we cooked for the officers of the ship, and took care of their staterooms. However we had our battle stations assigned to us and mine was on the O1 deck, the three inch gun mount. On that day we were at battle stations, cause I remember we had our sleeves rolled down and buttoned our collar and had our helmets on.
First they started the count down from ten to zero then back up to ten. We were not supposed to turn to see the blast until it got back up to ten. We had been issued goggles that were the darkest available I think. You couldn't see your hand in front of you. When the count got down to zero, it felt like someone had put a match to the back of my neck, the area not protected by my helmet or collar. When the count got back up to ten we tuned, and I saw THE END OF THE WORLD!!!
You see when we were children, my Mother would tell us about how the Bible told how the world ended with water the first time and that the Bible also said that it would end with fire the next time. Well as far as I could see, there was fire, fire every where. Then after a while the largest mushroom any human eye had ever seen. In that sense we were eyewitnesses to history. We witnessed the first detonation by mankind of the Hydrogen Bomb! On the small island that the blast took place there was not even toothpicks left, zilch, nada, here one minute, gone the next.
As sort of anti-climatic, as it may seem now, though it wasn't then, some days later, we also saw an atomic blast, which was in itself very scary. The most horrific sight I've ever seen to this day, which incidently still causes me to have nightmares of that terrifing fireball, is still the Hydrogen Bomb blast! The second would have to be the Atomic Bomb Blast a few days later.
Just last july the VA docs discovered cancer in my right lung. They did surgery and removed a part of my lung. I asked the docs if it could be caused by my radiation exposure, and they all said it could be, so I went to the DAV and they helped me put in a service connected "presumtive service connection" due to my service during IVY. God willing they'll approve it and I'll get a disability pension, though at my age probably not for very long.
Thanks again,
Frank C. Vasquez
A young 17 yr. old sailor on the USS Fletcher.
Email: fcvas445@sbcglobal.net
Keith Whittle
February 1, 2007
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