Operation Redwing
1956
US Atomic Veterans
George Wagner
From: ElderTwo@aol.com
Date: Wed, 9 Dec 1998
To: pdxavets@aracnet.com
Subject: Operation Redwing
I was an Airman 2nd Class in the Air force during operation Redwing and spent
most of my time on Parry Island adjacent to Eniwetok proper. It was a small
island just a few blocks long and a couple of blocks wide. There was an
airstrip large enough to accommodate small, single engine aircraft, but most
of us traveled back and forth on DUCKS or landing craft. They could land the
big aircraft on the main island. We didn't go back and forth much, but
sometimes you could wade across to the main island during low tide, but I
never did.
My outfit was AACS and we spent all our time in a radio, teletype shack
working out weather and other messages every day. We seemed to be The Weather
Central and operated 24 hours a day in shifts. There were lots of tents that
we lived in and hot boxes for clothing with light bulbs to keep mildew out of
clothes and shoes. It got really bad in shoes, but most of us wore gee-toks
when we could. They were made from used tires from Japan or Korea.
The outdoor movie was shown every night and had a capacity of 50 or so, maybe
more. You could sit on the ground. . .It would often rain during the movie,
but we'd put on slickers and not pay any attention to it. It was always warm,
even when it rained, and you could see the rain coming miles away, even at
night. It never did last long. I will never forget seeing the film, "Picnic"
with William Holden and KIM NOVAC! She was something and we all hooped-and
hollered when she cam on screen. Such homeside films made us lonelier than
were were before so a bunch of us wrote letters to the editorial pages of the
San Francisco and Denver papers for girls to write lonely G.I.s. We got so
many letters they had to build a new mail shack. It was a big deal and we
were celebreties for a while. Mail call was the high point of the day. It
was a lonely place.
Lagoon-side snorkeling was the best and tropical fish were everywhere and the
water was as clear as glass down to thirty plus feet. We had floats in the
lagoon for swimming and seldom saw sharks or came into contact with stone
fish. A few did and suffered the consequences.
The Holmes and Narver Construction crews on Parry Island at like kings and
so did we. They had steak and strawberries every Saturday night. Only being
19 I didn't know much about the rest of the world and was amazed when the
Asian construction guys ate rice instead of the steak and strawberries!!
A lot of time was spent getting ready for Atomic shots and then cleaning up
all the equipment after the shots were over. I was there six months plus and
was glad to get out of that place even though the weather was gorgeous and so
was the lagoon. It was a lonely place for a young G.I. The shots themselves
were awesome and I regret not being allowed to have a camera to record the
places around the island, people there, and the shots themselves. They were
beautiful and terrible at the same time. We never thought ourselves to be in
danger. Our country wouldn't do such a thing to its soldiers, would it??
Later, in the '80s I received a communication indicating the amount of
radiation I received after they read our RAD badges. I was surprised at the
amount of radiation I received and talked to a radiologist about it. So far.
. no negatives that I am aware of from the radiation, but then ignorance is
bliss.
I remember being able to buy stuff from Japan when some of the pilots would
fly out and back. We got some neat, first issue transitor radios. . .no one
had see those before, that you could hold in your hand. Since we had one
radio station there we could listen to it all the time where ever we were with
these neat battery radios, except, of course, when we were on duty.
My first impression upon landing on the main island of Eniwetok was the
hollering of the GI's as we deboarded the aircraft shouting, "White Meat!"
over and over again. We worked to get tans right away. The tans came fast,
and I found left just as quickly when back stateside. They were different
from U.S. tans.
We didn't think anything of running naked down the boar-walks between the
tent rows to the showers. Gambling, especially poker, was a main evening
occupation and alcohol flowed freely and was cheap to buy. Many a hand was
lost due to the affects of too much booze.
It seemed like there was a putt-putt golf course. . .but maybe not. There
were a lot of us packed on that tiny island and the only trouble was when the
Navy boys would come off the ships getting all boozed-up and wild. There were
several stabbings and a shooting that I remember.
There was a lot of WWII debris about oceanside and when low tide came you
could pick of remnants of WWI ammo & stuff. During low tide you could see
wrecks of ships & landing craft.. .all kinds of war junk. Someone said there
were hundreds of Japanese buried under the runway, but I decided not to check.
I've not met another Atomic Vet since leaving Eniwetok in '56. At the time
Ithought it was a big deal to be selected to go. All AACS guys were
volunteers and figured it was a good chance to TDY to an overseas place. Now
that I think about it, after seeing your web -page and reading your E-mail. .
a lot of memories flooded back.
Being on Operation Redwing was quite an event. The shots were amazing and
would light up the whole sky brighter than day. One Hydrogen shot from Bikini
went off when it was dark, but became brighter than day for a few seconds and
a little later the sound came. We were making history and never considered
what were were doing was dangerous. If any fellow Redwingers want to write
I'd be delighted to hear at ElderTwo@aol.com
George Wagner
ElderTwo@aol.com
--Keith Whittle
December 11, 1998
Operation Redwing