From: GWeedn@aol.com
Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2000
Subject: Prinz Eugen
To: pdxavets@aracnet.com
Hi Keith
Unlike Richard Chiappetta I already had my sea legs, I was aboard the LST 38 going to Okinawa. That was the first 9 months of my navy career and then back to the states where I shipped over for a 2 year stint, as you could do then. I was given a 30 day leave to go back home and then reported back to San Diego where I was assigned to the Prinz Eugen, they told us it was a secret mission and we were not to talk about it to anyone not even to our family.
Luckily when l got to San Diego my brothers ship was there and we got to visit for a few days, he was on the USS Barnes, a CVE escort carrier
We left San Diego and went to San Pedro where we went into drydock for some repairs and then got under way for Pearl Harbor, but had problems with the boilers and had to throw live ammo overboard because it was getting very hot from the boiler problems. They finally got one of the boilers to work and we went on to Pearl, we were there about 30 days and I think they replaced one of the boilers. We sailed from Pearl to Bikini I believe in late May of 1946.
After we arrived we stayed aboard the ship and got it ready for the test. We stayed aboard the ship until the day before the test and then they put us aboard an AKA, a troop ship and took us out about 8 to 10 miles from the test site where we got ready for the test, which we observed from the deck. They had us wear goggles so we could watch the test. They also had us to wear film badges. It sure was a site to see.
I believe we went back in 2 weeks after the test and was put back aboard, to try to clean it with Iye water to clean it of the radiation, which was a waste of time. I think of what I know about it now, we were put back on board the Prinz Eugen on the 3rd of July and stayed on board untill 21st of July when we were taken off and put back aboard the Rockingham, the AKA from the 22nd of July untill the 16th of August.
Then we went back aboard the Prinz Eugen in teams from 4th of August to 10th. On trying to clean it, to no avail, even though they said it was highly contaminated that is how smart our government is. We also went back aboard from 13th of August to the 19th to get it ready for towing to Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands, where I was told that it sank in the bay there.
Here is a picture from Time magazine it is in the August 19th, 1946 issue. It shows some of us scrubing the deck after test Able, I am at the top left.
I was glad I got to see the 2 tests. If they had told me there would be health risks later I would have told them no thanks, and even when I was discharged if they had told me I had a very high dose of radiation and to let them check me out every now and then I would not have been quite as mad at them as I am now. Just let me know what to expect is all I ask of them.
When I tried to get my records they told me all my records were burned in St. Louis Mo. But I kept working on it and they decided I was not giving up and they finally sent it to me, also the Radiation Dose Assessment out of Alexandria Va. The Defense Special Weapons Agency was reluctant at first but the Veterans Service Center in Waco told them they needed it for my evaluation. They sent me a copy and also a copy to the Veterans Service Center. I am sending you a copy of this also.
They gave me a 30% disability but only paid me back to 97, the date of my claim and I have been out thousands of dollars since the early to mid 60's. So I asked them for a hearing and it is now pending. As you can see by the dose assessment that they did put us back aboard the Prinz Eugen even though they knew it was highly contaminated. I guess Richard Chiappetta was not on the team that went back aboard as he said it was not boarded after test Baker, but I did go back as you can see from the assessment. They tried to smooth it over by double talk but the last paragraph that I highlighted tells the whole story! !
I hope this helps, it kinda helps me to get it off my chest.
Hermon E. Weeden
Amarillo,Texas.
E-Mail gweedn@aol.com
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