Paradise or Prison - Eniwetok Atoll

Prison for some, truly a paradise for others. My Eniwetok adventure began in the early spring of 1956. While stationed at Camp Oswego, N.Y. after getting the camp ready for the "90 day wonders" that winter, I was notified that I was going to be shipped overseas to a place called Eniwetok. Having never heard of such a place, my first reaction was "where in the world is that"? After being told it was in the South Pacific, I recall thinking, wow, this is great. I'm getting out of this bitter cold place on the banks of the great lakes and going to a tropical paradise. Nothing could have thrilled me more at the time, after all I joined the service to serve my country and see the world.

I had just seen the ocean for the first time a few months before while stationed at Fort Lee, Va. and was fascinated by it. Having grown up in Colorado, the ocean certainly appealed to me in a special way. The sight, the sounds, the enormity of it, I could hardly wait to get out there just to get to spend time in the ocean. In two weeks I had my orders and was told that I would spend thirty days at home while they did a security check for my secret clearance. That sounded great since I had only been home once since basic training, so off to Colorado I went.

After being home for about three weeks I received orders to report to Travis Air Force base in California to proceed on out to the Marshall Islands. A group of us were boarded on a MATS aircraft and took off for our destination of Eniwetok with a stopover at Hickam Air Force base in Hawaii. Then it was on to Kwajalien, and finally Eniwetok where we landed , too late in the evening to really make out our surroundings. I could hear the breakers crashing against the shore as we stepped off the plane and could smell the salt water. I couldn't wait for morning to get a look at my tropical paradise.

Upon awakening the next morning after a sleepless night, I hurriedly rushed outside to get a look. To my amazement everywhere I looked I could see nothing but water. Another thing that immediately caught my attention was that there were no trees or anything on this atoll. No sign of any vegetation anywhere. I thought, this certainly isn't like the tropical paradise I had imagined in my mind. I guess I thought there should be palm trees, coconut trees, jungle vines, parrots, monkeys, and all. Eniwetok did not appear as the paradise I had imagined.

After going to orientation, seeing where I was going to work, and generally getting squared away, I thought, well this isn't so bad, there has to be a lot of things that I can do, so I approached the situation with one thought in mind, I was really going to enjoy this and make the most of it, and that is exactly what I set about doing. With the highest land on Eniwetok being only about 10 feet elevation, it did take some adjustment for me since I had grown up in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.

Eniwetok Atoll, to me, had the perfect weather. If I recall correctly, it is about 11 degrees off the equator so the temperatures vary only slightly between day and night year around. We are talking temperatures in the 70's and 80's all the time. Almost every evening would be a nice gentle shower just enough to wash everything down. I soon settled into a routine of work and mostly play. All my daylight hours when I wasn't working were spent in the water doing something, whether it was just picking up shells, diving for the giant clams, chasing Manta Rays, or just swimming. Evening hours were mostly spent either down at the club where myself and my three closest friends would sing and make music on the patio or at the quonset listening to the states on my Hallicrafters radio or playing poker. A lot of evenings would also find us at the outdoor theater if the movie sounded good. So, I can say this was truly a paradise for me and most of the guys that did things to occupy their time like I did.

For some, it must have been their prison. These few guys, you wouldn't see doing anything. If a person didn't like the water, there were still numerous other activities they could do, such as play baseball, table tennis, or other things. We had some great tournaments going in both those sports, but for the few that tried to get off the "rock" one way or the other while I was there, I don't recall ever seeing them doing anything in the way of entertainment.

A lot of people have heard the story of "S------" but it bears repeating because it was so typical of how some guys approached life on "Wetok". The night S----- pulled his stunt, myself and my three buddies were down at the club attempting to make music as usual out on the deck overlooking the lagoon. S----- was at the club drinking as usual. He came out onto the deck and without saying a word proceeded to jump in the lagoon with all his clothes on and started swimming out into the lagoon. A few guys had followed him out and when we asked them what was going on, they said that S------ had given the bartender his wallet and told him that he was going home. A few of the guys voiced concern that he had been drinking and might drown while others thought a shark might get him but the general consensus seemed to be, just leave him alone, he will get tired and come back in to shore. Most of us watched him until he was almost out of the light reflecting across the water from the club, and then just pretty much dismissed him from our minds and went back to what we were doing. It was pretty much common knowledge on Eniwetok that if a guy was serious about taking his life, he would go to the ocean side, not the lagoon, so no one seemed to get to worked up over S------ that night. It was sometime later that someone noticed S------ floating on his back where he had drifted back in toward the club and we could make him out real well in the light again. Some of the guys started yelling things at him like, "Hey S-------, your going the wrong way" and "Hey S--------, come get your drink". S--------- didn't move a muscle while guys were yelling at him, all the time continuing to float back in toward the club. After the yelling subsided you could see him look toward shore by moving his head ever so slightly. When he realized just how close he was, with one hand underwater you could see the movement from the ripples that he was trying to move himself back out into the lagoon further. Meanwhile, some one had called the MP's and people started showing up with searchlights and headlights to shine on S------- out in the lagoon. After realizing that S------ wasn't going to come in on his own, two guys decided they would swim out and get him which they proceeded to do. I recall the two guys that went out as being Callahan and Kennedy. Both good sized men, they still had to wrestle with him out in the water to ever get him in. Quite an evening at the club that night. S-------- did make it off the rock after that stunt which is exactly what he wanted to do.

Another stunt that proved effective for getting off the rock was pulled by a guy down at the motor pool. Seems that during the night this guy decided to steal an Army "duck" and go home. When people showed up for work at the motor pool the next morning, missing was the "Duck" and all the GI cans that were there the day before. Turns out that this guy had spent most the night filling all the cans that he could find, loading them on the duck in preparation for his long journey home. The tracks led to the lagoon so the Air Force crash boats and a plane was sent out looking for him. He hadn't made it out of the lagoon and no telling what would have happened if he had. He left the "rock" without his "duck".

Quite often in the evenings I would go to the outdoor movie. Usually accompanied by one of my buddies, we almost always set in the same seats. I had noticed a guy sitting down in front of us on other occasions that would always sit there before it got dark and before the movie would start and always had his wallet out looking at his pictures. This seemed to be almost like a ritual and my buddy and I had watched him and talked about how he sure must be homesick or something but never did get acquainted with the guy. It was like he was there every time we were and he always did the same thing, look at the pictures in his wallet and talk to them as if they were there. About halfway through a movie one night I had the urge to relieve myself so I got up and headed for the nearest latrine which was close by. The latrines were in metal buildings which were partitioned for sinks, stools, showers and all. I walked into the latrine, past the first partition when I suddenly felt something warm on my right arm. I looked down at my arm and it looked like blood. Stopping, and turning to look back, here was this guy who was always looking at his pictures at the movie, holding his wrist where he had slashed it. He was acting like he was in a daze. I asked him, "what in the hell are you doing "?

He didn't respond and still just stood there watching the blood come out with each beat of his heart. I grabbed his arm with the thought in mind that I would take him to the medic and he jerked away from me. I don't know to this day what came over me at that point, but I just swung and hit him with everything I had right on the side of the head with my fist. It knocked him down and knocked him out. I then ran from the latrine to get help to get him to the first aid station. He ended up getting sent to Hawaii and left the rock behind him.

Japtan was a favorite place for picnics and all for a lot of the guys, and most would go over there any chance they got. One such outing turned out to be just a little bit different than normal. After a day of fun on the atoll we were just about to the point where we were going to have to leave to go back to Eniwetok. In fact, most of the guys were already on the boat with the exception of five or six guys. Suddenly, from out of the trees came a guy running, screaming and yelling at the top of his lungs. He literally had gone crazy. None of us knew what to do as he was actually ripping small trees out of the ground and throwing them. He stated to chase some of us with the shrubs and trees that he was jerking out of the ground with super human strength. Someone yelled that we were going to have to take him down so we started to surround him, with him still yelling and throwing things at us. We were finally able to subdue him but not without some scrapes and bruises, as he would toss you through the air like you were nothing. He made it off the rock just like the others.

I mentioned earlier that if a guy contemplated suicide by water he would go to the ocean side where the waves would come crashing in against the coral rock. You knew he was serious if he talked of suicide and headed to that side of the island. I only knew of one guy in the thirteen months that I was there that tried that route and he was tackled and kept from it by some others that knew he was serious. He did leave the rock but he was alive when he did it, thank goodness.

For me, paradise. For a few others, prison. I have to thank the three guys that shipped over with me and returned to the states with me, paying off a Sgt. in California in order to be stationed together back here in the states, for helping to make it the paradise for me that it was. They were Vernon Van Houten from Correctionville, Iowa, Donald Bishop from Syracuse N.Y., and Clarence Fish from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Thank you Guys and God bless.

Cliff Brooks
Operation Redwing 1956

Email: cbrooks@gvtc.com

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