The infamous Parry Island Golf Course
An "orange" golf ball? Yes, that's what we had to use on our "white" coral 5-hole golf course at the south end of Parry Island. You know how it is at the end of the fiscal year, everyone has to spend as much of their current budget as possible or have it reduced the next fiscal year. Well, that's how we got our golf course. There was no such thing as using a wood, only a chipping iron. The holes were not that far apart. The course was full of hazards, as you might guess. The worst being not knowing in which direction the ball would bounce after it hit a piece of coral. Talk about a hazard! Anyway, it was fun and gave us one more diversion.
The Manta Ray
Don't ever try to harpoon one. The second half of my first year at Eniwetok was spent on Runit. Johnny Misko and I handled all material and equipment that came and went at the boat ramp and dock. Johnny was the Foreman of one guy me! We had a ball. We noticed that every morning a Manta Ray swam down from up north, swam around the end of the pier, and headed down south looking for food. We decided we would catch this thing using a harnoon. So, we got a piece of half-inch rebar, cut it to the length we wanted and had a ring welded to one end and a barb at the other. For two days we worked on shaping and sharpening the tip and the barb. Then we spliced 75 feet of new half-inch manila rope to the ring and tied the other end to a cleat on the pier. We waited for the next morning. Sure enough, here it came, swimming leisurely along. We stood at the end of the pier and when it came around I threw the harpoon straight down and it stuck in the Manta Ray's back. Maybe you've guessed the rest of the story maybe not, if not, that fish took off straight out from the pier. We saw the harpoon waiving as the fish disappeared. The coil of rope on the pier was unwinding and we thought to ourselves "Just wait until that rope plays out." Well, it did! Then it broke like it was a piece of string and we never saw that Manta Ray again.
The Octopus
Let me tell you about Eddie. He was the best swimmer I think I've ever known He loved to skin dive and spear fish. We used to swim together and there were times he stayed down so long that I thought something had happened to him. There was never a time he didn't come up with one or more fish on his spear. When there was the time he came up with an octopus stuck to his back in addition to the fish on his spear. We were swimming along side of a sunken Japanese ship just off shore at Parry when he came up with this thing. It would he an understatement to say I was surprised and somewhat concerned for him. He laughed and when we got on shore he peeled the octopus of his back. I asked him how he got it to stay there and he told me that you "turn the head inside out" and it will stay where you put it. Later he got a large bowl, some salt, and procceded to process the octopus so that it could he dried and eaten. I wasn't a taker.
The Sea Anemone
That little fish looked me straight in the eye. It was about the size of a gold fish but was pink and white I think we became "friends." Every Sunday I'd go skin diving out to a particular coral head off the beach at Parry where this little fish lived with a white sea anemone. I wore the typical face mask. When I approached the coral head I dove down to where this fish lived and sure enough it would swim out to meet me, coming right up to my face mask as if to say "hello." This went on for many weeks. Swimming in the lagoon was a great experience. Remember how far you could see underwater?
The Theater
Remember the wisecracks at the movies? Some of the guys had a great sense of humor. They seemed to know the exact point at which to make a comment or "fill in" some missing dialogue, as they saw it. I can't repeat most of it but I'm sure you'll remember the incidents. It was great fun and provided for much needed relief from the daily activities.
The Reflector
A perfect bowl for a centerpiece. The 3 foot diameter searchlight reflector costing $1,100 was scheduled to be "deep sixed" along with five more perfectly good, unused searchlights. The H&N iron workers had a better use for it. Why not have a luau and use it as a centerpiece bowl to hold an array of fruit? Sounded like a great idea to them so that's what they did. Everything was going along just fine until the AEC got wind of it. They didn't like it. The next day, after the luau, the reflector and the rest of the searchlights were loaded on a barge, along with other equipment, taken out to the middle of the lagoon and dumped over the side.
The Ride
This I'll never forget. I needed to go from Parry Island to Engebi and had to get there fast. This was during the Korean War and the Air Force had some jet pilots stationed at Eniwetok flying small aircraft (L5's and L 1 3's). I think it was supposed to be some kind of R & R. One of these pilots was assigned to fly me to Engebi. We took off from Parry and once we got past Japtan he dropped down to below the tops of the coconut trees and we "hedge hopped" all the way to Engebi. As we approached Engebi I saw a row of 8 man tents in our path. No problem! We jumped over them, flew around the steel tower, that had been built toward the west end for a test, like it was a pylon, and dropped in for the landing. My friends later told me that they could hear us coming but couldn't see us. Going back we flew at the standard 500 foot elevation. During this flight I had the chance to "fly" my first aircraft thanks to the pilot. Maybe he figured he "owed" me. Fun all the way
Christmas 1959
Some H&N personnel were living on Eniwetok at this time, including myself. I had a considerable amount of tape recording equipment which I used to reproduce tapes for people who wanted copies of what I had or wanted me to copy music from a record album to a tape. This was a little side business. Not too lucrative, but fun. Just before Christmas a group of four H&N guys asked me if I would record them singing Christmas carols. I agreed and we set up a studio in the Chapel. The Chapel, if I remember correctly, was an old Quonset hut located about a third of the way up the island from the pier. The "session" went well and I got a good recording. The highlight was Silent Night sung by one of the guys, an Hawaiian, it was a masterpiece and I've kept my master tape which I play, and have played, every Christmas since then. In the background can be heard trucks rumbling by outside of the Chapel.
You ve got to remember this
The flies, remember the flies? On Parry, and I'm sure Eniwetok, there were trucks mounted with diesel fuel tanks. The tanks were drained into the trucks hot manifolds which spewed out a dense smoke designed to kill the flies. This was not all that effective, in fact, on Runit where I was stationed for six months in 1950, we had to take drastic measures. Screens were installed in the window openings and doors of the messhall. Where the beer was sold, there was a counter with a screened sliding door. You placed your money on the counter in front of this door. The guy inside quickly opened the door, took your money and at the same time passed you your beer, and then slammed it shut. The ground around the messhall and our 8-man tents was literally and deliberately saturated with diesel fuel. I worked in the supply division at the time and was able to get enough screening material to close in the sides of our tent. We also built a screen door. As you might imagine, our tent was the most popular tent on the island and it was the "gathering place" on Sunday. No matter what was tried, we never did get rid of the flies.
Tie down
Prior to the Oak shot, and maybe others as well, certain buildings on Parry were prepared for the over-pressure created by this detonation. That was accomplished by placing crates of iron ore at the four corners of the buildings. Steel cables were attached to the crates and run over the roof from corner to corner crossing at the ridge (peak) of the roof. If I remember correctly, and someone tell me if I'm wrong, it takes as little as 3 psi overpressure to tear a building apart. In my story, "The Way it Was", I discuss the Oak shot and its effect. My office, in a building across from the boat ramp on Parry, was one of the buildings protected in this manner and it came through the blast with only minor bulging at the bottom of the side panels.
The Cone
When Operation Ivy was being planned, a drilling crew, and their heavy equipment and supplies arrived at Parry island from Texas. Their purpose was to do some core drilling at select places around the atoll. They drilled in order to determine the structural base and shape of the Atoll. The fear was that the atoll might be shaped like a "cone" and that the Mike shot, as big as it was planned, might literally "crack" the atoll and it would fall apart into the ocean. Not as far-fetched as one might think considering the size of the Ivy Mike crater.
Eyeball technology
Joe Pinero was a short, middle aged man. He was an expert wood pier builder who had no need for any surveying equipment. The only "equipment" he needed was his eyes and the horizon. If you remember the piers at the boat ramp and deep passage on Parry, you'lI remember how well they were built. During their construction you would find Joe squatting at the ground end of the pier, eyeballing the horizon, and signaling to his workers how to line up and attach the horizontal wood members. When the job was done I'd wager you could shoot it with a level and he wouldn't be off an inch.
The Breeze and I
When I arrived at the PPG in November 1949. I was the complete novice. Knew nothing about construction or the construction way-of-life. H&N had a Iittle "newspaper" called The Breeze it was like a single-page newsletter and turned out to be very helpful. I must admit, however, that I did have a friend on Parry island, the guy that talked me into applying for my first job as a warehouse man in 1949, and he was probably more helpful than anyone or anything. He and a group of construction workers had been working at Quam and were hired by H&N. They were the "experts" and knew the ropes. H&N must have thought we were going to be involved with the natives who had been removed from Eniwetok Atoll because they published a typed Polynesian Dictionary complete with a "Table of Sounds." I still have my copy and it may be the one and only Polynesian dictionary in existence.Super flight
I don't know what year it was (probably the early '50s) but the Super Connie aircraft had just been put into service by the Navy in case you don't remember the aircraft it had a triple rudder and the fuselage had an elongated "hump" design. I think President Eisenhower used one of them for Air Force One during his time in office. At the end of one of my stays at Eniwetok we flew out on the return maiden flight of one of these Navy Super Connies. Everything seemed to be going well until we were told that the plane would be landing at Kwaja ein to "pick up a sick individual." That turned out not to be the case. The fact of the matter was that there was a problem with the aircraft. We were on the ground for a number of hours and were loaded back on the plane and took off once again. This time we were only up a few minutes when the pilot told us were going back to Kwajalein. We still didn't know, and weren't told, what the problem was.
This time we had to stay overnight. That evening my friend, Jack Stallings, and I were invited to the Officers Club to have a drink with the pilot who we had gotten to know during the layovers. He told us that there was a problem with a "warped manifold" on one of the engines and that both times, before we landed at Kwajalein, he had to dump fuel and was being escorted by a PBM. I'm sure any of you aircraft mechanics know what he was talking about. Anyway, new parts had to be flown in from Hawaii so we spent most of the day at Kwajalein before we finally got off and were on our way home
After we were airborne and the pilot was assured everything was operating properly, he invited Jack and I (one at a time) to come up to the cabin and sit in the co-pilots seat, it was a small, narrow cabin for a craft that size. The automatic pilot control was between the pilot's and the co-pilot's seat so you had to be careful not to bump it as you got in and out of the seat. Viewing the sky from that environment was a beautiful thing to see. It was nighttime and the moon was out, shining on the puffy clouds below us. I was aware of an unusual sensation, it felt like the front of the aircraft was moving up and down. When I asked the pilot about it, he told me that "the Super Connie flies like a dolphin swims." I'm sure you've seen dolphins (porpoise) swim so you can visualize what he was talking about. The trip was uneventful after that and, obviously, we made it to Hawaii.
Fish and beer
As good as the food served by H&N was, there was one thing they couldn't provide. Some of the "M" boat crews would troll for Alua, a fish resembling an Albacore, on their way to Runit, Aomon, or Engebi. They would cut the fish up into strips and place them on top of the wheel house to dry in the sun. That evening after work they would bring it to the "Snake Pit" at Parry and we would sit around drinking beer and eating this dried fish. I can still taste it. When we bought beer it had to be opened at the "Pit" so that no one would be able to take it back to their quarters to consume later. We would order beer by the case and there it would set, every can foaming over the top. We stayed there until the last minute before the messhall was ready to close, then we'd dash over there just in time. Talk about an appetite, it seemed like we couldn't get enough to eat even after the fish and beer
There was humor
Before such things as OSHA we weren't forced into having good sense. For example, when we were offloading a ship at the deep passage pier at Parry, we never used the gangplank to get up on deck. It was quicker and more fun to ride the "hook" of the crane from the pier to the deck and vise versa. Joe, a guy who was the subject of a number of "dirty tricks" wanted down from the deck. The crane operator, a friend, sent the hook up to him. On the way down, Joe was making wisecracks to his friend the operator. The operator in retaliation, dipped Joe in the ocean. He never lived that down.
And, then, there were the deaths
The saddest experience any of us ever had was when there was a death. Sad because it happened so far away from that person's family. Those I remember were different from each other. There was Bob Rice, the tire shop foreman who developed cancer of the neck area while he was still there. He and his crew, handled all of the tires that came back from the various sites and, who knows, how many were contaminated. Even though Bob's neck was swollen, he wanted to complete his contract with H&N. We were entitled to a tax-free status if we spent 510 days at the PPG within an 18 month period. Bob had 30 days to go. He finished his contract, went home, and died.
We had a doctor (Verhalen, I think) who committed suicide. He foumd a small concrete bunker toward the south end of Parry Island. When it was discovered that he was missing we walked the island, almost hand-in-hand, in search for him. He was found in that bunker with his wrists cut. He bled to death after giving himself some form of anesthetic.
During the process of constructing the distillation plant on Parry, one of the workman slipped from the scaffolding he was working from, fell on top of some rebar being installed and was impaled. He died a short time later.
One of the worst deaths happened at the boat ramp on Parry. The mechanics had just completed work on a large Marion Crane that had been received earlier trom another project stateside. The crane operator was moving down the boat ramp to position the crane so that it could unload equipment from a "T" boat. When he arrived at the position he wanted he tried to stop the crane but could not. The heavy equipment Superintendent picked up a block of wood, tossed it in front of one of the crane's tracks, and then tried to kick the wood in place. His foot got caught between the block of wood and the track and, since the crane could not be stopped, it ran over him. The crane finally came to a stop when it ran up against other equipment. The operator, who was a rugged individual, reminded me of Jack Palance, walked off in tears. When we talked to him later he said that he felt completely "helpless." The Superintendent was his friend.
Another H&N employee took a skiff and set out from Parry Island toward the deep passage west of Eniwetok. We didn't know if this was deliberate or if he was caught in the current and couldn't control the boat. He drifted, or rowed, out through the passage and was never seen again. Search planes were sent out but found nothing.
The last death I remember happened at the Parry airstrip. Two Air Force pilots took off in either an L5 or an L 13, can't remember which. They apparently tried to climb too fast or were caught by a squall, stalled, and crashed back to earth. Both were seriously injured. One of them died after being taken back to Eniwetok for treatment.
Being in the H&N Supply Division at those times, it was our responsibility to provide wood cases used for transporting the bodies back to Hawaii or stateside. We also transported the cases from the "mortuary", where the bodies were kept iced, to the aircraft that would take them home. They were treated with the utmost respect but sometimes the cases had to be turned on their side in order to be loaded on the plane. That always bothered us.
Finally
Even today I remember the sound of planes leaving Eniwetok, taking people home after their months on the job. Whether it was the early C54's, Super Connies, or the later DC 6's. That drone you heard fading away in the distance was about as melancholy as it gets. When an air show comes to Denver there's usualIy a plane from World War II. Soon after the show is over, that plane leaves, and that "sound" is there once again and all the memories of the Pacific Proving Grounds flow back into my mind. The good ones and the bad ones.
Philip Drake
Drake's Picture Page Drake's Picture Page 2
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