Date: Mon, 10 July 2000 Here is the photo of the C54 crew on Eniwetok 1957/1958. I am in the front row 2nd from the right, We were all with the 4951 Support Squadron. Note the emblem on the nose wheel doors symbol of Operation Hardtack. This C54 was a veteran of the Berlin airlift. Also note the uniform of the island. |
 Photo from Chuck Manning. Click on the picture for a larger view. |
Burn A Hole In The Universe
The sounds of fire crackers; the hot summer sun on my back; and a day of fishing with my Dad; these are where my thoughts had turned to on this 4th of July 1957.
I was standing looking out over a beautiful tropical bay. I was on the shore of a small island in the Marshall Island chain. The island was Eniwetok Atoll. It is a chain or circle of small islands in the Pacific Ocean. They all formed the Atoll that was thirty-two miles in circumference. I was not alone, but was standing with a group of other Air Force personnel. We were here to support the testing of the new atomic weapons for America. Eniwetok is the main island in the chain and it was used by the military for support of the Atomic Energy Commission that had its own base on the next large island in the circle. This island is named Jane. All civilian personnel were stationed on this small, one half mile wide island. We had been on a build-up for a new string of atomic tests for the last six months. We had already tested several sizes of atomic bombs in the past months. However this was a special day. Today we were going to get a close look at a new weapon, a four megaton hydrogen bomb. The first one tested and it was going off just across the bay on another of the Atoll’s small islands. This small island was only thirty-two miles away from where we had gathered to watch the blast.
Fishing was one of the great things I can remember doing with my dad. It seemed to be, as I remember, my own special time with him. We shared thoughts and joked about no fish biting or who had the smallest or largest fish. Days that stayed with me and in my thoughts for ever.
The bay in the Pacific island group was as clear as any fresh water you could find and the day was fresh and the sun was hot. I was waiting for the countdown to begin. All tests started with a 10 count backwards to zero. Then, a forward count started to 10, allowing us to look at the blast. We were issued dark goggles and steel World War II pith helmets and we were wearing our regular issue short sleeve pants and shirts. They told us to put on our long flight fatigues and our rain ponchos. I felt as if I was in a sauna as I waited for the countdown to begin. Instructions came over the loudspeakers to face away from the blast, crouch down on your knees, move to the edge of the bay and put nothing between you and the blast.
The fishing pole jerked in my hand. It was hard, very hard! I jerked back and the fishing pole bent almost double. I screamed out Dad! Dad!! I hear all kinds of instructions coming from him. Do this. Don’t do that. Hold the pole this way. Reel that way. Don’t lose him. Reel! Reel! Wear him down. I know my dad wanted to grab the pole out of my hands, but he didn’t. He let me have the fun of bringing in the fish, all the way into the shore. Then it was like the dance of victory for both of us as he put the three pound fish on the stringer and placed it in the lake. Good job! Great catch! Bait up and put the pole back in the water. Catch another one.
DO NOT LOOK AT THE BLAST UNTIL TOLD TO DO SO. Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven. The goggles were so dark I could barey see the sun. Six, Five Four. I tucked my head down low, closed my eyes. Three, Two, One, Zero. I do not feel anything. There is no sound. One, Two, Three. I can feel heat on my back, like a strong sun. Four, Five, it's hotter, feels as it may burn me. Six, Seven, it's going to burn. I want to stand and run behind something. Eight, Nine, it's too hot. Ten, you can now stand, turn and look at the BLAST. I stood up, swung and looked. The flash was so bright it blinded me through the goggles. My hands went up, out of instinct to protect my eyes. I could not believe what I was seeing. My first thought was GOD will stop this weapon from existing.
The sun was going down over the lake and dad was saying things like, "Its time to go home for supper." It was a great day and did I have fun. Reel in the poles. Throw out the bait. Get the fish. Load up the car. Its time to go home. I wonder what mom has fixed for dinner. Fishing sure wears you plum out. I slept all the way home.
Some things are hard to explain, especially when you have never seen anything like it before. It’s sort of like a dream. There was a large hole being eaten in the universe. It was being opened by a ring of energy. Like a cancer eating the sky. The opening was continuing to enlarge. The part that was open or in the center of the hole looked like a structure, like intertwining large worm holes, twisting around each other. The open hole began to close now, and the heaven was healing itself. When it closed, a fire ball shot out ten miles in all directions. There was something in the fire ball I can not describe. I can only say they were a creation of the hydrogen energy.
Hot soup and grilled cheese sandwiches were waiting at home. Dad spent some time cleaning the fish out back of the house. We spent dinner sharing wild tales about the day. The large fish that Dad had missed and I was the champion with the largest catch of the day. Then dad took me out that night to look at the fireworks, the large bursts in the sky of red, green, blue and white.
The mushroom cloud began to form when the fireball had drawn back. It started up and outward. A mass so large and so full of awful colors as it overlaid the clear blue sky. The sound hit with a boom so big that it knocked me back five or six feet. It set me on my bottom. I would have stayed there and watched the bomb play itself out. But, it was going out with a big finish. The ocean began to withdraw away from the shore as if someone had opened up the bottom of the ocean. It was going to empty like a big bath tub. The ocean pulled out two hundred and seventy-five yards or so from shore, exposing an old sunken war ship from WW2. When it stopped retreating, the ocean came rushing back like a wild beast, rushing the shore and causing several tidal waves to lap over the island.
The 4th of July was over and it was time for my bath and for bed. I do not know why it’s so tiring to go fishing, but when I went down, I was out like a light, like any six year old.
WHY? WHY? Would GOD let humans use a weapon like this on other humans? This eighteen year old, did not think he would. I fell into silence. It’s time we took our son's hands and put the fishing poles in the car and head to the lake or ocean and put a sign on the world that states. GONE FISHING!
Chuck Is Now 61 years old and he has five children, eight grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren. Happy 4th of July.
Chuck Manning
Email: cme4re@gte.net
