THE HYDROGEN BOMB TEST

During one of the flights I had been on, our pilot had taken us over a small atoll where Holmes and Narver Construction Company was erecting a 100 foot structural steel tower on a small island in this atoll. This small island was surrounded by a lagoon and a barrier reef. I heard later this island was named Isolalp. The grapevine had it that this was where the hydrogen bomb was to be detonated and that this site was 180 miles from Eniwetok.

When the call came down that they were D- and counting, the RAWIN guys started busting their butts once again. Everybody was on edge, because no one knew anything about this nuclear monster, the big daddy of all nuclear testing. By late afternoon, prior to the test, the brass was satisfied with the weather data, and the blast was scheduled for 4:30) AM, March 1st, 1954, two weeks after my 24th birthday. I know the inversion the last few days had been the narrowest that I had seen in a long time. I had no idea of the significance of that data, but the powers to be were pretty happy about it. We were advised that if we chose to be up when the blast occurred, we were to stand faceing the road that ran past Duffy's Tavern, and were not to turn around until the white light decreased in intensity. At the time I thought, yeah, sure, like we're going to see something 180 miles away!

We were awakened by the siren around 4:15 AM, and we all stumbled out of our tents. It was pitch black. and we were bumping into each other, except for the ones that were smoking, because you could see the glow firm the tips of their cigarettes.

And then it happened! The sky lit up like it was broad daylight! Grizzled Army sergeants fell to their knees, lifting their hands to the heavens, palms upward in supplication! We're talking veterans of wars who'd seen it all! Some were standing, shaking, with tears streaming down their faces! One guy kept saying over and over again, "Oh, my heavenly Father, No, No, No!" As the light started to diminish, we turned around and looked at the sky and it was red! This coloring was from the giant fireball. We couldn't see the fireball itself but the sky remained red longer than the fierce white flash. Someone hollered, "Look at that!" We all looked at the water and it looked like a giant push broom was going over the wave tops, flattening them out. That was the first shock wave, which was followed soon after by another milder one. To put this blast in proper perspective, if a hydrogen bomb were to explode in Columbus, Ohio, in the dark of night, the sky would turn bright in Charleston, WV, Pittsburgh, PA, Indianapolis. IN, and Lexington, KY.

The mess hall that morning was really quiet. Usually there was always some good natured ribbing of each other, guys laughing it up telling jokes, hollering across the room to each other, but not this morning. At the Base Chapel, usually on a Sunday morning there were plenty of places to sit. but not the Sunday following the H-test. It was standing room only! All day long after that test, people seemed to be speaking in low voices, still overwhelmed by that awesome spectacle. As I think back, one thing comes to mind. I was shaking all over and had chill bumps when the blast occurred, even in the tropic heat.

When I rotated back to Hickam, we flew over the test site I'd seen earlier when they were building the 100 foot tower. Around the barrier reef was the deep purple coloring of the ocean. Inside of the reef was the pale green coloring of the shallow water. Where the 1OO toot tower had been placed on this small island there was no tower, there was no island! Instead there was a hole the same color as the deep ocean surrounding the reefl! All of us on the plane sat there staring at that hole.

Chapters
|| The Assignment || Eniwetok || The B-29 Drone Modification ||
|| The Hydrogen Bomb Test] ||
|| Rongerik part 1 || Rongerik part 2 || Rongerik part 3 ||
|| Mystery and Reflections ||

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