James C. Trepoy - CSM Ret. US Army

            I volunteered to be a member of a unit formed to maneuver in an area immediately following the detonation of a nuclear bomb. While serving at Camp Polk, LA a call came out seeking volunteers for the composite battalion.

 

            I volunteered because I had been in the Philippines awaiting the invasion of Japan when the atomic bombs dropped ended the war. Following the surrender, I went on to Osaka, Japan and witnessed the devastation of the fire bombing which had not brought about a surrender and always wondered how powerful a bomb could be that would cause a nation to surrender so quickly. The opportunity to find out arose years later when a call for volunteers came out to take part in a blast.

 

            The composite battalion would form at Fort Bliss with personnel from throughout the Army. Each person was to be a volunteer, have a security clearance and bring no cameras. About 50 career soldiers from Camp Polk volunteered and joined to form the battalion of 600. We then flew to Camp Desert Rock, Nevada.

 

            At Camp Desert Rock, we billeted in large circus tents and received briefings on what to expect during the blast. Personnel received the opportunity to withdraw and return to their units throughout these briefs. During the briefings, they told us cancer, superficial burns and sterility were a possibility for some men. I did not care that we might become sterile from the radiation. Before the blast, we explored the test area and saw the vehicles, buildings, clothed dummies, sheep that were in a four-foot hole and the trenches we would occupy for the test. We would be a mile and a half from ground zero. I recall becoming a bit worried; although we were billeted in the circus tents and putting up with the sand and sand flies, we were feed like kings. Buses took us in to Las Vegas and to Boulder Dam and for a military operation; this seemed too good to be true. Were they fattening us up for the kill? I thought, surely Uncle Sam would not place us in a dangerous position.

 

            On the date of our test, we went to the trench area. Prior to the 28-ton atomic blast, they detonated 20 tons of dynamite so that we might make a comparison between the two. We received no special clothing or protective equipment and wore the regular GI issue clothing. With the long count explained to us, we entered the trenches which were 4 feet deep and shoulder width. We were to cover our eyes and stay in the trench until the second count of 10.         

 

             When the bomb went off, I did not hear the blast and the light was so bright I could see the bones of my hands. The desert became hot and the wind blew across our trenches carrying sand and debris 8 miles back to our transportation staging area; smashing the windows. We had to stay in the trench through the second count because the vacuum created by the initial blast caused the wind to return to fill the void created by the displaced air. We got out of our trench after the second count to see the mushroom and the fireball and the 2 icecaps forming at the top. We then commenced the attack toward ground zero. No one had dosimeters, there were two Geiger counters in front of the troops. My group was stopped at the location of the sheep in the trench because the radiation was too high although others did advance all the way to ground zero.

 

            We then went around examining the results of the bomb. I said to myself, I hope we never have to go thru a nuke attack. When transport arrived, we swept each other off to get rid of the radiation dust, and upon arrival at the base camp, we took showers. At the debriefing, they asked if anyone wanted to be retained and assigned as cadre. I do not think there were any takers. That is all for now as my hands are numb and the words are becoming blurry. My Atomic Blast called Shot Simon was detonated on 25 April 1953.

 

James C. Trepoy
CSM (Ret) US Army
Salina, Kansas

jtrepoy@cox.net

 

            During a follow up phone conversation with James, he said with in a short period of time he had developed a marking with a red tracer that ran up the left side of his back, across the shoulder blade and down the right side of his back just about in the outline of a pack. Although he mentioned to every military doctor he came in contact with that he had been at an atomic test, none seemed to be overly concerned with this. Years later a physician in Salina performed a biopsy on a lump that had developed on his back and it turned out to be Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

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Joseph F. Scraper – Atomic Veteran  Sergeant U.S. Army  

             Joseph was sent from Fort Bliss to a special school at Camp Bullis, Fourth Army Chemical Defense School, Ft. Sam Houston, Texas in Feb 1952 for training in chemical, biological, and radiological weaponry.  The men had to remove their gas masks in a room filled with tear gas and state their name, rank, and serial number before putting the masks back on.  This was to teach them that the masks really did work.  Joe was selected to go to Nevada because he was one of the top trainees in his class.  This led to him becoming a member of the first group without eye protection during Atomic Bomb Testing near Las Vegas at the Nevada Proving Grounds.  This was about the 16th or 17th atomic bomb detonated at the Nevada Proving Grounds and he was told that they were stationed closer to ground zero than had ever been attempted before.  The bomb was detonated on a 300-foot stand and he believes the trench they were in was a mile away. 

First, the flash, then came the heat wave.  Next came the shock wave, and lastly, the noise arrived.  He said they were told that the bombs were about the same size as those dropped on Japan.  The heat flash surprised them in the trench, even though they had been warned.   Buildings, vehicles, and live animals were placed at varying distances prior to detonation.  After the test they walked among the animals, vehicles, and buildings that had been destroyed and inspected them.  They didn't wear any special protective gear.  The annual Las Vegas celebration called Helldorado was in full swing while Joseph was there for the atomic test.

            It seems that the atomic blast that he participated in was either the Fox Shot on May 25th or the George Shot on June 1st 1952.  He recalls that on one weekend they went to a performance by the Hoosier Hotshots (a group of musicians who had been in several movies), and on another weekend they took a tour of Death Valley including the ghost town, Rhyolite.  During the week five busloads of them were picked up at Camp Mercury (living quarters consisting of tents with wooden floors) and taken to a staging area with a stage and seating where performers put on a show and entertained the troops.  He said the shot did not go off on schedule, it was delayed several times.  He mentioned that some of the men wanted to go home during the delays.  Possibly their nerves were wearing thin.  After the shot they inspected the buildings, vehicles, and animals.  One animal, a sheep or goat was still clinging to life, though burnt on one side.

 

            

   Joseph Scraper   U.S. Army basic training photo                   Atomic Blast Fox  1952

    

     Atomic Veteran Joe Scraper Sr. with Daughter Susan Bradley at the KS Atomic Veterans Memorial Highway dedication May 22, 2009