The Atomic Experience

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The Atomic Experience

Frank A Bushey Sr - USMC

Bob Wolfe - US Army

Lyle Dodge - US Navy (deceased)

Gary Thornton - US Navy

Click here for: Additional Stories Pg. 1 Update 4/3/09

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Atomic Veteran: Frank A. Bushey Sr., USMC, Plattsburgh, N.Y. (Personal experience & the effect on the family)

My experience at shot "Badger" during the "Upshot-Knothole" series of atomic tests conducted during the spring and summer of 1953 at the Nevada Test Site.

I entered the Marine Corps on January 2, 1952 and served until Jan. 3, 1955 based at Camp Lejuene North Carolina attached to the 10^th Marine Regiment of the 2^nd Marine Division. In the spring of 1953 they told me I was being attached (Temporarily) to the 1^st Battalion 8^th Marine Regiment, and would be participating in an atomic test in the Nevada desert in April. We then had 2 weeks of Chemical, Biological & Radiation (CBR) class down in the 2^nd Battalion’s area.

On April 13, 1953, we embarked on board what I made out to be a C-47 aircraft. There were 43 Marines on board and we sat across from each other with all our gear sitting on the deck between the two rows of us. We took off from Cherry Point, NC at just about midnight. We stopped in New Mexico to re-fuel and then onto Indian Springs AFB in Nevada. It was a rough flight, we hit numerous air pockets, and it felt like the plane fell about 500 feet each time. Many of the Marines were digging out the puke bags that were stored above us. Fortunately, I was not one of them. We arrived at Camp Desert Rock late in the afternoon of April 13, 1953.

Officers and Non-Coms filled the next couple of days with lectures on the do’s and don'ts while we were at the test. THEY TOLD US SEVERAL TIMES THERE WAS NOTHING WE WERE GOING TO EXPERIENCE THAT WOULD HURT OR HARM US IN ANY WAY. I thought at that time, what if they are wrong. We had a walk through the day before the test to see what they had put in harms way. Among the items I remember, there were tanks, radar vans, artillery pieces, machine gun emplacements and areas to tie up sheep and other animals the day of the test located at various points from Ground Zero.

TEST DAY:

We departed about midnight for the test area and were given box lunches and told to EAT THEM BEFORE THE BLAST OTHERWISE THEY WOULD BE CONTAMINATED WITH RADIATION. [We here at the web site are just wondering, that if the box could not protect the lunch, how in the HELL were their stomachs suppose to do it?] The Officer in Charge covered a few more things then we huddled down and tried to stay warm; we still had several hours to wait to hit the trenches for the test and it was a very cold night.

At about 0415, the "Bitch Box" squawked for us to saddle up and enter the trenches. We took our rifles, helmets and packs and entered the 4-foot deep narrow slit trenches that ran down a line parallel to the 300-foot bomb tower that stood approximately 3600 meters away. Each Marine assumed a right knee kneeling position with the right shoulder pressing against the forward wall that kept our heads just below ground level. As we waited, music played over the load speakers.

When the bomb went off, the ground shook so violently it threw us back and forth in the trenches. The sound of the blast was very, very load and the 23-kilo-ton bomb had a lot of kick. I smelled something very acrid and heard a high-pitched crack; that sounded somewhat like thunder but with a much higher pitch. The valley went from total darkness to a level of brightness as if 100 suns had come to life at once. I could see rocks on the ground in the bottom of the trench through closed eyelids and as I turned my head to the left, I could see the skeleton of the Marine next to me as if I were viewing a huge x-ray of him. THEY DID NOT TELL US ABOUT THIS. The winds created by the blast were of hurricane strength going out, and about half that on the echo return. We received the word to stand and look at the fireball. All the colors of the rainbow were present, it was both beautiful, and ugly at the same time (like angry).

Ordered out of the trenches and into a skirmish line attack the battalion sized operation with 800 Marines advanced on ground zero. Shortly into the attack, an unanticipated wind came up in to our faces. [THE DEFENSE NUCLEAR AGENCY (DNA) DOCUMENT OF SHOT BADGER 6015F STATES AT THIS TIME IN THE MANEUVER, ‘THE FIRST BATTALION 8^TH MARINES WERE EXPOSED TO AN UN-EXPECTED AND UN-ANTICIPATED AMOUNT OF RADIATION DOSE CAUSED BY A WIND SHIFT’ THAT WAS UP TO ABOUT* 19 MPH.] * We never the less continued the advance 500 yards towards ground zero until stopped; and told to hustle back to the trench line. (* I converted knots to mph)

People with common house brooms met us just before the trench lines to sweep the "HOT" people down, which turned out to be the vast majority of us. I was swept down three times before they said I was OK (Today, I wonder what OK meant in those days). My nose and throat were parched with dust, as we had not been issued masks. It is impossible to estimate the radioactive dose we ingested from the dust although the DNA report says masks were issued. Had they been, issued, we certainly would have used them. [DNA 6015F SAID THE HIGHEST RADIATION DOSE WE RECEIVED WAS 7.6 REMS] Once ingested; the radioactive particles would have to exit the body through the GI tract. Radioactive particles retained in the body would settle and attach themselves to the inside wall of the lungs or travel into the blood stream causing mutations in the white and red blood cells, cloning themselves and settling in tissue or other organs of the body. Perhaps even more hideous is the mutations which can occur to the genes that I am sure to have passed on to my children and grandchildren and theirs to come. In recent years, doctors found that along with all cancers, cardiovascular disease could occur in those exposed to radiation. We remained in the test area for about another six hours breathing the dust before we returned to Camp Desert Rock and ultimately Camp Lejuene on the April 20, 1953. I was 19 at the time of the test and would receive orders for Korea shortly after that.

I received my discharge at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on January 3, 1955 and began having troubles in the early spring. All of my teeth had to come out. When I entered the Corps, I had a two-tooth bridge and the rest of my teeth were in Class A condition. It would be about twenty-five years before I tied the loss to the atomic test. I had my first heart attack at 0430 on June 18, 1973 almost twenty years to the day of the atomic test. They treated me for almost a year with drugs to arrest the almost constant angina. I microscopic Hematuria and still do but they could nail that down with drugs. They said I had diabetes and had to watch what I ate and it did come down to taking pills for that within a few years. Twenty years later the meds no longer worked and one of earliest heart cauterizations ever performed revealed 100% blockage of the right artery, 99% blockage of the left artery and the left circumflex almost occluded. They performed a triple heart by-pass surgery. I spent eleven days in the hospital. I was off work for over a year and on light duty for another year after that. Between 1978 and 1990, I had one knee totally replaced (Osseo arthritis) and the other knee cleaned out of bone chips arthroscopic. In May of 1996, another triple by-pass operation had to be done. This was not a piece of cake; the doctor had big problems cutting through the old scar tissue. Another heart operation is out of the question. In 1997, a colonoscopy showed a tumor the size of bandy hen egg and a prostrate gland 8-needle test turned up six positives. They took the prostrate gland out on October 30, 1997. Four months later on March 2, 1998 the tumor and six inches of colon were removed. I had to have 64 photons of direct radiation to the prostrate bed, 37 treatments between November 2003 and January 2004. Last summer I had the gall bladder removed. The doctor said she had never seen one that bad. It was stiff like plastic with the common duct plugged so badly they could not get a needle through it. It was not cancerous though. That is just my medical history.

Back to present day Plattsburgh. The consequences of my service have caused me many medical problems over the years and very early in my life (39 years old). I am not sorry I joined the Corps and the three years really set me up with higher standards in my life and a greater appreciation for life. I would do it all over again if I had to. A big problem though and one more painful to me is the medical history of my children and grandchildren and the mutated genes I am sure were passed on to them and may well belong to future generations.

Of our seven children, five sons and two daughters, the mutated genes passed to six. We lost a little girl at seven months old in 1957 and I still believe to this day that her little immune system was compromised through me. Three of our sons have problems; Frank Jr. had to have his prostrate gland removed at age 50. His twin brother Floyd had to have a cancerous rib removed from his right rib cage a year later and Craig had a cancerous growth removed from his back earlier this year. Two of Frank's daughters had ovary problems at puberty, and one had to come out. Craig and two of our daughter’s girls have vitilligo an autoimmune disease.

FRANK A. BUSHEY SR.

fbushey7628@charter.net

Earlier this year we asked several atomic veterans and surviving spouses to attend a hearing on HCR 5018 scheduled for March 20, 2007 in the State Senate, Topeka, Kansas. Mr. Wolfe responds below followed by Lyle's story with the permission of Mrs. Ruth Dodge.

Larry,

Mr. Wolfe would have come to hearing, had forgotten about medical appointment at 11:00 on same day. He is beginning to have trouble keeping liquid diet down now. I thanked him, told him his physical well being and health more important than hearing.

Gary

----- Original Message ----- Bob Wolfe - US Army

From: bob wolfe

To: Txtxi@sktc.net

Sent: Saturday, March 17, 2007 4:19 PM

Subject: Atomic Veteran Experience

This is a history of my experience at an atom bomb site and my cancers since then. You can edit it any way you feel necessary. I am sorry I could not be there in person.

I was sent to camp Desert Rock, Nevada in July of 1953. This was after I returned from Korea. I was experienced with incoming mortar and artillery fire while in Korea and thought that an atomic blast should not be too impressive since we were suppose to be in trenches 3 miles away. They said the atomic blast would be as strong as the one dropped in Hiroshima

It was a sunny morning, we were in the trenches, a loud speaker went off and told us to kneel down and keep our eyes open. When we saw the white light, we were to stand up and keep our backs to the trench other wise the shock wave would knock us down. It was a tremendous explosion and intense light even on this sunny day three (3) miles away.

We were then told, to get out of the trench and were marched up to the edge of ground zero looking at the various exhibits, including two houses built just for the test.

Since then I have had kidney cancer in 1988 and the kidney was removed.

In 1994, I had prostate cancer and received radiation treatment for this.

In May-04, I had nasal pharynx cancer, it was too close to the brain and they could not operate. I had about 7 weeks of radiation and chemotherapy.

In May-05, I had cancer in my left ear down into the ear canal and underwent surgery for this.

The treatment for cancer in my head left me with no appetite and no taste buds. In addition, my upper saliva gland quit working. Due to these conditions, it is very hard to eat food and I live on nutritional drinks. It is getting close to 3 years now and I do not have all my energy or strength back.

Bob Wolfe -Topeka

Lyle Dodge - US Navy (deceased)

At the conclusion of World War II, Lyle Dodge found himself in Tokyo Bay for the Japanese surrender. There is little doubt that this was indeed a joyous occasion. Soon, he and his shipmates would head home to live out their lives free of the carnage and horrors of a war they had survived. It would have been impossible for Lyle to imagine that for him a new war, a lifetime battle with an unseen enemy lay just ahead. We pray that you will join us in this effort to obtain recognition for Lyle and the countless thousands of others who have waged a similar battle. In addition, lest we forget, we owe a debt of gratitude to the wives who waged this very personal battle along side them.

Following the surrender, Lyle Dodge and hundreds of other service members were ordered ashore to assist with the clean up operation at Hiroshima. Working unprotected in this highly contaminated area may well have introduced them to the demons that would torture them over the course of their lives. However, for some like Lyle it was just a beginning.

Departing Japanese waters aboard LSM 158 with the Japanese Battleship Nagato (raised by the Navy) in tow, Lyle was on his way to Pearl Harbor and then home. After nearly two months at sea, they arrived at Pearl, where Lyle and the Battleship Nagato were both transferred to LSM 147 and directed to Bikini Atoll. A massive target fleet comprised of US, UK, Japanese and other foreign-flagged vessel were being assembled for "Operation Crossroads", the first peacetime test of two atomic bombs (Able and Baker) since the conclusion of the war.

1946 Operation Crossroads "Shot Baker" - a shallow water test at Bikini Atoll

After reaching the target area, Lyle Dodge, the Kansas farm boy was tasked with the care and placement of five cows and seven sheep in stalls made for them on a target ship. The animals would serve as test specimens. They were shaved, covered with lard, tinfoil and suntan lotion.

According to Lyle, "Dave's Dream" an Air Force bomber dropped "Able" the first bomb over the assembled target fleet in early July 1946. Although there were damaged ships in the target fleet and several on fire, none sank. Assigned to the recovery detail, Lyle explained that the aftermath was not a pleasant sight. He and others boarded the highly contaminated target vessel (unprotected) to recover the animals, which had been killed and/or mutilated.

In the later part of July 1946 the second bomb "Baker", a shallow water detonation" caused considerable damage and contamination to the target fleet. The Battleship Nagato would sink five (5) days later.

According to Lyle, sleep was almost impossible in the early morning hours that preceded the "Baker" test, as temperatures never got below 99 degrees and there was smoke and the odor of burning ships. At 5 a.m., "Reveille" sounded; it was time to "chow down" and then all went topside for the US Navy's show. At 7 a.m. a small boat with the bomb Baker aboard, riding heavy with 12 Navy personnel and a hoist, went to the center of the bay, and Baker was hoisted over the side, along with the Navy Seals.

At 9:20 a.m. general quarters sounded. Captain Blandy had promised protective gear but they received nothing. The baker detonation made a real mess when it exploded underwater. Tidal waves and aftershocks ensued, but the fallout was worse. With every inch of their bodies covered with ash, and no usable water to wash off with, they used wood alcohol to clean up. The entire crew of this flotilla was exposed to radiation from the blast, and the Geiger counters continued to click as they were run across their bodies.

Two days later, they received orders back to Pearl Harbor, then San Francisco and San Diego (they still had not seen doctors or received treatment), where they picked up a new captain and partial crew and headed for Panama, Guantanamo Bay Cuba and up to New Orleans.

Three months later the crew was sent to St. Louis for discharge but received no pay, so Lyle hitchhiked to Kansas City, paid five dollars for a train ticket to Hiawatha and hiked home from there. Lyle's pay had been $31 a month, plus $5 sea duty and $7 hazardous duty, for a total of $43. From this, they were expected to buy an $18.75 war bond.

Lyle Dodge carried 194 rads of radiation in his blood. He battled five different cancers with as many operations. All three of his children, his three remaining grandchildren and one of his great grandchildren have health issues. His great grandson was born with a large mass in one lung and had surgery to remove the lower half of that lung. However, according to the government, where the radiation in Lyle Dodge's blood came from is a mystery.

In the final months of Lyle's life, he was undergoing treatment for his sixth different cancer. When it was determined that his body could take no more he and Ruth returned home to Hiawatha under the care of hospice. At this time, we had already undertaken this effort to obtain recognition for the atomic veteran but realized it would not come soon enough. Gary Thornton of Leon, Kansas purchased an Atomic Veteran Jacket and forwarded it to his friend and shipmate with a personal letter of appreciation for Lyle's service, sacrifice and contribution to our nation.

According to Ruth, he was both moved and pleased, and he insisted on wearing it at least once. He then had it hung over the back of chair in the room so he could proudly point it out to visitors. On November 14, 2006, Lyle Dodge passed away. He was 80 years old.

In his final days, Lyle Dodge was not bitter about his experiences nor consumed by the harsh realities of his illnesses. We are certain that he was ever thankful for a loving family and filled with pride for the shared service and experience with his shipmates, despite the fact that his claims for service connection and disability were all declined.

He and Ruth, together, shared the experience and managed at the same time to raise two grandchildren on $876 a month social security.

We know what an Atomic Service Medal would have meant to him and will mean to his family.

Gary Thornton - Chief Petty Officer USNR Ret

One would only need to consider the experience of a nineteen-year old seaman, selected with six others from the ships crew and stationed on the open deck during several successive tests in order to understand and appreciate the character and dedication to duty of all who participated. With youthful anticipation, the small group stood on the open deck as directed in the sweltering tropical climate, covered head to toe in successive layers of fowl smelling oil and carbon impregnated clothing and other presumably protective gear as they awaited the uncertainty and unknown outcome of the event they were about to experience. Isolated from the ships crew, battened down below decks, they stood fast in the face of the unknown despite their personal jitters and fears in the highest traditions of the United States Navy. In the wake of the first test, youthful anticipation was replaced with the knowledge that they truly stood in harms way and were witness to a power previously unfathomable. Believing their job was complete, they were informed that additional tests would be conducted. They unsuited and suited again for several more tests and were quarantined on deck for the better part of several days with only brief respite once a day for personal functions and to eat until the completion of the successive tests. Burdened with the increasing knowledge of what they faced they completed their assigned task to the weather deck recovery detail to collect debris from the detonations. They would experience bleeding from the nostrils, considerable chest pain and difficulty breathing from the pressure of the detonations and coagulation of blood in their nostrils and throats. Their vision would be painful and temporarily obstructed from the intensity of the detonation, even thru tightly closed eyes and protective gear such that, for a period of time, when it was possible to open their eyes, they could only see trace outlines but not the mass of the structure surrounding them.

This 19-year-old Seaman would complete his active duty but would return to the service of his country when years later there was a call for experienced personnel. He would continue that service and retire as a Chief Petty Officer from the United States Naval Reserve.

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I know this Chief and I am personally proud to have served with him for the final three years of his career. I know him to be an honorable man of the highest integrity whose word I accept without reservation or doubt. Although retired, he continues to serve his shipmates, fellow service members, widows and spouses at every opportunity.

For many of the participants, it would be years before the debilitating after effects of their exposure in the form of cancers would commence their deadly march through their lives. For others, blessed with continued good health, there will always be a lingering question of future problems yet known. In a very real way, every single participant is still serving; quietly with grace and dignity and without the simplest form of recognition.

We hope you will join our effort to recognize Bob, Lyle, Gary and the thousands of other Atomic Veterans who lived, served and suffered in order to secure our future.

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