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Atomic vet recalls 1946 bomb tests _ and aftermath

it was 1946 and the war was over. Instead of going to war, Beatty went to the Marshall Islands. There he met up with an adversary that was neither Japanese nor German but would hound him for life — radiation.

He was part of Operation Crossroads, the U.S. military’s first postwar experiment with nuclear weapons. The fourth and fifth atomic detonations in history, test shots Able and Baker, took place at Bikini Atoll in the summer of 1946.

Now 80 years old, the Clinton resident remembers it well.

All told, 42,000 people participated in Operation Crossroads, with about 37,000 of them Navy personnel.

…………………

The stated purpose of Operation Crossroads was to test the effects of nuclear weapons on Navy warships and equipment and material. Beatty and others believe an unstated goal was to test the effects on military personnel. In order to keep their funding, defense agencies had an interest in making it all look manageable.

More than 90 ships were assembled in the target area around Bikini Lagoon, fully armed and equipped, just as they would be at time of war. The biggest of the target ships was the Saratoga.

Not everything went according to plan with Able. The B-29 pilot and crew missed their target by 1,500-2,000 feet.

Some of the target ships that figured to be sunk actually survived and were deemed not too hot for habitation. Beatty and other crew members reboarded the Saratoga within hours of the Able test and — after putting out several small fires on the flight deck — assumed their normal duties…………………………….Truth is, Beatty doesn’t know how much radiation he received at Bikini or thereafter. Nobody does. That’s because he never received or wore any kind of radiation measurement device during Operation Crossroads………………………….

Beatty honored his military commitment. He honored the oath of secrecy he took before participating in the atomic exercises.

He didn’t even tell his family until 50 years after the fact.

What bothers him, now that restrictions have been lifted, is the perceived lack of honesty in dealing with the radiation exposures. His exposure has been estimated and revised upward, but he calls it “just a guess.”

Atomic vet recalls 1946 bomb tests _ and aftermath

Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, uranium, radioactive

October 1, 2008 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | weapons and war