RSSU

Thanks to Terry Hixson and Jim Burlingame for this web site follow up to
the fruitful June 2001 reunion idea. Is a gift to have these early life-event
memories rekindled and savored once again.

Two months ago I began solar orbit number 70. When I think about
having logged about 40.5 billion miles in these orbital travels, dizziness
sets in along with a severe limp in my right leg. I've come to the notion
that it is best to just not focus on the distance. As a hedge against future
memory frailties, maybe it is time to document some things that this
current web site endeavor elicits.

Rad Safe Story

Unlike current times, conscription was a heavy concern for guys my age
after high school. I decided to get the military obligation behind so that life
could then go on uninterrupted. A half year after high school, age 18
happened and so did army life. Basic training at the mile-high sunny
snowfields of Ft. Carson Colorado, then three months at Signal School,
Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey, then on to Ft. McClellan, Alabama. Monmouth
was 40 miles south of New York City. That experience is summarized here

Assignment to Rad Safe happened in April 1958. The place was nearly
vacant but for the short timers just waiting to go home like Carol Brekken
(does Zumbrota Minnesota really have 460 streets?) with whom I shared a
room until being shipped to Eniwetok in June when the security
clearance came thru. As I met sergeants Kilgore, Beegle, and Gazaway I
could see that this was a very special company. The caliber of personnel
chosen to fill the ranks of this company which had a very important
mission was obvious. I slept well at night.
The reality was that having grown up as a fan of Bob (Elliott) and Ray
(Goulding) on the radio, and thus having a taste for droll humor, I was
happy to see that the non-lifer composition of Rad Safe was a whole pile
of well-humored and otherwise interestingly idiosyncratic characters.
Here are some of the fifty year old remembrances of that unique army
experience.

Eniwetok

Worked in Dosimetry and Records section with Burlingame and Kossett,
processed film from dosage badges every night from 4 pm till about 8 pm

Watched the head of George Andruk slowly disappear into the horizon as
he headed out on his afternoon lagoon swim with face mask and snorkel,
saw colorful fish cruise the ports of coral formations - often small white
ones would curiously cozy up to face mask as if they welcomed my visit

Spent midday naked in the sun on the pristine lagoon beach reliving the
age two phenomenon of freedom from concern for clothes and
associated social propriety obligations which stick around for the
balance of life after age two in normal both-gender environments

watched cumulous clouds develop dark gray bottoms to produce brief
rainfall by about 2 pm on a fairly predictable schedule

Noticed the intensity with which Richard Wallace practiced cribbage
maneuvers alone with pipe a-tooting

Water taxi trips to the main island (Fred), and one time seeing a six foot
sea turtle near the surface

Saw post-shot return-water wash over the low part of Parry (Elmer)
following a big shot (Oak?)

Watched monitors during a one R background during a rain that followed
a big shot at Bikini - it lasted an hour and we all picked up at least one R
that day - was reported that the weather guys screwed up in their forecast

Saw lagoon water quickly drain as barge shots sucked up the lagoon
revealing incredible coral formations and flopping fish

Saw evidence of the speed of sound as a one foot high (maybe less)
overpressure wave sped toward us across the lagoon surface about a
minute after shot flash

Ate quite decent food, esp. midnight breakfast following the evening
outdoor movie

When standing, lost balance immediately following shot flash (coincident
with fireball formation) as ground seemed to move about for a few
seconds - never did fall over, was no earthquake but quite noticeable and
silent. This also happened indoors once in the upper level of the Quonset
type of residence structure where I overslept one shot morning, even
after the fire truck alert. I just got out of bed, then saw the flash and felt
the building roll a bit. There is nothing I can point to that explains this.
The motion transfer was conferred about 20 miles at the speed of light or
thereabouts. This phenomenon remains for me a vexing enigma to this
day.

3 am trips to the ham-radio tent at the Fred end of the island for chats with
folks at home

On moonless nights with no sound except the 70 yards distant sea-side
waves breaking on coral reef off to the right, and overhead, aligned with
the length of our skinny island, a glowing band that illustrated what a
pancake-flat galaxy we live in - have never seen the Milky Way that
distinctly since

From the brief landing strip on Elmer, just the width of the island, got a
ride on a 2-seater L-19. Liftoff was smooth and quick. After watching the
instruments for a while, I looked up to find that as I sat comfortably
upright, the earth went screwy with the horizon perfectly vertical, the sky
on the right, the water on the left with a necklace of islands trailing away
toward the center. What a sight! This was a biggie in that 1958
summer-wonderland of new experiences.

Ft. McClellan Alabama

Gartley (?) Parker from Fresno, Ca. sits cross-legged atop Brekken's wall
locker reciting poetry into the night

Howard Scholl found to be in a moment without laughter. What's wrong
Howard?

Almost daily Hearts card games in the day room. I played often along with
Snitch Dawson, Clyde "Jerry" Field, Dave Steelfox, Earl Allen, Dave
Maecker, Roy Brown, Gerald Blakley and others. They were 4, 5, or 6 man
games. What made them interesting was the Bridge-like communication
signals, and the common effort to amass points on the thus-far winning
competitor.

Bunch of guys pile into car Saturday morning for trip to Birmingham.
Arrive at a bar called The Jewel Box in the Dinkler Tutwiler Hotel where I
learned of Benedictine and a consumption methodology, probably from a
drinker of sophistication and renown. Was it Dick Garry or Parker? Rather
than just swig it down, keep your tongue immersed in it for 20 to 30
seconds savoring its evolving essence all the while.

Quick trips to the Georgia border for 6-packs
driving the giant Steelfox Chrysler during his stay at an Atlanta Hospital

Ft. Hood Texas (TDY)

Sharing the tent with an occasional scorpion or two
Clyde, Snitch and I in Dawson's Buick for a weekend trip to Mexican
border town Nuevo Laredo with all the trimmings
at noon a car full heads south to Austin bars, then back north to a Temple
barn dance with Elvis Presley tunes a-wailin, drag back to Ft. Hood, 17
beers per person later at 3 am.

Back to Earth

Thru it all, lots of gripes about mops and brooms and military life in
general, but after it was over I imagined that it could have been a lot
worse, and all the while since then have known that I had the time of my
life.

Gordon Strauss
November 29, 2008

Related links:

PelhamRange - www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/fort-mcclellan.htm
Operation Hardtack - www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Hardtack
Eniwetok Atoll - www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enewetak_Atoll
Bikini Atoll - www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikini_Atoll
Nuclear Weapon Archive - www.ponarchive.org/
Operation Plumbbob - www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Plumbbob