Eyewitness of atomic bomb test recalls seeing its ‘power unleashed’
Published 8:34 am Monday, June 26, 2023
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By Lynn J. Richardson
In 1953, 12 years after atomic bombs were dropped on Japan, the world was aware the United States was in a control of a devastating weapon. But the devastation in Japan was far from home, and few Americans could fully comprehend the monstrous power of such an explosion.
However, one local man, Sgt. Major, U.S. Army, (Ret.) Dean L. Batchelder, Sr., of Elizabethton, remembers the day he saw an atom bomb’s power unleashed in the Mohave Desert.
“It was the most awesome, most destructive thing that I’ve ever seen and yet is was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever witnessed,” Batchelder said. “My ability to express myself as a human being doesn’t allow me the words to describe what I saw.”
Batchelder grew up in Menomonee, Wisconsin. He signed on with the U.S. Army in 1948 at a pay rate of $75 a month. When he returned from Korea in 1951 as a 23-year-old Sgt. First Class, he became the C.B.R. (Chemical, Biological and Radiological) officer for his company.
It was in that capacity that he, along with about 500 other soldiers, was sent to Desert Rock, Nevada.
The reason for that trip, Batchelder said, was because the military was testing the airburst of an atomic bomb.
“Looking on the map now, I can’t find such a place, but I remember the name well,” he said.
He remembers a military bus taking them into Las Vegas and then it was about a 1-1/2 hour bus ride from Las Vegas each way.
Housed in a camp of 10-to-20 man tents — a “city of tents” — in the Mohave Desert, Batchelder said they were there a week.
“At nights, they would bus us into Las Vegas for rest and relaxation. They were treating us ‘guinea pigs’ good,” he added with a laugh. “There were several busloads, probably about 500 of us.
“They were also testing the effects on human beings, buildings, animals and military equipment,” Batchelder added. “They had a small village of houses built and different types of structures — wood, brick and steel — built near Ground Zero, the point directly where they would drop the bomb. It was in a dry lake bed.”
Once in the desert, the men were put in trenches, about a mile from Ground Zero. “The terrain was a gradual slope up from the dry lake bed. It was like we had a grandstand view,” he said.
“When they dropped the bomb, they counted down the last few seconds and told us beforehand to kneel down in the trench and close our eyes. We were told that if we looked at the blast, it would be so bright it would blind us.
“Over a loudspeaker, they were counting down — ’10, 9, 8…’ and at the time that the bomb went off, we were kneeling with our eyes closed. The light was so bright, you could see the light through your eyelids even with your eyes closed.”
After the explosion, they were told to stand up and look, and what they saw almost defied description.
“There was a huge round fireball,” he said. “And by fireball, I mean that it looked just like something that was turning orange and red and it was round and continually burning, changing colors, suspended in air right in front of us. The fireball was growing, getting larger and larger, boiling and changing, going higher and higher.
“Then we looked below it and you could see the blast hit the ground and the dust cloud lift off the ground like a blanket, covering the entire ground over the entire blast area. I would estimate the height of the airburst, as it was from my vantage point, to be about 2,000 feet. I guess the exact height was classified.
“Then all of a sudden, the cloud turned into a funnel. All the dust and debris from the explosion force was sucked up into the center and then into the funnel toward the fireball which continued to rise and grow.
“In an explosion, there is a concussion outward — the noise, the burning of oxygen and then there is movement back toward the center. You don’t see all of this in a regular explosion, but with an atomic bomb, each stage happens separately and you are ablate witness each one,” Batchelder explained.
The cloud got larger and larger and seemed to go above the fireball.
“Eventually the colors in the fireball disappeared and it turned into a huge cloud. As the bomb exploded, we saw a rolling blast wave coming toward us, picking up sand, weeds and other debris.
“They told us to lean against the rear of the trench. Those who didn’t, got knocked against the wall, and this was from a mile away.
“After we witnessed al of this, we got out of the trenches and they called an ‘assault’ for us to move forward down to Ground Zero.”
At that time, the only protective equipment they were provided were WWII-vintage gas masks, with attached eye protection to filter out any debris or dust. Batchelder said he didn’t remember wearing any type of ear protection and they were dressed in regular military fatigues.
The point of the explosion was complete decimation.
“Military trucks that had canvassed tops with braces — that was all gone. All the glass from windshields was gone. Anything plastic was gone. Metal remained but it was charred. The sand, up to a quarter of a mile in each direction, was like…hard baked clay, with little one inch squares, apparently caused from both the impact and the heat. It was vaporized. The same thing with all the small structures — they were all gone.”
Animals had been placed in fox holes to determine the effect on animals and troops, he said. “They used sheep, and close to Ground Zero, the sheep were all dead. Just a little further away from Ground Zero, the wool had been burned and charred. The sheep weren’t dead, but I’m sure they died later.
“We were also ‘guinea pigs,’ in effect,” he added. “They didn’t really know what would happen. We wore badges to measure ‘roentgens’ — the measure of radiation absorbed at that particular point. I think they were testing to see ‘Is it safe?’ and “How much radiation are you going to get if you walk over an area where an atomic bomb has exploded?”
“At that point, I recall there was only a small amount of radiation, but this was not the first atomic bomb test and it was not the last.”
“Years later, the VA (Veterans Administration) called us to check and see if any of us had any lasting effects. They didn’t find any in my case. That was 25-30 years later.”
After the test explosion, Batchelder said he was allowed to go back to his unit and describe the event. He taught classes on how to protect oneself from an atomic explosion, showing training films and giving eyewitness accounts of the event.
“I can’t imagine what the Japanese people went through and the hundred of thousands of people who were killed. But, at that time, it was necessary because it saved hundreds of thousands of young men from having to go into Japan and fight,” Batchelder said.
“I’ve seen storms at sea. I’ve ridden a typhoon out and seen one hit Okinawa that tore things up. But the destructive power of that bomb was just unbelievable.
“There are many things in my life that I can’t recall at all,” he added. “But this made such an impression on me that I can still see it today. I can describe it in detail. It was quite a sight to behold.
“It was so destructive that I hope this world never sees another one.”