The Manhattan Project and the Atomic Energy Commission as my Dad remembers it.

Dad joined the U.S. Army in Waco, Texas and left for Army basic training.

Dad was warned when he was in basic training at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, in December 1945 "not to volunteer for anything", but he and about nine others decided to volunteer when volunteers were sought while he was still in training camp.

His group of 9 boarded a train at Ft. Belvoir, VA and traveled for a couple of before ending up in Knoxville, Tennessee.

He thought this was going to be a very good assignment until they were then put in army trucks and were taken to the wilds of Tennessee way out in the middle of nowhere.

When Dad arrived at the Army facility that had obviously just been built there was nothing there but the Army facility.

The mission that Dad and the others volunteered for was the Manhattan Project and they were right smack dab in the middle of the building of the atomic bomb!

Dad and the others were assigned to be MPs who would patrol the perimeter and guard the gates of the complex.

These MP's were at what was to become Oak Ridge, Tennessee. When Dad arrived the Army facility did not have a name, the name was added to the gates several days after Dad started working.

Engineers and scientists used the plants on the facility and lived in housing at the site. No one who worked at the facility was allowed to leave without special permission.

Dad loved the assignment but did feel a little out in the open even though there were hills, forest and mountains everywhere.

Dad spent a fun 12 to 13 months in the hills of Tennessee and then received orders to be reassigned to Sandia base below the mountains of Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Dad flew on a special aircraft to Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1947 and later on to the air base across from Sandia, later called Sandia Base. Whenever atomic bomb parts were shipped or information was exchanged, two of the MP's would travel with the bomb parts and those who built the bomb to the other bomb development sites. Often, two MPs would go to the mountains near Sandia by car or truck and spend the night with those who went for special meetings.

The MP's, workers and bomb parts were transported by plane from the airbase below Los Alamos, New Mexico, to the eventual atomic bomb test site.

The MP's and others along with the bomb parts then traveled to San Francisco, California by plane, then on to Johnston Island by ship way out in the South Pacific; then Kwajalein and finally to Eniwetok of the Marshall Islands for the test drop of the bomb which was dropped from a tower.

The island of Eniwetok was only three miles long and about a mile wide. Most of the soldiers lived on the ships and worked on the island getting the bomb ready for testing.

One day while Dad was standing guard at the base of the atomic bomb tower and all the other personnel were in the mess hall for lunch Dad realized that there were sparks flying in the room at the top of the tower, and there was a cracking noise.

Dad cranked the crank phone after hollering up to the tower to see if anyone might be up there. He let the person who answered the phone know of the danger of the situation and everyone came boiling out of the mess hall.

The MP Captain did a lot of hollering at Dad and wanted to know why he had not called sooner. Dad responded that he called as soon as he was aware of the danger. There were many plain-clothes detectives on the base to check out the situation, too.

Dad was sure that whoever left a torch on and unattended in the tower had some hollering in his direction...

Dad and others left the island later that day on the ships and watched through special glasses as the bomb dropped, and even though they were on a ship 30 miles out, the waves created by the blast reached them on the ships. Later when Dad and the others went to the island to check it, it was stripped completely clean except for a concrete bridge. Other than the bridge there was absolutely nothing living or dead remaining on the island, the only thing left was the dirt... On the island, no photographs of any kind were allowed.

On the way back to Sandia, something taken from the island was guarded on one section of the deck all the way back into Los Angeles, California, or San Francisco, California.

Marines and Army MPs worked in four-hour shifts to guard the room built on the deck to house the mystery item. Finally, Dad returned to Sandia Base at the completion of the assignment.

The Army has told soldiers like Dad for years they were not at risk by being so close to the bomb and the bomb testing sites.

Dad was with the bomb when it was being developed, built, transported, assembled, and was within 30 miles of the bomb when it was exploded, then was on the island after the bomb was exploded, and was with a mysterious object taken from the bomb drop site.

Do you think Dad and the others were exposed to enough radiation to cause Dad and the others problems later in life?

All in all it was a pretty intense assignment according to Dad.