Newspaper Page Text
♦ THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2006
6A
ENCOUNTER
From page iA
That night his friend found
him on his way from the fac
tory and said: “I come to tell
you John C. that I am going
to join the Navy tomorrow.”
Smith’s answer: ”If you give
me a couple of days I might
come and sign on, too.”
Wilkerson, Smith said,
shook his head and said: “If
you do not come tomorrow
you will not see me again”
“It was 1950 and the
draft was running,” Smith
elahorated. ”It was a bet
ter idea for me to choose
them than for them to choose
me. I signed on to be an
Internal Communications
Electrician.”
The boot camp and the fol
low on training were held
at the Great Lakes Naval
Training Center.
Smith joined the crew of
the USS Delta in San Diego.
Delta AR 9 berthed at San
Diego shortly after that. His,
the ship’s mission, he said,
was to provide repair ser
vices to ships of the Pacific
Fleet.
Shortly after that, he
was transferred to the USS
Molala ATF 106.
“It was a sea going tug and
did it work,” he said.
Then came the mission.
“In 1952, the ship’s captain
called the crew together on
the fantail,” Smith recalled.
“Captain grew serious and
SAFETY
From page iA
cautioned Patsy Zoumberis,
RN, Health Educator for
Houston Healthcare’s
Community Education and
Services Department and
Coordinator of Houston
County’s Safe Kids Coalition.
“Riding toys should also not
be used near vehicle traffic,
stairs, swimming pools or
other bodies of water.”
Under federal law, new
toys cannot contain hazard
ous substances or pose a
danger of electrical shock,
burns or mechanical inju
ry such as pinched or cut
fingers. The Child Safety
Protection Act, a federal toy
labeling law, requires manu
facturers to place warning
labels on toys that pose a
choking hazard to young
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Contributed
Promoting school attendance, the Perry Primary PTO sponsored an ice cream social
recently for those students who had perfect attendance for the first nine weeks of
school. There were 130 students eligible to participate. Students received ice cream
cups and a certificate for their accomplishments. The school, via release, would like
to: “Thank you PTO for your ongoing support at Perry Primary.” Pictured are some of
the students with their certificates of accomplishment and others taking part in the ice
cream treat.
we were all
a little ner
vous. The
captain
asked who
would vol
unteer for
this secret
mission.
“The cap
tain did
not tell us
5U *
SMITH
much. I even wrote home
about it, telling my mother
that she could probably read
most of it in the newspaper”
The captain asked the ques
tion and said, ‘lt was volun
tary and if you did not want
to go you didn’t have to.’ I
raised my hand to go.”
He found out the mission’s
name later: “Operation
Castle.”
The Navy describes it on
the website nuclearweapo
narchive.org/Usa/Tests/
Castle.html as follows:
“Operation Castle was a
series of high yield thermo
nuclear weapon design tests
... fuel - was a spectacular
(and disastrous) success with
a yield far exceeding expecta
tions. Some of the other tests
were also much larger than
expected - in fact the three
largest tests ever carried out
by the U.S. were all part of
Operation Castle.”
The USS Molala’s job was to
tow the target ship to a point
designated. No one knew the
exact location. Once there
the USS Molala, running at
18 knots, had two hours to
children three to six years
of age. Any toy with small
parts is prohibited if intend
ed for children less than
three years old. Hazardous
art materials must also be
labeled as “inappropriate for
use by children,” and realis
tic-looking toy guns are sub
ject to labeling requirements
as well.
“It is important for par
ents to follow the age and
safety recommendations
on the labels of each toy,”
explained Zoumberis. “If a
child receives secondhand or
hand-me-down toys, parents
should visit www.recalls.gov
to make sure the toy has
not been recalled for safety
reasons. They should also
promptly complete and mail
new toy product registration
cards to the manufacturer
so they can be notified if the
toy is ever recalled.”
Ice cream social
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Navwourre.org
The USS Molala, John C. Smith’s last assignment before he left the Navy.
get her crew and ship out of
the way. The distance they
traveled was approximately
41 nautical miles from the
target zone.
Everyone was issued a
square of very dark glass.
Just a square, they weren’t
goggles,” Smith said. “We
were told not to look at the
first blast,” he said. “We
didn’t but from the deck we
watched after the blast as a
large shaft of water came up
first then over the top. The
clouds seemed to boil out of
the water shaft.
“Then a second and then
a third column rose, all of
the columns then boiled and
the shock wave from the first
explosion hit us.
“The ship listed very little
but instead rode the shock
waves as they came over the
Parents should also not
hesitate to report toy defects
or design features that seem
dangerous. “If your child
has a close call, the next
child might not be so lucky,”
warned Zoumberis. “Report
safety concerns about toys
to the Consumer Product
Safety Commission at 800-
638-2772 or www.cpsc.gov.
Your experience could be
part of a pattern that might
lead to a recall.”
Safe Kids also recom
mends parents follow these
precautions when allowing
children to play with toys:
• Use a cardboard tube
from a roll of toilet paper to
identify choking hazards. Do
not let small children play
with anything that can fit
into one of these cylinders.
• Inspect toys often to
make sure they are in good
repair. Do not let young chil-
LOCAL
surface of the ocean. The heat
was intense but we never
went below.”
Smith intensely focused on
what followed.
“Orders then came that we
were to pick up the ship we
had towed about 10 hours
before. Our first attempt
with a long arm missed. It
was still really hot on the
surface.
“The hull of that ship was
deep in the water and it was
all blacked. We had to veer off
and then return for a second
try. This time we made it.”
The next part for the crew
was to wash the ship down.
“We washed it several
times,” Smith recalled. “After
each time we washed it we
had to go through the show
ers too. One time we had
showered down and on the
dren play with broken toys
or toys with straps, cords
or strings longer than seven
inches due to the risk of
strangulation.
• Supervise children
playing with any toy that
has small parts, moving
parts, electrical or battery
power cords, wheels or any
other potentially risky com
ponent. Simply being in the
same place as the child is not
necessarily supervising. An
actively supervised child is
in sight and in reach at all
times and is receiving undi
vided attention.
• Teach children to
put toys away after play
ing to help prevent falls
and unsupervised play, and
make sure toys intended for
younger children are stored
separately from those for
older children.
For more information on
VOTERS
From page iA
The county paid $21,841
for 212 poll workers to
man the precincts for the
Nov. 7 general election.
In that election 31,219 or
53.77 percent of the voters
turned out. That election
cost about .069 cents per
vote.
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way past the Geiger counter
it began to scream. The men
in the protective suits then
checked me again, and found
that I had radiation between
my fingers. I had to start
again before they would let
me go.”
Smith added that not
everyone was even that
“lucky.” He said they had
gotten word that when the
wind shifted several ships
were in the way.
“A couple of those guys
did not make it,” he said.
“Several were burned but
were still alive.”
Smith received a certifi
cate that said he had par
ticipated in the operations.
There were no other special
medals and, he added, there
was very little care available
back then.
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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
Many sailors and other ser
vices had to suffer and find
medical attention on their
own, he said.
Today, his is a quiet life.
Gone is his wife Ht /el and
a million other memories.
Oftentimes he has to dig
through drawers and cabi
nets to look up even the sim
plest of information he said
he’s forgotten.
But there is one image that
will never go away.
Author’s note: For those
who served in these areas,
changes have happened in
the care of veterans. The
Radiation Exposed Veterans
Compensation Act of 1988
was passed with 13 radio
logical diseases covered at
that time. Since, the at has
been amended. If you or any
of your loved ones has been
on duty during these nuclear
device testing times or others
conducted in order to develop
these weapons, contact your
Veterans Administration. You
can put in a claim and be
evaluated.
Find out the new guidelines
for Cold War Veterans, even
Gulf war Veterans, today.
The VA website for this
information. http://www.
va.gov/oaalpocketcard/cold
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