10-8  Jack Busby

Manhattan Project, Atomic Energy Commission as Jack Busby remembers by Carla Busby Miller - Aug 24, 2002  

Jack Busby was warned when he was in basic training at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, from December 1945, until some time in 1946, to "not volunteer for anything", but he and about nine others decided to volunteer when volunteers were sought while he was still in training camp. They were shipped out and on the road for a couple of days and ended up in Knoxville, Tennessee.

They were in army trucks and were being taken to the Manhattan Project that later became the Atomic Energy Commission to be MPs who would patrol the perimeter and guard the gates of the complex for the people entering and leaving there. They were near Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Engineers and scientists used the plants on the facility in abundance. They were there 12 to 13 months and then received orders to reassign to Sandia base below the mountains of Los Alamos, New Mexico. They went to Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1947. Later they went on to the air base across from Sandia. Whenever parts were shipped or information was exchanged, two of the MP patrol would travel with those who traveled. Often, two MPs would go to the mountains near Sandia by car or truck and spend the night with those who went.

Then they were transported by plane from the airbase below Los Alamos, New Mexico, to the eventual bomb test site. They traveled to San Francisco, California, then on to Johnston Island in the South Pacific; then Kwajelein and finally to Enewetok of the Marshall Islands for the test drop of the bomb which was dropped from a tower. The island of Enewetok was only three miles long and about a mile wide. Jack was standing guard at the base of the tower and all the other personnel were in the mess hall for lunch. Suddenly, Jack realized that there were sparks flying in the room in the tower, and there was a cracking noise. He cranked the crank phone after hollering up to the tower to anyone who might be up there. He let the person who answered know of the danger of the situation and everyone came boiling out of the mess hall. The Captain did a lot of hollering at him and wanted to know why he had not called sooner. Jack 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. Jack was sure that whoever left a torch on and unattended in the tower had some hollering in his direction...

They 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. When they 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... down to the dirt... On the island, no photographs of any kind were allowed.

On the way back to Sandia, something was guarded on one section of the deck all the way back into Los Angeles, California, or San Francisco, California. Both Marines and Army MPs worked in four-hour shifts to guard the room. Finally, they returned to Sandia Base at the completion of the assignment.

All in all it was a pretty intense assignment.