In 1956, the United States detonated 17 H-bombs in the South Pacific, including the two deadliest explosions ever to occur anywhere on our planet—before or since.

The 1,612 soldiers stationed at the headquarters island (including me, a draftee) were sent there to “observe” this nuclear test series, named Operation Redwing. Wearing only T-shirts and shorts and without Radsuits, high density goggles or other protective gear, we were exposed to radiation and fallout.

NUKED: I Was A Guinea Pig For The U.S. Army (67 pages) describes all 17 tests in detail.

THE ATOMIC TIMES: My H-Bomb Year at the Pacific Proving Ground (288 pages) presents a fuller picture of the traumatic consequences—psychological and sexual—endured by men living in isolation on a remote and deadly island without women. Most of us (including me) were assigned for twelve months to a barren flatland less than one square mile in size, known to the men who lived there as The Rock.

THE ATOMIC TIMES was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize by the American hardcover publisher Random House and is available in e-book editions.

“A gripping memoir of the first H-bomb tests by one of the small groups of young servicemen stationed at Ground Zero on Eniwetok Atoll. Leavened by humor, loyalty and pride of accomplishment, this book is also a tribute to the resilience, courage and patriotism of the American soldier.”—Henry Kissinger

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