WWII Atomic Veteran on His 90th Birthday

Norman Robinson, just before his 17^th birthday enlisted in the U.S Navy, August, 1945. He sold his car and waited to be called up, which didn’t happen until October. After basic training at Great Lakes, he and his fellow seamen boarded the train to Camp Parks, Shoemaker, CA for assignment.

He boarded the USS Cobra, LSM 258, its destination Lake Charles, LA to be decommissioned along with 15 other LSMs. The Cobra sailed from Treasure Island, through the Panama Canal (where the guys were jumping off the ramp on the bow into the water while they waited, until the Captain hollered through the speaker to knock it off: ships emptied their bilges before entering the Panama Locks, and the waters were full of snacking sharks). The men were kept busy while they waited in line to enter the Locks by washing the ship down with fresh water.

The LSMs were taken to Lake Charles, LA, and the men entertained themselves along the Calcasieu River, shooting cottonmouths as fast as they could reload. The ship was in dock during Mardi Gras. There was a fight during a Coast Guard decommissioning party in a hotel, and a couple of guys came flying over the edge of the balcony as our 4 sailors walked by. The 3 sailors Dad was with were fighters, and knowing he wasn't, handed off their cigarettes, lighters, wallets to him. Jack Carli was a California Golden Gloves contender; The Greek liked a fight. All ended up in jail for the night. Dad said “you're not taking my buddies without me” so in the brig he went. Shore patrol picked them up in the morning and took them back to the ship where the 3 amigos stood a Captain's Mast.

Back on the Streamliner to Camp Parks in Shoemaker CA for reassignment. Dad bumped into Fred Bauer (brother’s wife’s brother). The war was over, but the Navy wanted 3 more months of active duty out of the enlistees. Fred said he was embarking on a “Magic Carpet Cruise.” Dad doesn’t know where he went.

Dad was assigned to APA38 USS Chilton, a Bayfield-class attack transport, along with four other sailors and a chief. A smallboat took them out into the bay and no Chilton. Back to shore, went through the battery of shots they'd had the day before already, back into the smallboat out to the Chilton, which had been delayed picking up supplies. Dad came aboard in need of a haircut. He immediately got extra duty scraping paint.

First port was Pearl Harbor where 1800 troops were dropped off, and then USS Chilton was its way to participate in Operation Crossroads.

 Eniwetok. Dad said it was bombed out and desolate, the waters laced with sunken ships, half submerged. The crew each got a Short Snorter chit which allowed them 2 warm beers apiece, and 2 hours to run around the sand on shore leave.

Dad had his mates sign the back of his Short Snorter.

Back aboard enroute to Kwajalein, Dad was at his station, turning valves on the lowest deck below the engine room. It was 120 degrees and he couldn't hear anything. Engines, fans, boilers, steam. Sailors served 4 hour shifts only – what the Navy determined a human could stand.

On to Bikini Atoll where the ships (and tethered cows, chickens, sheep) were awaiting the Able bomb in Operation Crossroads. The ship was positioned next to the USS Skate. Dad could see the Nevada (painted orange) the Prinz Eugen in the distance, and the other ships shown below. She was ordered out of the target area, and on to its assignment - move Bikini residents off the atoll to Majuro. The atoll had missed the total destruction some of the other islands had endured and its shore was closed up with vegetation. A smallboat took a shore party to hack out an area to settle the people and their animals ashore.

Steaming from Majuro back to Bikini Atoll, they saw the damage inflicted by the Able bomb. Military personnel were washing down the ships still standing: using radioactive sea water. U.S.S. Chilton continued to Pearl Harbor, then on to San Francisco to unload. The ship was not in the area when Baker was detonated.

From California Dad took the train back to Great Lakes Naval Station, and was discharged 6 August, 1946. Recruiters were thick on the base, encouraging sailors to reenlist. Dad was talked into joining the reserves, which turned out to be fortuitous. Drafting for the Korean War was underway; he could have been shipped out as some of his mates were.
I bought Dad a VHS recording of the first dive in the area. Baker bomb had sunk some of the ships still marginally afloat, and since it was detonated underwater, actually brought back up some of the boats. U.S.S. Tuna had been sunk with Able, resurrected with Baker, and ended her life as target practice near Treasure Island after being towed there. Yay, Tuna! Dad had witnessed the Nagato with the superstructure melted and dripping onto the deck before Baker. The divers in the video reported that the superstructure had been squished because of landing on the ocean floor upside down. Dad saw otherwise. Without eye witnesses, history belongs to the late players
For those who need an ending, here are the final resting places of the vessels.

For Dad on his 90th birthday, with love.