Soldier News continued, 1946

Ruth Van Akin Promoted to 1st Lieutenant

Bainbridge News & Republican, August 29, 1946

 

1st Lieut. Ruth VanAkin

 

Lieut. VanAkin is the former Ruth Olmsted and graduated from Deposit High School with the Class of 1930.  She began her hospital training by working as a Red Cross nurses' aide in Washington, D.C., studied in Montreal, Canada, and completed her training course in Physical Therapy in Los Angeles, Calif.,  She was sent to Fort Lewis, Wash., early in 1944.  In April of this year she was assigned to one month's duty with the hospital train unit and came east delivering patients to hospitals nearer their homes.  She was given a two weeks' leave at home and returned to Fort Lewis in May.  She found her promotion to first lieutenant waiting as a pleasant surprise.  Lieut. VanAkin is in charge of a department in physical therapy at Madigan General Hospital.

 

Lieut. Ruth VanAkin, P.T. of Fort Lewis, Wash., is daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Olmsted, of Bainbridge, R.D.2. [Chenango Co.,  NY]

 

Stewart Cudworth Discharged from Navy

Bainbridge News & Republican, August 8, 1946

 

Stewart Cudworth, ETM 3/C, has been discharged from the Navy and has arrived at his home here after serving with the Navy in China.

 

Frank J. Strasnicsak Discharged from Navy

Bainbridge News & Republican, August 1, 1946

 

Frank J. Strasnicsak, SF 3/C was discharged from the Navy at Shoemaker, Calif., July 16 after one year of service in the Pacific area, and arrived at the home of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Herman Strasnicksak, July 22.  Entering the service June 20, 1945, he served on the USS Admiral W.S. Sims and LST No. 1106.  He holds the Asiatic-pacific Ribbon, American Theatre and Victory Medal.

 

Alvin W. Hayes Takes Part in Atomic Test

Bainbridge News & Republican, August 8, 1946

 

The Bainbridge News has received an interesting account of the atomic bombing of Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands, from Alvin W. Hayes, CSM, USN, who is Chief Signalman of the USS Fall River (CA131), flag ship of the target vessels for the test.  The letter follows:

 

How hour (hour of release of atom bomb) was set for 0830.  Able minus one day and the target ships were being evacuated and ships were leaving the atoll on schedule.  It was a beautiful day and all hands were hopeful that the next day would be nice.  When darkness fell, only five ships were left that had to be out before How hour.  The flagship of the target group (USS Fall River) was the last one to leave on Able day working last minute checks and surveys to be sure no men were left aboard and that equipment was in shape.

 

Suddenly the word came through that How hour had moved up half hour to 0900.  On looking overhead and at the horizon you would become skeptical for there were lots of clouds that could obscure the bombers vision.  However as the time approached you realized that all the aerologists who have been working this area for months knew their business.  Overhead everything cleared away leaving nothing but a beautiful blue sky.

 

Ten minutes before Hour the bombardier reported at point Baker, starting the bombing run.  At two minutes of on-course visibility perfect.  All hands on top sides were ordered to sit down on decks with their backs toward point of blast and to cover their eyes tightly with arms.  On the nose of 0900 the bombardier gave "bombs away."  It was an anxious minute before the word to "carry on" was given.  Nobody knew quite what to expect.  Upon the words being given, we all jumped up to see a beautiful white cloud climbing steadily.  At about 5,000 feet it seemed to stop momentarily in its climb; then suddenly another great mass erupted upward from the stationary cloud.  This was repeated again and finally reached its highest point about 30,000 feet above the lagoon.  It was a thing of beauty to behold!.  The sound of the burst took about two minutes to reach us for we were about 17 miles away.  It had a strange sound and effect. To me it had the sound of a bowling alley with the pins being knocked down on the delivery end and the ball continuing down the alley.

 

Outside of the beautiful cloud we saw there was nothing we could determine about what was going on.  We could see black smoke emerging on the horizon so knew there was something on fire.  We moved in as soon as was possible after the area was thoroughly probed by drone boats for radioactivity.  Upon looking at the ships for that first time the thing that impressed me was that most of the ships were still afloat.  There were even bets flying thick and fast as to the amount of ships that would still be afloat.  I will say that the damage to the ships was considerable, but I am not at liberty to talk about it.  How much the newspapers will be allowed to print is a question.  One thing is certain, some mighty flowery reports have gone out over the wires.

 

I believe much will be found out about the atom bomb from this test.  Let us hope what they find out will be diverted into helpful and peaceful channels.  It is a good thing to know its power though--just in case.