FOOTNOTES FOR CHAPTER Y (Contd)
Chrestenson was asked to transmit more information. He inmediately
sent his only reading, "340 at 250 feet altitude," but this message
arrived as "340 mr/hr at 250." Following a hasty conference between
Colonel Houghton and Lt Colonel Crosby, Task Group 7.4 Tech Projects
Officer, Captain Chrestenson was notified to disregard the "no evacu-
ation" message and report the radiological situation at Rongerik.
Captain Chrestenson finally landed at Rongerik at 1130 hours and
quickly took the following readings:
Inside
buildings
Outside buildings
o“eeeee
.....
Outside buildings ......
Surface of one bed in tent .
One inch from ground surface
hr
r/hr (waist height)
hr (sand surface)
br
Captain Chrestenson immediately decided to evacuate.
He loaded
eight of the twenty-eight men aboard the Navy plane and started for /
Kwajalein. He then sent a reading of 3.2 r/hr at one inch to TG 7.4,
but this message was never received. The other twenty people were
evacuated by PBM and arrived at Kwajalein about 1900 on 2 March.
Shortly after arriving at Kwajalein, Captain Chrestenson sent the
following message to TG 7.4: "Suggest immediate survey of inhabited
islands of Rongerik. High possibility exists that-immediate steps
must be taken to evacuate natives." Survey and evacuation of these
islands followed shortly.
(SECRET, B/D)
Above material was taken from Memo for Record by Colonel Karl H.
Houghton, Technical Advisor to the Comdr, TG 7.4, 14 April 1954,
subj: "Evacuation of Rongerik after Shot BRAVO, Operation CASTLE."
On file in TG 7.4 Classified Document Section.
AFWLUHO
;
/o9