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