> ond et the same height gave the same reading. We circled the entire Atoll at 500! altitude and instrument readings were the same over each islet. Upon return to Rongerik island, We made another pass at 250! during which instruments~reéorded activity of 340 mr/hr. Radio reception was poor at this low altitude so we climbed to 5000! in an attempt to establish contact with Fred tower or the USS Estes, direct. Neither attempt was successful, so further radio messages were relayed through Captain Hughes at Kwajalein. I was primarily concerned in getting an additional airplane -either a-PBM or an SA-16 - in order to get the people off the island as quickly as possible, After about 30 minutes of intermittent and frequently garbled radio messages, I requested the pilot to return to Rongerik Island and prepare to evacuate as mmy as possible in mr own air- 2 craft, realizing that if other planes were not available, the Navy UF would = have to make two trips. Since it was already approaching noon, this entailed getting the first trip over with as quickly as possible in order to avoid an after dark take off from the lagoon with the last load of evacuees. While making our descent, the pilot received a message requesting information on the radiological situation. I asked him to reply that the only reading I had was 340 mr/hr at 250t altitude over the island. , This message was garbled during transmission and was apparently received at TG 7.4 as "340 it at 250'" which meant little or nothing, At 1130 I landed on the island, amd, after making a few readings at various plaees within the living areas, I briefed the mm on what I knew of the situation and what was being done for them. It is appropriate here to remark that I consider the group to be an extremely well-disciplined cne, 3+ sewer 5 386...