rilVACY ACT MATERIAL REMC.) there is no record of it, the Commander of JTF-7 must have ordered all ships to proceed due south at the flank speed of its slowest vessel in order to escape "Bravo's" radioactive curse. ships hared away from the danger zone, While the RadSafe planes crisscrossed the area, like typhoon hunters, to determine the extent and direction of the fallout and its intensity. In their frantic search, they must have missed a curious and chilling sight; a small Japanese tuna vessel rolling peacefully in the sea~-unaware of the fate about to befall it. ‘Thus it was, as the ships ploughed southward, and a gentle "snowfall" of radioactive particles began drilting toward the ocean and three inhabited islands, a second misbegctten decision was made, one which would cause incalculable misery and suffering during many years to come. THE LUCKY DRAGON A lone fisherman, - stood on the deck of the Lucky Dragon on the morming of March lst, bracing himself against the gentle roll and pitch of the ship and listening to the familiar creaking sounds of the working of the wooden-hulled vessel and the steady thump of ; diesel engine. the The sky was beginning to lighten in the east as he became aware of a strange phenomenon--it appeared that the sun was also rising in the west, for a huge yellow glow filled the horizon in that direction. Excited, he rushed into the crews quarters shipmates. His amazed companions to awaken his then were able to witness the second rising of the sun, which was later accompanied by a "deafening explosion" (62, p. 170) and a huge cloud rising in the western sky. According to their later reports, after an hour and a half, a white, gritty ash began 78 LO14bB4 | PRIVACY ACT MATERIAL REMOVED