I also saw one of those Nevada A-bomb tests. When I was kid, my parents and I were driving to San Diego from Phoenix. We left in the wee small hours to avoid the heat, as it was summer and this was before most folks had AC in their cars. It was just before daylight when we hit the AZ-CA state line. To our north the sky lit up brightly. It was like a second sun was breaking, except it only lasted for a few moments. We knew there would be tests, and we knew right away we had just witnessed one. It was both beautiful and frightening. It's one of those things you never forget.
In later years, when I was in the Army as a young officer, I was assigned to classified work in atomic weapons training, logistics and security. I never imagined when I was a kid that I would get to know nukes on a more intimate basis. I was on active duty when the Cuban Missile Crisis developed. Even today I have nightmares about an atomic attack after that close scrape with universal annihilation that a lot of people knew nothing about at the time. I did, and it was absolutely chilling. Many of the people I served with then were certain that the balloon was going to go up, and we were all mentally preparing to kiss our rear ends goodbye. Luckily, good sense prevailed way above my pay grade with both the Russians and the U.S. If that had not been the case, the survivors, if any, would probably still be sifting ashes.
John
