Henry Charles Healy
Era: World War II
Military Branch: Navy
Unit Info: Naval Reserve
Henry Charles "Hen" Healy, Jr. enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve on June 6th, 1944 just eight days before his 18th birthday. Hen entered into active service on June 16th, two days after his 18th birthday. He first reported to United States Naval Training Station Great Lakes in Illinois for basic training or “boot camp”. Basic training lasts six weeks, but during the war the length of time to complete basic varied depending upon the Navy’s need for personnel. Assuming six to eight weeks for basic training, he would have been granted a short leave period at the end of July or the beginning of August to return home for a visit before reporting for the next part of his training. Typically, basic training is followed by a “school” where service members learn whatever “job” they will be doing during their stint in the military. After boot, Hen was sent to the Naval Barracks at NAD Crane in Indiana. NAD Crane was a Naval Ammunition Depot. It is now the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division. Military records do not reveal what kind of training Hen received there or what his job was while stationed at Crane, but records indicate that he served most of his two years, two months, and seven days of military service at this ammunition depot. In fact, according to his discharge, there is a single dash mark (“-“) in the section describing the service schools he completed. It’s probable that he did not go to a service school after basic training, but rather worked at NAD Crane alongside other military and civilian personnel supplying ammunition in support of the war effort. The war ended in 1945, but Hen did not separate from the Navy until September 1946. It was after the war ended that this sailor finally went to sea. On May 13th, 1946, he was received aboard the USS Pickaway from a receiving station in Shoemaker, CA. He boarded the Pickaway in San Francisco and on June 1st sailed for Pearl Harbor. As of June 10th, the Pickaway was leaving Pearl Harbor and heading to Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands. The Pickaway made its rounds through the Marshall Islands during the month of July 1946. By August 1st, they were sailing back to Pearl Harbor en route to San Francisco. Hen was discharged shortly after his one and only float. A glance at the various ship histories available online show some gaps. After Iwo Jima, the Pickaway travelled back and forth from various island groups in the Pacific to Pearl Harbor and finally back home to California. After the war ended, the ship’s primary function was to pick up troops in theater and return them to the United States mainland. Once that mission was accomplished, the ship and its crew got a new, secret mission. It takes some digging to discover what that mission was. The Marshall Islands were a happening place in July 1946. This island collection was the site of the world’s first peacetime atomic weapons tests, which were conducted at the lagoon at Bikini Atoll on July 1st and July 25th. According to a report by the Defense Nuclear Agency as Executive Agency for the Department of Defense entitled Operation Crossroads 1946 | United States Atmospheric Nuclear Weapons Tests Nuclear Test Personnel Review, the Pickaway was at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands on July 2nd and July 21st. Operation Crossroads was the testing of two nuclear bombs named Able and Baker. Able took place on July 1st. This 20-kiloton atomic bomb was exploded in the air over a fleet of 100 or so obsolete WW2 unmanned ships. Among these vessels were battleships and aircraft carriers, as well as other ships. The second bomb, Baker, was detonated underwater on July 25th. A third test, code-named Charlie, was cancelled. The USS Pickaway’s muster rolls show that Hen was on the ship at this time, which makes him an “atomic veteran”. Atomic veterans were required to take an “oath of secrecy”. They were told that this did not happen and they were not there. Even when it came to health issues related to radiation exposure, they could not talk about it. Ever. To anyone. The Pickaway was not directly involved in the atomic testing. It was in the vicinity, however, likely sailing towards the blast site shortly after the first test, Able, to perhaps deliver personnel and supplies to aid in the decontamination of the ships left afloat after the explosion. It may have also delivered troops and supplies back to Bikini to set up for the second test, Baker. It was one of several transient ships in the area used to shuttle troops and supplies back and forth. Just being on a ship floating in contaminated waters, though, was exposure enough. This was the water they bathed in. This was the water they drank. The average 17-20 year-old sailor knew nothing about radiation contamination, how to protect himself from it, or whether or not there was any need for protection. They trusted the Navy to look out for them. The United States relocated the natives to neighboring islands temporarily, assuring them they would be able to return to their home soon after testing was completed. That was never to happen. As of 2012-2013, testing revealed that Bikini Island was finally approaching habitability once again. However, the government wants the top 15” of topsoil removed from the island, which would further damage the environment. There are very few Bikinians left that were born on the island and the younger generations have no desire to return, anyway. Currently, the island is open for some limited diving and sightseeing. In 1996, Congress repealed the Nuclear Radiation Secrecy Agreement Act. Repealing this act also rescinded the atomic veteran’s oath of secrecy, which opened the door to these veterans finally being able to seek medical care from Veterans Affairs for illnesses, such as cancer, likely resulting from exposure to ionizing radiation. Unfortunately, most atomic veterans never heard that their oaths had been rescinded or that they (and their immediate family members) may have been eligible for compensation and medical treatment for any health issues, such as cancer, they may have experienced as the result of their exposure. Operation Crossroads ended in early August 1946, at which time Hen and the Pickaway returned to Pearl Harbor to unload and reload before heading back to San Francisco. Pop separated from the Navy on August 12th, 1946 out of the USN Personnel Separation Center in Baingridge, MD. He was awarded the American Theater Ribbon and Victory Medal.
