Honor, Glory & Pride

Eyewitness of atomic bomb test recalls seeing its ‘power unleashed’

(Editor’s Note: The subject of this story, Dean L. Batchelder, Sr., Sgt. Major, US Army (Ret.), Elizabethton, Tennessee, passed away July 19, 2015. This story first appeared in the June 29, 2004 edition of the Jonesborough Herald & Tribune, and is reprinted with permission.)

BY LYNN J. RICHARDSON STAR CORRESPONDENT

In 1953, 12 years after atomic bombs were dropped on Japan, the world was aware the United States was in a control of a devastating weapon. But the devastation in Japan was far from home, and few Americans could fully comprehend the monstrous power of such an explosion.

However, one local man, Sgt. Major, U.S. Army, (Ret.) Dean L. Batchelder, Sr., of Elizabethton, remembers the day he saw an atom bomb’s power unleashed in the Mohave Desert.

“It was the most awesome, most destructive thing that I’ve ever seen and yet is was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever witnessed,” Batchelder said. “My ability to express myself as a human being doesn’t allow me the words to describe what I saw.”

Batchelder grew up in Menomonee, Wisconsin. He signed on with the U.S. Army in 1948 at a pay rate of $75 a month. When he returned from Korea in 1951 as a 23-year-old Sgt. First Class, he became the C.B.R. (Chemical, Biological and

“When they dropped the bomb, they counted down the last few seconds… and told us beforehand to kneel down and close our eyes. We were told if we looked at the blast, it would be so bright it would blind us.”

Radiological) officer for his company.

It was in that capacity that he, along with about 500 other soldiers, was sent to Desert Rock, Nevada. The reason for that trip, Batchelder said, was because the military was testing the airburst of an atomic bomb.

“Looking on the map now, I can’t find such a place, but I remember the name well,” he said. He remembers a military bus taking them into Las Vegas and then it was about a 1-1/2 hour bus ride from Las Vegas each way.

Housed in a camp of 10to-20 man tents — a “city of tents” — in the Mohave Desert, Batchelder said they were there a week.

“At nights, they would bus us into Las Vegas for rest and relaxation. They were treating us ‘guinea pigs’ good,” he added with a laugh. “There were several busloads, probably about 500 of us.

“They were also testing the effects on human beings, buildings, animals and military equipment,” Batchelder added. “They had a small village of

houses built and different types of structures — wood, brick and steel — built near Ground Zero, the point directly where they would drop the bomb. It was in a dry lake bed.”

Once in the desert, the men were put in trenches, about a mile from Ground Zero. “The terrain was a gradual slope up from the dry lake bed. It was like we had a grandstand view,” he said.

“When they dropped the bomb, they counted down the last few seconds and told us beforehand to kneel down in the trench and close our eyes. We were told that if we looked at the blast, it would be so bright it would blind us.

“Over a loudspeaker, they were counting down — ’10, 9, 8…’ and at the time that the bomb went off,

Contributed Photo

Sgt. Major Dean L. Batchelder, Sr. (Ret.) in the early days of his Army career.

—Sgt. Major Dean L. Batchelder, Sr.

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Batchelder helps spouses and families of deceased veterans

BY ANGELA CUTRER STAR CORRESPONDENT

David Batchelder likes his job so much, he’s done it twice. After leaving the first time, he realized he missed helping others, especially spouses and families of deceased veterans. All total, he has 12-13 years experience now.

It might sound like a sad job, but it’s actually the opposite. During a family’s darkest hour, Batchelder can find the light again when it comes to veteran benefits.

David Batchelder serves as the Carter County Veterans Services officer. In this capacity, Batchelder helps 30 to 40 families a week, though in-office visits and phone calls. Batchelder receives a report at the end of each year, and for 2022, Carter County helped 4,100 veterans and their families. “A lot of what I do is assist surviving families,” he said.

Batchelder retired after 20 years with the Army as an E-8 first sergeant. He was an Army brat himself, so joining up wasn’t a foreign idea to him. His father raised his family in this area and Batchelder himself thinks of Elizabethton as his home.

Batchelder said the best thing about his job is the help he can find for veterans’ spouses and families. “This office has

Greene stands ready to help veterans in a time of need

BY ANGELA CUTRER STAR CORRESPONDENT

Kelly Greene is the commander of a local American Legion. He takes his job very seriously; after all, he’s a vet and those he helps are veterans as well.

Sometimes it seemed as if it was an uphill battle. Greene couldn’t even become a member of the legion until 2019 when President Donald Trump signed into law the LEGION Act.

“This opens the door for a lot of veterans,” Greene told the Star back in 2019. He meant that before, the legion only accepted membership from veterans who served before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The bill meant that the Cold War onward is now counted as war-time.

“I was the first new member after the bill,” he said then. He was elected commander almost immediately.

Flash forward a few years and Greene is still soldiering on. His phone number seems to be on everyone’s list when it comes to helping a veteran in dire need. He’s known for driving vets where they need to go, putting them up in hotels or bringing them a hot meal.

And he does all that with sincere concern and love for his fellow veterans. “It’s the right thing to do,” he says with emotion.

Greene continues to advocate for veterans. He has seen membership rise and fall – the last time due to COVID-19. It’s difficult to conduct veteran funerals

without enough members to participate.

Now in his fifth year as commander of American Legion Post 49 Watauga, Greene hopes to rebuild membership by teaming up with Post 24 in Johnson City.

The Post 49’s Facebook is chocked full of opportunities for new members to join in to help other veterans. “We honor our veterans [this way],” he said. “We should know who [our veterans] are, their names, what they did, their family members’ names. It should be an honor to do this, know them and offer help when it is needed.”

Greene is silent for a moment, trying to control his breathing. As a vet helping

other vets, he’s passionate about what he does. “Our biggest accomplishment is that we have a homeless veteran outreach program here,” he says. “We should serve those who served our nation.

“I work with the Volunteers of America and that’s a great organization. They help when we can’t.” He tells the true story of a vet displaced from his house after a tree fell on it. The post members and other concerned people came together to help get this man back into his home, a gift card to purchase items needed and enough food to keep him satisfied for a while.

Greene says that when a vet has a problem at home,

many service providers will come fix the problem for free, donating their time to help someone else. Greene is happy there are people like that in the area.

Greene and his wife have spent more than $1,000 this year out of their own pockets to put homeless vets up in hotels. Greene drives vets to their doctor’s visits, even when it is far from their Valley Forge home.

And Greene does all this with though he’s on oxygen himself for COPD.

During his lifetime, he joined the Marines at 17, then worked construction and home building afterward. He turns 65 in October,

File Photo

David Batchelder conducts the POW-MIA Ceremony at a previous Veterans Memorial Day ceremony.

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Contributed Photo

Kelly Greene in uniform in 2018.

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One of every 7 Carter Countians served in WWII

(FROM A 1964 EDITION OF THE STAR)

Almost 5,000 Carter Countians served in the Armed Forces during World War II. They represented one out of every seven men, women, and children in the county.

As a result, Carter County in World War II ranked eighth in Tennessee in number of service personnel, whereas it was 21st in the state in actual population. In World War II, me of Carter County saw service in every phase of the battle against Germany and Japan. Not one major engagement was without a Carter County man participating, and many of these names are inscribed on bricks at the Veterans Wall of Honor in downtown Elizabethton. Some never came back, and their names are etched on a marker at the Veterans War Memorial Park across the street from the Wall of Honor.

Two Carter Countians, Robert C. Duff and William V. Campbell died at Pearl Harbor on that “day of infamy” which set aflame the great war in history. Several local soldiers among the vanguard of American troops who first pushed their way across the Owen Stanley Mountains of New Guinea, and at least a half dozen including photographer William L. Kinch and infantryman Walter Bullock were at Guadalcanal.

Carter Countians were among those who pushed ashore in the first great step against Germany – the invasion of North Africa. Sgt. Alvin Pierce of the “Red One,” the famous First Division, died in action on a “volunteer mission before the Silver Star which he had won for heroism in the early days of the African campaign could be presented to him.

As the war progressed on both fronts, local mean streamed into battle and joined in the staggering task of supplying the fighting men – the greatest problem of logistics in the history of warfare – in which a nation fought full scale war on many, many fronts.

Carter County men were at Attu and Kisa, at Dutch Harbor when Japanese bombers for the first time bombed North American installations.

They were in the Marshall and Gilbert Islands – at Kwajelain, Enowetok, at the bloody struggle of Tarawa. A Carter County soldier was among that little group of flag raisers atop Mount Suribachi when a photographer’s change shot made them famous (those who remained long enough to achieve recognition at all) and became the pictorial classic American victory of World War II.

Carter Countians fought to liberate the Phillippines, where other county soldiers had been prisoners after that gallant defense of the peninsula of Bataan; they fought at Okinawa and in the other islands of the chain which pointed toward the heart of Japan.

A Carter Countian, Lt. John Paty, was aboard the first U.S. naval vessel to enter Tokyo Bay.

On the other sider and perhaps even greater in number, local soldiers fought for the liberation of Europe. It was against the crack troops of Hitler’s Wehrmacht that the famed 30th (Old Hickory) Division, pride of Tennessee, fought with Elizabethton and Carter County men in its ranks.

Company A, 117th Infantry, 30th Division came ashore in France on the D plus 9 and from that day until the end of the war which found them deep inside the Reich, they were almost never out of contact with the enemy. It was this unit which played an outstanding role in the defense against

counter-attackers at Mortain (France) when the fate of the entire invasion hung in the balance for hours as Hitler’s Elite Guard (the SS) hammered at the Elizabethton company and those on its flanks in a powerful attempt to break American lines and cut off its supply to the armor making its historic break at St. Lo.

The company was overrun and Elizabethton men who were captured and wounded that day won decorations for gallantry in action. Two who fell into German hands after firing every weapon at hand until fight was no longer possible were First Sgt. Clarence Hale and T/Sgt. Ed Markland. Both were later liberated by the Russians.

Carter County men fought from the beaches of Omaha and Utah, through the hedgerows and swamps of Normandy to the glad day of liberation of fantastically happy Paris, which that day, was truly “Queen of the World.” They fought in the South of France, many who before them had fought the long, bloody, aching struggle up the boot of Italy – Cisterna, Anzio, Cassino, Rome, Salerno, Sicily, before that.

They fought on the ground, on battleships, and destroyers. They lumped and fought from the bomb sights and waist guns of American planes; they fought, were wounded, and died…and others came to take their place and fight.

They were in the Vosges mountains along the Roer that dismal morning when they tried to cross a creek and those who lived wondered how it would be when they came to the Rhine.

Helping the long before – years before – any infantryman set foot on Feasting Europa, were Carter Countians in the air. Roy McKinney established an almost unbelievable record or aerial combat in two hours of duty in medium bombers before he finally came home. Carter County soldiers, scores of them, flew over France and Belgium, Austria and Czechoslovakia and Hungary and the Lowlands, pounding the German war machine into rubble. An Elizabethton man helped bomb Cassino, another bombed Berlin, and more than

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Roy J. McKinney flew 83 WWII missions

FROM STAFF REPORTS

Roy J. McKinney was one of the most decorated Carter County soldiers to serve in World War II.

McKinney, who served for a number of years as County Court Clerk, was the recipient of the Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Air Medal with 12 clusters, the Purple Heart with two clusters, and the Distinguished Unit Citation.

McKinney, discharged as a technical sergeant, served five years in the U.S. Air Force. He became one of the most decorated fliers in the famous 391st “Black Death” marauder group, which pounded

tactical targets from bases in England and France. He piled up a total of 1,700 combat hours amassed during 83 missions on which he served as bombardier-navigator and gunner.

He was credited with the sinking of two German submarines – precision bombing plus – in early 1942 when he was putting in two years with an Anti-Submarine patrol before going to England.

McKinney was wounded three times – on his first combat mission in February 1942, again June 8, 1944, and the final time a month later on a mission over Paris – and was shot down four times. He

survived two crew, members of which were killed while flying with him during the 28 months of air battle amounting to two hours of combat battle.

McKinney, the only man in Tennessee and the only man in the air forces to receive the Flying Medal from the British Embassy, received the medal in Washington, D.C. for his “determination and courage” when as a bombardier, he was wounded in action, but remained on the job, and released his bombs accurately destroying Maison La Fite Railroad Bridge. A bridge on the Mary

Star Photo/Larry N. Souders

The Carter County Veterans War Memorial is located the corner of East Elk Street and South Pine Street in downtown Elizabethton. It honors the 258 men who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Pictured are the two stones with the names of the 155 men who died while serving our country during World War II.

Patton Highway in Elizabethton is named for McKinney.

Six monuments bear the names of those from Carter County who have sacrificed their lives for their friends and family so freedom and liberty could be their’s.

America the Beautiful

America the Beautiful

Land of the Free

But who made that possible

For you and for me

The boy next door

The friend down the road

My what Bravery

These young men showed

As they left behind

Their families so dear

I wonder if their hearts

Were filled with fear

The fear of not knowing

The enemy they’d face

Or Prayers to the Father

For His Saving Grace

Each Life has its Story

All by itself

But some are forgotten

Like a Book on a Shelf

Let us not take for granted

WWII

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a dozen disappeared forever in the strange places which they seen only from the air. Among the first of these was Ben Franklin, son of Mr. and Mrs. C.M. Franklin. Among the last was Paul Shultz, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Shultz.

Carter soldiers of the Air Force flew the world over in combat and on missions of supply. World War II soldiers

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we were kneeling with our eyes closed. The light was so bright, you could see the light through your eyelids even with your eyes closed.”

After the explosion, they were told to stand up and look, and what they saw almost defied description.

“There was a huge round fireball,” he said. “And by fireball, I mean that it looked just like something that was turning orange and red and it was round and continually burning, changing colors, suspended in air right in front of us. The fireball was growing, getting larger and larger, boiling and changing, going higher and higher.

“Then we looked below it and you could see the blast hit the ground and the dust cloud lift off the ground like a blanket, covering the entire ground over the entire blast area. I would estimate the height of the airburst, as it was from my vantage point, to be about 2,000 feet. I guess the exact height was classified.

“Then all of a sudden, the cloud turned into a funnel. All the dust and debris from the explosion force was sucked up into the center and then into the funnel toward the fireball which continued to rise and grow.

“In an explosion, there

Just what they all gave

As we walk slowly by

That Quiet, Lonely Grave

Those homes are now silent

That once held great noise

From the visits and laughter

Of those dear precious boys

Hearts are now broken

Lonely and sad

Stripped of the Dreams

Of their son or their dad

Those paths won’t be walked

By those tired worn feet

Nor will we be greeted

By their warm smiles so sweet

These are all memories

Too many to measure

We’ll hold oh so tightly

Oh my, what a Treasure

If for some reason

You fail to see

from Carter County could perhaps recall personal experiences in every region on earth, except only the poles.

As they slogged forward across Europe, drawing nearer to the end of the long road to victory, Carter County soldiers remained the forefront of battle. They were in the midst of the great abortive counteroffensive of the Ardennes, and here again local soldiers helped stem the German tide –stopping Nazi units at Stavelot, causing the winter offensive.

They were among the

but he’s not worried about doing “too much.”

“I understand what these vets are going through, and

is a concussion outward — the noise, the burning of oxygen and then there is movement back toward the center. You don’t see all of this in a regular explosion, but with an atomic bomb, each stage happens separately and you are ablate witness each one,” Batchelder explained.

The cloud got larger and larger and seemed to go above the fireball.

“Eventually the colors in the fireball disappeared and it turned into a huge cloud. As the bomb exploded, we saw a rolling blast wave coming toward us, picking up sand, weeds and other debris.

“They told us to lean against the rear of the trench. Those who didn’t, got knocked against the wall, and this was from a mile away.

“After we witnessed al of this, we got out of the trenches and they called an ‘assault’ for us to move forward down to Ground Zero.”

At that time, the only protective equipment they were provided were WWIIvintage gas masks, with attached eye protection to filter out any debris or dust. Batchelder said he didn’t remember wearing any type of ear protection and they were dressed in regular military fatigues.

The point of the explosion was complete decimation.

The sacrifice they made For you and for me

Look in the

first across the Rhine. An Elizabethton officer, in his first combat, won decorations for bravery that day. He was Captain (then Lr.) Ed Mottern. On foot, in tanks, in jeeps and in trucks along the Red Ball Highway, they raced eastward across Germany to join hands with the Russians.

An Elizabethton man, correspondent Mack Morriss of the Army Magazine Yank, was among the first to reach Berlin – a Berlin which was in inself an immortal mon -

if my time comes to an end, I’m ready,” he says with conviction. If you are interested in

“Military trucks that had canvassed tops with braces — that was all gone. All the glass from windshields was gone. Anything plastic was gone. Metal remained but it was charred. The sand, up to a quarter of a mile in each direction, was like… hard baked clay, with little one inch squares, apparently caused from both the impact and the heat. It was vaporized. The same thing with all the small structures — they were all gone.”

Animals had been placed in fox holes to determine the effect on animals and troops, he said. “They used sheep, and close to Ground Zero, the sheep were all dead. Just a little further away from Ground Zero, the wool had been burned and charred. The sheep weren’t dead, but I’m sure they died later.

“We were also ‘guinea pigs,’ in effect,” he added. “They didn’t really know what would happen. We wore badges to measure ‘roentgens’ — the measure of radiation absorbed at that particular point. I think they were testing to see ‘Is it safe?’ and “How much radiation are you going to get if you walk over an area where an atomic bomb has exploded?”

“At that point, I recall there was only a small amount of radiation,

ument to the vanquished Nazi reign of terror.

As the end came, Carter Countians were the first to reach home – they were the men who deserved most of all to come home; those who had been prisoners of war. Among these was Capt. James Harry Ritts, taken in Italy, and more than 20 other men of the county –infantry and armor and airmen – who had spent never-ending days of drab monotony in Stalags scattered over German.

joining up with Greene and his other Legionnaires, call 423-895-3819. Greene thinks you won’t regret it.

but this was not the first atomic bomb test and it was not the last.”

“Years later, the VA (Veterans Administration) called us to check and see if any of us had any lasting effects. They didn’t find any in my case. That was 25-30 years later.”

After the test explosion, Batchelder said he was allowed to go back to his unit and describe the event. He taught classes on how to protect oneself from an atomic explosion, showing training films and giving eyewitness accounts of the event.

“I can’t imagine what the Japanese people went through and the hundred of thousands of people who were killed. But, at that time, it was necessary because it saved hundreds of thousands of young men from having to go into Japan and fight,” Batchelder said.

“I’ve seen storms at sea. I’ve ridden a typhoon out and seen one hit Okinawa that tore things up. But the destructive power of that bomb was just unbelievable.

“There are many things in my life that I can’t recall at all,” he added. “But this made such an impression on me that I can still see it today. I can describe it in detail. It was quite a sight to behold.

“It was so destructive that I hope this world never sees another one.”

Jack Garrison Army - Served 9 Years

We are so proud of your service. We love and miss you very much.

Danny, Jackie, David and Family

J.N. Taylor Army - Served 4 Years

We are so proud of your service. We love and miss you very much.

Cissy, Willie, Diane, Danny, Jena, Jeff, Mark, Tammey and Daniel

Stanley A. Bowers U.S. Army - Vietnam - 2 years

Thanks for the faithful service and love you so gladly gave for our country. A Purple Heart recipient. The years have passed but you will always be remembered.

Love always Wanda Ruth Bowers (wife)

Chief Master Sergeant Freddie A. Bradshaw U.S. Air Force - 30 Years

Thank you for your 30 years of honorable service to our country. We love you.

Dee, Meshell, Bryan, Emily, Wyatt and your church family

Dean Lunceford U.S. Army - 25 Years

Thank you for your 25 years of honorable service to our country.

We Love You, Bud, Jason, Kimmy, Skyler, Freddie, Dee and the members and friends of Fish Springs Baptist Church

Larry William Tipton U.S. Navy Coral Sea - 4 Years

Thank you for serving and our freedom while you were in Vietnam. I am honored to call you my husband. You are special. I Love You. Wilma

LTC

Steven Crowe Army - 21 Years

Carl Wallace Served in Vietnam

Thank you for our freedom.

Love Diane & Family

Captain Jerry Freeman Ret. Army National Guard

21 Years

Thank you for your service and dedication serving stateside and overseas in the Persian Gulf War. We love and appreciate all you have done.

Ray Combs World War I

Thank you for our freedom.

Love Diane & Family

Warren Heaton Army - 4 Years

Dad,

Thank you for your service on Guadalcanal, serving our country with honor.

John G. Lewis Army - 2 Years

Gone but not forgotten. We love and miss you. You were a good one.

Kenneth Stanley Air Force - 4 Years

With love and gratitude for your service.

Buddy Little World War II Veteran Army - 2 Years

Thank you for your service. We love and miss you. Your Family

Thank you son for serving our country and for our freedom. You are very special son. May God bless you.

We Love You Mama & Larry

Sherry, Drew & Brian

about the help they can get from this office.

The worst aspect of his job is meeting so many veterans now dealing with cancers of all kinds. “It’s distressing the sheer number of vets who are dealing with cancers,” he said.

Beloved Wife Peggy and Family been here something like 50 years, but I still find that a lot of folks say they didn’t know the office was here,” Batchelder said. “I think the VA (Veterans Affairs) is doing a better job getting the info out about it.” He said he hoped people might see this story and tell other veterans – and their families –

“From Agent Orange to the younger vets from the mid 20s, the original Gulf War and then 1990-1991 Iraq war to the 2000s – we’re seeing a lot of cancers like

prostate cancer and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).

“We help those vets deal with navigating the VA system, which is more fulfilling than anything. We can tell them about new rules that might affect them, such as how COPD under a new law is a presumption condition, which means it could be service related, which means they can get benefits from it. That helps a lot

of families who lose the veteran in their lives.”

Batchelder works closely with every entity that can help a veteran, from social workers, hospitals, doctors and the like. It’s important because those are where veterans and surviving spouses will get all-importance documentation necessary to get anything done.

“A lot of spouses are in their 70s and 80s, and they had just become used to

their spouses doing everything when it came to the VA,” Batchelder explained.

“Now their spouse is gone and they aren’t sure what to do. That’s where we can help.”

Luckily, the region has a VA hospital that is in the top two or three in the nation, Batchelder said. “We are lucky to have the VA facility, and we have the national cemetery. We have good mental health programs

here and we are very fortunate to have the help veterans need.”

Batchelder said when he came back to work in the office about eight years ago, he knew he’d made the right decision. “It felt like this is where I’m meant to be,” he said. “I figure I’ll retire from this position.”

For more information, call 423-542-1824 or visit veterans@cartercountytn. gov.

This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.

- Elmer Davis

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