Kwaj 1956-1957

I remember when my family was on Kwaj in 1956-1957, I was 8-9 and my brother was 9-10. It was getting close to Christmas 1956, and as usual Brother John and I were beside ourselves with excitement! The Navy had shipped in a whole bunch of fresh Christmas Trees, and they were being stored in one of the big "reefer" buildings on the island where fresh food was stored. We couldn't wait until Dad would stand in line to get our tree. One thing troubled us immensely...would Santa be able to find us on that tiny speck in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? One day as the Great Day was drawing near, Mom and Dad told us to stay home, and that they had some shopping to do at Macy's and the commissary. Probably not more than 1 hour later, John and I were bored, and decided to walk over to Macy's and help out the folks with the shopping, and carrying stuff back home. Surely Mom would be happy about that. John and I walked the few minutes to the store, and lo and behold, here came the folks out with a shopping cart full of toys! A really sad day for 2 little boys. I do remember the incident didn't totally destroy my belief in the Jolly Old Elf, but it sure put a dent in it!
 

Earthquake - March 9, 1957

One night in 1956 or 1957 ( I found a reference to an Andreanof Islands earthquake on March 9, 1957 with a magnitude of 8.6!  Those islands are right at the tip of the Aleutian Chain.  The resulting "tidal wave" of 16 meters high caused damage in Hawaii, so this could be the one), it was communicated to everyone on Kwaj that there might be an impending "tidal wave"!  Since my brother John was only about 9 years old and I was about 8, mom needed to explain to us what a tidal wave was (now called a "tsunami").  I remember that we were pretty frightened, and dad had to be on duty since he a was a Radioman First Class and needed to be in the Radio Shack.  So mom, John and I were home alone. Seems to me there was no electrical power, maybe shut down in preparation, so we were huddled around candles.  Mom had been told that if the tidal wave was actually going to hit us, we would be evacuated to the highest spot on the island, which was the enlisted men's barracks.  I found a website that lists the height above sea level at 6 meters, or about 18 feet. If that's true, maybe add 10 more feet or so for the 2nd floor of the barracks....28 feet is not much of a height to survive a tsunami!  Fortunately, it didn't happen and the all-clear was called.  Whew! 
 

Atomic Bomb Testing of 1956

Then there was the day in 1956 my teacher in 4th grade at George Seitz Elementary School said "Good morning children!  Today we are all going outside and watch the Atomic Bomb blast" (atomic testing was being done at Bikini and Eniwetok in 1956).  Sure enough, at the scheduled time, the classrooms emptied out, and we all stood in line and looked toward the proper direction....but awhile later teacher said "Never mind. I t has been canceled for today".  I swear this actually happened.
 

Spraying for Insects

I remember more than once during my stay on Kwajalein in 1956-1957 when I was 8 and 9 years old, the Navy sent a truck around the neighborhood spraying for insects. I remember the clouds of insecticide, and we kids running around and playing in it like fog...no doubt in my mind it was DDT in those days! I don't remember seeing many bugs there, that's for sure.
 

by Steve Jameson (Kwaj 1956-57)
 

 

Shermie's Place