After dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, the U.S. Government wanted to test the effects of the bomb on its warships. In 1946, they organized Operation CROSSROADS at the remote Bikini atoll in the Marshall Islands. In July ’46, two test bombs were detonated – Able from the air and Baker from underwater.

U.S. Navy Gunner’s Mate Bill McGee was there. He was assigned to the USS Fall River (CA-131), the heavy cruiser responsible for positioning the target ships in the Bikini atoll before each blast. The Fall River was the closest support ship to the atomic tests.

At 134 pages, Bill McGee’ slim memoir takes the reader through the year 1946 and the atomic bomb tests at CROSSROADS. Like many of his shipmates, Bill would suffer the ill effects of exposure to ionizing radiation.