BOMBS AT BIKINI 



formed their tasks excellently. They have the honor of 

 being charter members in a new branch of defense: 

 radiological safety. 



The demand for photographers, too, far exceeded 

 the supply. First, the Services were combed; then 

 appeals were sent out to hundreds of ex-servicemen 

 who had been trained in military photography during 

 the war. Over one hundred responded. 



But corralling the men was only a part of the prob- 

 lem. They had to be inoculated against diseases com- 

 mon in the Paci^fic Theatre. They had to be assigned 

 living and working space, fed, and transported. Rec- 

 reation areas had to be provided on Bikini Atoll and 

 elsewhere. Finally, problems as to their return, re- 

 placement, and release had to be faced. 



Hiring of civilians was especially complicated also. 

 Special contracts and payroll procedures had to be im- 

 provised almost overnight. Some men were arbitrarily' 

 placed on the Los Alamos Laboratory payroll; others 

 were paid from funds in the .Office of the Secretary of 

 the Navy. Nearly every Service department concerned 

 with the handling of personnel groaned under the 

 load of unprecedented problems demanding immediate 

 answers.* 



Despite their unending problems. Captain Robert 

 Brodie and his assistants worked along doggedly, and 

 each time a ship headed out for Bikini, an effective 



* E.g. before the author could ohtain a civilian secretary, formal 

 authority had to he obtained from the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 



32 



