CANADIANS AT NUKE TESTS IN NEVADA 50`s and 60`s

[54/102 CEF]

HI

I`m trying to puzzle out how to find pers lists who might have attended open air nuclear tests in Nevada.

The vet in question was a gunner. HIs family knows he went there but his memory is failing and possibly clues might zero in on the times and ideas on how to find out who was there.

If you have any ideas please send them along

Thanks in advance

 

[Michael OLeary]

Has the family considered getting a copy of his service record (while he's still alive to sign the request for an uncensored copy)?

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogie/022-909.007-e.html

How to Send an Inquiry Concerning Your Own or Another Individual's Records

    * Your request must be signed.
    * To identify a file, we require surname, full given name(s), date of birth, and service number or social insurance number.
    * If you do not know the date of birth, service number or S.I.N. (social insurance number), secondary information (e.g., the names of next of kin, postings, dates of service, place of enlistment) can assist in identifying the correct individual.
    * Consult the section below on Access Restrictions.
    * Please specify what document(s) you require. If you are doing family history research, we recommend that you request a "genealogy package," which will include copies of selected documents from the file that highlight/summarize the individual's service.
    * We do not accept email inquiries for these records. Inquiries must be sent by mail or fax.
    * Your request can be written as a letter or you can print off a blank copy of the Application for Military Service Information form available in [PDF 663 KB] or [RTF 44,516 KB] format, which should be filled in, signed and sent by mail or fax.
      (Download Freeware)
    * Inquiries should be sent by mail or fax to:

ATIP and Personnel Records Division
Library and Archives Canada
395 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0N4
Fax: 613-947-8456

 

[54/102 CEF]

Michael

Thanks - actually its his wife seeking potential benefit as the gunner (ex-Bde Comd of 2 Bde early 60s) passed on in 2007

I`ll look at the Archives under Area 51

 

[Rifleman62]

PM me the name/rank. I know someone who was a QOR Lt at one of the tests. Pulled off exercise in WX to attend. Lots of test delays, spent in Lost Wages. He may know of a Gunner brother officer attending.

 

[40below]

Over and above the service record, I'd hit up DND with an FOI for lists of pers who took part, and while you're at it, duplicate the request to the American military and whichever authorities were in charge of such tests, although health data was probably anonymized (although it was the 1950s, so maybe not.) I know little of how such tests were structured, but there were certainly lists kept, and American sunshine laws (you'll find links to them on every .gov site) make Canadian FOI laws look shamefully slow and secretive by comparison. If the Americans don't possess lists of partici[pants, you might find reference to one used by the Canadians, which then allows to you to make a single super-specific request for that particular document, which is why it's always a good idea to double up.

The FOI in Canada will cost you $5, but I'm willing to bet this info, even though it's historic, has been requested before so it will be produced quickly and with no research fees. It's free in the states, if memory serves, and the only problem you will have with an American sunshine request is finding a place to store the dumptruck full of documents they will deliver to you. They don't care if you're not a citizen.

PM me if you've never done one before. They're easy, they only look hard. You could also save yourself a lot of time by contacting an academic who has already researched the hell out of such tests and ask if they know if such a list is extant. Nuke testing on humans isn't some obscure and unexplored historical curiosity.

 

[54/102 CEF]

Good ideas on the Access to Info Request

PM coming

Thanks