Tough memories, and smiles, too

Thank you to Journal research-writer Ollie Reed Jr. and to the Albuquerque Journal for publishing his recent series on historical events regarding the Manhattan Project leading up to the 75th anniversary of the Trinity site testing. I was pleased to read all his articles reported in the Journal, and as a military veteran I especially enjoyed learning about the bored servicemen at Trinity site waiting for their “real” mission to happen (“Revisiting ‘the Bomb’” in the July 16 edition). Most exhilarating for me was the episode regarding the 18-year-old serviceman from Brooklyn’s extraordinary, and accidental, flinging of the snake over a building “into men lined up for the mess hall.” As recounted by Jim Eckles, these now agitated men “think a hawk must have dropped the snake on them” — and, in classic serviceman wisdom, “Brooklyn” “decides not to tell them any different.”

These are the types of wholly unexpected incidents during very serious deployments of above-Top Secret missions by our military members ensuring national security that bring our service men and women memorable “comic relief” stories which they like to tell their children and progeny.

Thank you to Mr. Reed, to the Albuquerque Journal, to

Jim Eckles, to Felix DePaula from Brooklyn, and to all those military veterans who have served our nation through some very bad memories — but with a few good memories, too. ROBERT MUELLER Albuquerque