File No. 10858386 VA Form 21-4138
When the war was over in August 1945 I had been working at S-Site at Los Alamos where we cast the high explosive lenses that caused the implosion and super criticality of Plutonium in the Nagasaki type of bomb -- referred to as "Fat Man" or "Implosion Device".
We stopped making that type of bomb immediately after Japan surrendered and I was in effect temporarily out of a job and waiting for a new Army assignment.
Work was continued, however, at DP-Site in the processing of Plutonium.
A civilian by the name of Hightower was in charge of personnel for at least S-Site and perhaps other areas. He arranged for me to interview personnel management at DP-Site -- civilians named Frank Pittman and a Mr. Hassen.
My transfer (still in the Army Special Engineering Detachment) was affirmed and I went to work at DP-Site in the final stage of operation (designed by Myron Kratzer) in which I separated some of the Plutonium residue from a liquid mix via filtering in a dry box operation. The final radioactive effluent was then piped outside into 55 gallon drums -- where it resided at least until I left for discharge from the Army in July 1946. These drums were quite radioactively hot.
On the occasion of a visit to Los Alamos with my wife in 1995, I wanted to show her where I had worked at DP-Site but discovered it was completely off limits and fenced off from anyone because of radiation.
It was at DP-Site where I experience involvement with radioactivity that might have been significant in the identification of cancer quite a few years later. The "lipo-sarcoma" is apparently very slow growing and perhaps it is not too much of a stretch to connect it to my Los Alamos involvement. The prostate cancer which was discovered in the Spring of 2006 and apparently successfully treated in July of 2006 with radiation seed implants could surely have been unrelated as it is commonly an old man's disease. However no one in my immediate family (three brothers and my Mother) have had any cancer, nor do I recall it in any ancestors. My Father had been in the trenches in France in 1918 and was gassed twice. He died in 1942 or a heart attack. My Mother lived until she was 94. My three brothers (ages 75 to 86) are still alive -- no cancer.
While working at DP-Site we wore dosimeters and daily had urine checks as I recall, and perhaps throat swabs. Every six weeks I was sent off the Hill for a three day pass, reporting immediately back in to the hospital for a 24 hour check of everything going in and out of me -- to check for residual radiation, I assume. I was never informed of anything amiss at the time so assumed all was within any approved limits. I have no idea as to how you might recover any such records, if still available.
Please re-read the attached statement submitted on 9/22/06 -- particularly the last paragraph in which I indicated I am not looking for any disability payments. I am 82 now with a fairly active life style but I want my record in the VA loop in case something more catastrophic should occur that could be related to my honorable and proud service in the Army of the United States from September 1944 to July 1946 -- including time at Los Alamos working on the Atom Bomb.
Please also note the attached copy of a letter dated 10/11/06 indicating the 4 different forms from the doctors who attended me, that you have previously
received.
Sincerely, Ralph P. Gates, Jr.
(dog tag: 44 020 574)
