Re: DOD FOREIGN CLEANUP MEMO

[MROSENBLUTH@delphi.com]

Posting from Murray Rosenbluth <MROSENBLUTH@delphi.com>

Paul.

I was stationed at RAF Upper Heyford from 1953 to 1955 as a
Second Lieutenant and Platoon Leader in the United States Army
Chemical Corps. We were part of the anti-aircraft defense of
this U.S. Strategic Air Command Base. The concept was that we
would blanket the airfield with fog oil smoke while radar
guided anti-aircraft artillery would fire through the smoke.

Although we were Chemical Corps, we did not have any chemical
weapons -- just fog oil smoke. The Strategic Air Command planes
supposedly carried nuclear weapons but that was a closely
guarded secret at the time. I am not aware of any serious
contamination but given the lack of awareness of the period,
Ill bet there were the typical number and kinds of spills of
various contaminants typical of a military installation.

I briefly visited Upper Heyford as a civilian on vacation in
1980. It was still a USAF base with a small US Army contingent
but the smoke generators were long gone.

My wife (US citizen) and I lived in Oxford at the time and our
first born son had dual US and UK citizenship. At the end of my
military service, my discharge chest X-ray showed nodular
material in my lungs, possibly due to breathing the fog oil
smoke. Im still alive and well but still with an abnormal
chest X-ray 40 years later, so I guess that I cant complain
because it didnt have a negative impact on the quality of my
life during those years.

Murray Rosenbluth
2591 Northstar Cove
Port Hueneme, CA 93041