Trinity Site: 1945-1995.
Page: 5

chosen as the test site. The area already was controlled by the
government because it was part of the Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery
Range which was established in 1942. The secluded Jornado del Muerto
was perfect as it provided isolation for secrecy and safety, but was
still close to Los Alamos.



Building a test site


In the fall of 1944 soldiers started arriving at Trinity Site to
prepare for the test. Marvin Davis and his military police unit
arrived from Los Alamos at the site on Dec. 30, 1944. The unit set up
security checkpoints around the area and had plans to use horses to
ride patrol. According to Davis the distances were too great and they
resorted to jeeps and trucks for transportation. The horses were
sometimes used for polo, however. Davis said that Capt. Bush, base
camp commander, somehow got the soldiers real polo equipment to play
with but they preferred brooms and a soccer ball.

Other recreation at the site included volleyball and hunting. Davis
said Capt. Bush allowed the soldiers with experience to use the Army
rifles to hunt deer and pronghorn. The meat was then cooked up in the
mess hall. Leftovers went into soups which Davis said were excellent.

Of course, some of the soldiers were from cities and unfamiliar with
being outdoors a lot. Davis said he went to relieve a guard at the
Mockingbird Gap post and the soldier told Davis he was surprised by
the number of "crawdads" in the area considering it was so dry. Davis
gave the young man a quick lesson on scorpions and warned him not to
touch.

Throughout 1945 other personnel arrived at Trinity Site to help
prepare for the test. Carl Rudder was inducted into the Army on Jan.
26, 1945. He said he passed through four camps, took basic for two
days and arrived at Trinity Site on Feb. 17. On arriving he was put
in charge of what he called the "East Jesus and Socorro Light and
Water Company." It was a one-man operation--himself. He was
responsible for maintaining generators, wells, pumps and doing the
power line work.

A friend of Rudder's, Loren Bourg, had a similar experience. He was a
fireman in civil life and ended up trained as a fireman for the Army.