Roland Pronovost Collection

Title

Subject

Nuclear weapons testing victims;
Nevada National Security Site (Nev.);
Veterans--Chicopee, Mass.

Description

This digital collection contains images, a letter, and other material related to Chicopee resident Roland Pronovost's military service, and most specifically his experience at a nuclear test site in Nevada in 1955.

Roland A. Pronovost (1930-1995), a lifelong Chicopee resident, was a veteran of the Korean War, though he was primarily stationed in Alaska and Nevada. He trained first as a radio operator, then as an MP. He survived a helicopter crash in Alaska, and later witnessed two atomic bomb tests in Nevada as part of Operation Teapot. The second test, called Apple 1, occurred in March 29, 1955. Pronovost captured photographs of the test, and wrote home to his fiancee about the experience. He describes being in a trench a 2 miles from the detonation, and the trench beginning to collapse on him and others when the bomb detonated. He also describes the aftermath of the test, which involved the effect of atomic bombs on various vehicles, including tanks and jeeps.

In 1955, the U.S. Army conducted a series of 14 nuclear bomb tests in southeastern Nevada, collectively known as Operation Teapot. ~2,500 soldiers from multiple Army posts were stationed at Camp Desert Rock, near the Nevada Test Site (approx. 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas). The tests were intended to measure the effects of bomb blasts on a variety of scenarios and objects, such as buildings, radio equipment, vehicles, water, pavement, and so on. There were also mannequins and test dummies meant as stand-ins for people. Actual soldiers were stationed at varying distances from the detonation sites, and often marched through ground zero in the immediate aftermath of the tests. A study from the 1990s showed that people who witnessed testing at the Nevada site were more likely to be diagnosed with cancer, and that the mortality rates among those people were significantly higher. Civilians who were in the region or downwind of the tests were also impacted, though there is no official count for impacted civilians.

After returning home from service, he married Anita M. Gendron, and they had two sons. Roland worked as a Linotype operator and lithographer at the National Blank Book Company in Holyoke, MA for 42 years.

Roland Pronovost died of prostate cancer in 1995. The cancer was described by his oncologist as "like nothing I've ever seen before," and did not respond to treatments that would typically work. He was 65. ~195,000 veterans were exposed to radiation from 1945-1962 as part of their service, which the armed forces now recognizes as a major factor in causing over 21 different kinds of cancer.

Abstract

Creator

Roland A. Pronovost
Digitized by Kate Ouimette, CPL Archivist

Date

1953-1955

Rights

Digital content made available in the Chicopee Archives Online is intended for personal research and educational purposes; commercial use or distribution of this content is not permitted without prior permission of the copyright holder.

The Chicopee Public Library holds copyright to select content in the Chicopee Archives Online. Copyright to other content may be held by authors or their heirs, or may be in the public domain.

Requests to reproduce, distribute, or publish content in the Chicopee Archives Online should be sent to cpl@chicopeepubliclibrary.org.

Relation

"Operation Teapot: Military Effects Studies" video created by the Department of Energy regarding Operation Teapot. The video runtime is 31 mins, 31 seconds. https://archive.org/details/gov.doe.0800017

Language

English

Provenance

Loaned by Edward Pronovost, to be digitized by CPL and temporarily exhibited in 2024-2025.

Identifier

CPL-RolandPronovost

Collection Items

Roland Pronovost Letter to Anita Gendron, March 29th, 1955

A letter written to Anita Gendron, Roland Pronovost's fiancee, following his second time witnessing an atomic bomb test in Nevada during his army…

Draft Registration Card, Roland Pronovost

A battered Selective Service System Registration Certificate for Roland Pronovost, dated September 17, 1948. Though aged and quite damaged around the…

"August '54"

A black and white image of three men standing outside near a vehicle, with tents and buildings in the background. The man on the left is wearing a…

"Widgen"

A black and white photograph of a small plane, with "Safeway Airways Alaska" painted on the side. The plane has a white nose and white stripe down the…

Undated group photo

A black and white photograph of a group of men in uniform posing in front of a single-story building. Most of them are wearing garrison caps, but some…

Bomb blast image 1

A single black and white photograph of a mushroom cloud. Part of Operation Teapot in 1955, this was one of the tests of the atomic bomb in 1955…

Bomb blast image 12

A black and white photograph of a bomb in the early stages of detonation. While the surrounding area is barely visible, the glowing mushroom cloud is…

Bomb blast image 11