Marine fighter pilot was in the air over Japan when atomic bomb hit Hiroshima ..

When the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in August 1945, Chambersburg resident Alex Beattie was flying over Japan as a fighter pilot with the U.S. Marines.
Beattie, who was a first lieutenant in World War II, wrote about the incident in the log book that he kept as a pilot: "Atomic bomb dropped several hundred miles north." "That bomb, as nearly as I can figure, was about 150 miles from where we made a sweep against an airfield," Beattie said. "The bomb was dropped at 8 o'clock. It fell about five miles before it detonated. The plume went up to about 80,000.

Marine fighter pilot was in the air over Japan when atomic bomb hit Hiroshima - Chambersburg Public Opinion

 

Question, Did this Fighter Pilot suffer any lasting effects on his health due to being in the air when the Atomic Bomb exploded not far from him? -Cmd. Sgt. Maj. McKee

 

I wouldn't expect so given that he was over 150 miles from the explosion. If he was it would be hard to prove one way or another except perhaps for a phsycological affect.

 

I too would doubt any lasting health effects could be traced to this. As mentioned he was quite a distance away at the moment of detonation. However, what we "knew" about radiation at the time was so limited we (humans) made many false claims about the "stuff", and even used radium as a "health drink" in the thirties. It is to shudder.

Those unfortunate men who were exposed to close radius explosions while hiding in slit trenches, and then marching into the explosion zone as soon as possible certainly did suffer later health issues. The effects of above ground explosions in the Nevada, Utah, and Arizona deserts have been detected as far north as my home state of Montana, and as far east as the Mississippi river.

But of course before we stopped doing that sort of silliness, there were over 2,000 atomic and thermo-nuclear detonations in the atmosphere after 1945. Puttin them underground certainly helped reduce the after-effects, but stopping the testing all together was the best policy. Too bad not everyone agreed to the idea.