Working With Scientists At Bikini
Just One Phase Of Chief’s Navy Career
By Miriam J. Angell
One of th * most respected and
well liked families in the Naval
Station community is that of Ships
Serviceman Chief Charles and
Jeanette McDuffie. He is leacHag
chief, or .manager, of the base Ex
change; she is the mother of six
attractive children ranging in age
from six to fourteen.
The Chief’s job is a demanding
one which he handles with great
competance (he was November’s
Sailor of the Mouth in recognition
of his ability and hard work); Mrs.
McDuffie’s own role is perhaps
equaly demanding but she plays
it quietly in the background
graciously and well. Chief McDuf
fie said, “Jean, is the backbone of
our family and what keeps me
going.” Hu. wife smiled and de
murred, saying 3he just tries “to
give him a push and keep the
worries of the children and house
away from him.
The children are Denise, 6; An
ita, 8; Timothy, 10; Phillip, 11;
Ronnie, 13; and Jacqueline, 14. All
except Jackie attend base schools,
she is a freshman in Kodiak high
school and remembered at the base
Junior high school for her excep
tional record. It earned her the
PTA award as one of the two out
standing students of the year 1959.
She is also one of Father Stunn
er's star students in Russian for
the second year, and “one reason
we wish wt* could stay here for
three years,” Chief McDuffie told
us.
This will depend upon career
considerations and not a little on
the U.S. Navy. The Chief, origin
ally from El Dorado, Arkansas,
joined the Navy in 1943, after one
of the briefest Army careers on
record; he had been selected for
the Army but when authorities dis
covered they tiad inducted a six
teen year old he was released
within three weeks, and returned
'to school for another year.
“I stayed in the Navy until
1945, got out, married and re
considered. I reenlisted in 1947 and
since then have been practically
everywhere.
One of the most interesting tours
of all was my first duty station
after reenlistment. I went with the
Atomic Resurvey Group sent to
Bikini for four months in 1947 to
evaluate what the hydrogen bomb
had done to the island the year be
fore. We bored, took samples, and
organfced fishing parties so the
scientists could siudy the condi
tion of the fish In those waters.
“After the hard work *f putt
ing the heavy gear ashore it was
pure pleasure. I was certainly im
pressed with the whole operation;
there were so many brains in one
spot—professors from all the
major universities and Navy sci
entists as well, to study the radia
tion effects on soil, water, and sea
life. They got one unexpected
study too. We found two chickens
and a dog on the island and no
one ever knew how they got there
unless they were left behind by
the people who were evacuated
before the tests in 1946. We never
could catch those chickens, but we
did trap the dog. He got the most
through physical examination the
doctors and scientists could pos
sibly have given; they found him
very healthy.
“In a way it was like a vacation;
the Navy gave prizes for the
largest fish, the largest shark, and
so on. No, I surely didn’t get any
prizes. I’m not much of a fisher
man and at the time I was keep
ing very busy. It was a wonderful
and fascinating tour for the seven
or eight hundred men on it.” For
For several years after the Bikini
tour Chief McDuffie was in and
out of hospitals (though not con
nected with Bikini). He went to
the 19th fleet and spent the better
part of 165 days in hospitals, and
all of eight months fighting a
medical discharge. He was then
assigned to the MSTS ship, the
USS General Buckner, but in a
month was ill again.
“Finally the Navy sent me to
Alameda so I could be near a hos
pital. Thanks to CAPT Curtis of
the Navy Medical Corps there, all
the trouble is behind me now.
When I was well I went to the
Brioka and from there to San
Francisco. During part of the
Korean War I was aboard a troop
carrier, the USS MacArthur.
“I went to shore duty in 1952
with FASRON 7 at North Island.
I spent most of the time with the
Navy Exchange Issue store for
FASRON and to me the most in
teresting and valuable part was
working with the technical library.
I used every type of supply book in
the Navy and the plus-parts list
ing for all the major aircraft man
ufacturers.
The mechanics in FASRON 7
small part, so in this work I spend
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Staff photo
Mr. and Mrs. McDuffie
as much as two days trying to
find a stock number for one small
unidentified part.
“With planes, the manufactur
ers counted on replacing the whole
assembly when one little part
broke down, so they often put in
parts with no identifying marks
what-so-ever. Well, the Navy can’t
afford to replace a whole assemb
ly when all the unit needs is one
were the best group of mechanics
I ever saw—it took a lot of time
and talent to rebuild those plane
assemblies, but it saved a lot of
money, too.”
Chief McDuffie went back to the
Atomic Research ship, the Curtis,
and a good will tour to beautiful
Acapulco, Mexico, before depart
ing for further tests. There follow
ed a tour aboard the famous car
rier Boxer, where he made Chief,
and then back to Alameda and the
Navy Exchange. Chief McDuffie
continued, “LCDR August was
Exchange Officer there and what
ever I know about retail merchan
dising, I learned from him. The
store was undergoing an improve
ment program at the time and I
spent more Navy money than I
ever have or ever will in my life.
A good deal of this went toward
building two snack bars, one on
the dock for the men of the fleet.
After the modernization program
I requested a transfer to take over
the accounting department of the
commissary to round out my full
experience in my rate. I had a
year there and then we came to
Kodiak.
“We like it here very, very much.
I can get a growl out of the family
when I mention leaving Kodiak,
or getting out of the Navy. I never
think or talk about my retirement
date and don’t look forward to it
either.
“This is an interesting experi
ence for me; it’s the first so-called
overseas exchange I have ever
been involved ip. The problems
are very different in that we have
to plan everything three to six
months in advance. Of course this
is due to the long supply line;
it makes things difficult. I would
like to say that the city coopera
tion is very fine. Whenever we
need anything, such as a spare
Put the finest label
on your table
Millar’s High Life
Tony’s Liquor Store
SAME NIGHT
Every Wednesday
8:30 P. M.
at the
ELKS CLUB
part for broken down equipment,
they are quite nice about lending
it to us.”
&
Mrs. oMcDuffie gave u& some,
delicious spiced cider and we ask
ed ter to talk about herself. She
was relu slant, but we learned
that she was born in Brewton,
Alabama and attended the South
ern Normal School run by the
Dutch Reform Church of America.
‘•From there I went to Spelman
College in Atlanta for one year
but couldn’t return because of my
health. Our family moved to Cali
fornia the next year and I began
war work at Hunters Point in San
Francisco. I met Duff there, so I
never went back to school. Al
though I had a wonderful experi
ence working for a hospital in San
Francisco, I’ve been too busy with
the children to do much work or
to join many organizations. I like
children, mine and the whole
neighborhood’s.
“I’ve just begun ceramics and
enjoy that, and painting, though
I’m no artist. I do quite a lot of
(Continued on Page 9)
Mrs. Yule Chaffin of Woody Island is seen with some mouth- water
ing vegetables she grows in her garden.
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