Ron Standerfer
Read interview with author on ReaderViews.com Ron Standerfer was born and raised in Belleville, Illinois, a town across the Mississippi river from St. Louis, Missouri. While attending the University of Illinois he took his first airplane ride in a World War II-Vintage B-25 bomber assigned to the local ROTC detachment. It was a defining moment in his life. Weeks later, he left college to enlist in the Air Force’s aviation cadet program. He graduated from flight training at the age of twenty and was commissioned as a Second Lt. Another defining moment occurred early in his career. In August 1957, he participated in an atomic test at Yucca Flat, Nevada. Standing on an observation platform eight miles from ground zero, he watched the detonation of an atomic bomb code named Smoky. The test yielded an unexpected 44 kilotons---more than twice the size of the bomb dropped on Nagasaki. He never forgot Smoky, and the memory of that experience weighed heavily on his mind when he wrote "The Eagle's Last Flight." |
The Eagle’s Last Flight
Synopsis: Skip O/Neil was just twenty two when he volunteered to participate in an atomic test. He did so willingly, certain his government would not put him in harm's way. Afterward, he served his country honorably and with courage, retiring as a Colonel and combat decorated fighter pilot. Years later, he learned the awful truth...he was dying of leukemia, most likely due to radiation exposure. While Skip is fictional, his story is unfortunately not. More than 400,000 troops were exposed to radiation during atomic tests or as POWs in Japan. Fewer than 20,000 are still alive. Most are over seventy five. Many have cancer. "I participated in an atomic test at Yucca Flat, Nevada in August, 1957." Staderfer told an interviewer. "Standing on an observation platform eight miles from ground zero, I watched the detonation of an atomic bomb with a yield of 44 kiloton...more than twice the size of the one dropped in Nagasaki. Needless to say, it was an experience I never forgot and it weighed heavily on my era when the Cold War veterans were placed in harm's way by our government and routinely lost their lives due to the carelessness and mismanagement of their leaders." Given the current controversies over adequate protection of our troops in Iraq, it is likely that readers who take that journey will learn a lot about how things used to be, but conclude that nothing much has changed. |