Evening star., 1954-08-15
Test Explosions Drive Doctor
From Island Retreat to Court

Z
and cultivate it in grass.
The body Of land. heavily
grown over with tall oak trees. is
on Machodoc Creek IAN Indian
name with the accent on the
second syllable. Three miles
away the creek empties into the
Potomac River, about halfway /
between the Morgantown Bridge
and Colonial Beach.
The creek runs generally east /
and west. The island rests in a /
small bay indenting the south /
shore. where the creek widens to /
about three-fourths ofsa mile.
There is almost a quarter of d
mile Of water between the island |
and the east, south and west /
shores of the mainland and |
about half a mile to the north I
shore. The former public boat |
landing was to the southwest |
of the mainland.
In 1941 the Government took |
over 1.641 acres to expand the
Dahlgren reservation. About
seven families along the main
land closest to DR.. Nunnally
were moved out. The King
George County supervisors never
formally conveyed the public
right-of-way to the Government,
but the road was closed any way,
blocked by a high wire fence.
The two doctor r-owners of the
land were overseas-one in the
European theater and the other
in the Pacific. The Government
bypassed their island and ex-
panded beyond it on the south
! shore.
After the war DR.. Nunnally
bought his partners half share
of the island and, in 1946. ac-
cording to the suit, the series Of
test explosions began.
Explosion Area Hidden.
Scene of the explosion area
is hidden by a dense growth of
trees along the shoreline to the
south. But the few families who
remain in the area feel the shock
waves and see vast columns Of
smoke rise into the air.
AS the experiments increased
conditions became unbearable
for DR.. and Mrs. Nunnally. Up
until two years ago high-level
bombing runs were made over
the area. AT heights of 10000
feet or more. it wasn't pleasant
to think about the possibility Of
error.
Elmer Elliott, the neighbor on
the north shore who lets the
Nunnally's use his boat pier,
described how planes SKINNED in
from the north. passing almost
directly over the island. One
particularly low-flying craft. he
said, almost caused Mrs. Nun
nally to fall of the island pier.
/ The planes pass over Mr.. Ell
/ liott's house, too, but he's not
registering a complaint. Mr..
Elliott is q carpenter employed
by the Navy at Dahlgren and
has only seven years to go before
he will be eligible for retirement.
! He took a reporter over to the
island. The only evidence OF
damage to the house was that
composition paneling had fallen
from the ceilings. But the house
and grounds showed evidence of
not having been used for q long
Etime.
Shrapnel Comes Close.
/ Mr.. Elliott pointed to the
quarter-inile stretch Of water
between the island and the
south shore. In that area. he
said. his brother, a commercial
fisherman. reported shell-frag-
ments spraying the water while
he worked his boat there.
Mr.. Elliott told of how a Navy
patrol boat, cruising up Machodoc
Creek one day. clipped of the
floats of long string of crab
pots owned by his brother.
Back on the north shore at
his home, he pointed to a spot
in his yard. about rs feet from
his house, where a 100-pound
bomb rack buried itself foot
under ground" either fallen or
jettisoned from plane. A little
farther away, he pointed to an
outbuilding where a piece of
metal, weighing about a pound.
had fallen.
Asked If there were any under
water test explosions between
his property and the island, he
replied.
'No, they do that in the river,
4 three miles away. What makes
me mad is the fish they kill.
The river runs white with them
) every time they let one those
things off. But if we wanted to
+ put a stick of dynamite in the
water and get fish, we'd get
thrown in JAIL"
Retired Major Complacent.
The property next to Mr.
Elliott is owned by Maj. William
j. Holloway, retired from the
: Marine Corps. He is about the
+ same distance away from the