Former colleagues remember Manhattan Project scientist | People

Yesterday we reported the death of Lawrence H. Johnston, 93, a Manhattan Project scientist who passed away on Sunday at his Moscow home. He retired in 1988 after teaching physics at University of Idaho for 21 years. The University of Idaho reports he died of lung cancer. 

After speaking back and forth with Los Alamos National Laboratory about photo-use rights, they sent over an unexpected collection of photographs of Johnston at Tinian Island during World War II. Included with those attached photos in emails were their memories of a man they admired. 

The B-29s that launched the atomic bombs against Japan, flew out of the island after the United States took it over from the Japanese. Johnston flew on the first mission for the Trinity test and then both missions that dropped Little Boy and Fat Man.

In 2006, Johnston visited Los Alamos to speak about his wartime experiences.

Alan B. Carr, laboratory historian, revealed that no copy of the talk exists, but he still remembers it vividly.

“The auditorium filled up, so approximately 30 people listened from the foyer. Larry was a great physicist and a kind and compassionate man,” Carr emailed upon hearing the news of Johnston’s passing. “To my knowledge, he is the only person who witnessed the first three nuclear detonations: the Trinity test, Hiroshima and Nagasaki.”

Carr referred to Johnston as Larry.

“I called him “sir” once and he insisted I call him Larry instead,” Carr added.

When Johnston visited Los Alamos National Laboratory, it was the 61st anniversary of the Nagasaki mission. He recalled coming to Los Alamos in 1944 by invitation of fellow physicist Luis Alvarez to work on the firing system.

Johnston called the work on Fat Man “a great undertaking” and discussed early problems they had with the firing system. Johnston also told of the feelings associated with the bombs after the war had ended. “Back at Los Alamos there was lots of rejoicing. We won the War! But several important people were having pangs of conscience, most notably Oppenheimer,” he said. “We had stopped the wartime killing, but we had killed a lot of people with our bombs. And worst of all, we had let the genie out of the bottle. Now nuclear war would be a specter for the world to face.

• Interesting Read: Former staff member discusses wartime experiences at Heritage Lecture, Los Alamos Laboratory

Even more photos and information were shared by Dr. Glen McDuff, a former Los Alamos National Laboratory employee, now retired. He had met Johnston a number of times in the past years and shared a unique story that explains why Johnston was the only person to witness all three atomic bombs.

“The four scientists, including Johnston, were the diagnostic team to test the yield of the atomic bombs. They had the scientists fly with the mission to test the measurements to make sure they didn’t miss anything, “ McDuff shared.

When it came time to bomb Hiroshima, some of the scientists didn’t want to do it again. Some had a wife and kids to go home to and they were about to fly over wartime Japan. Since the scientists were civilians, they were issued fake identification cards that made them officers. According to Johnston's card, he was a 1st Lieutenant. Without them, if they had been captured, they would have been executed as spies. 

“They decided to draw straws. That’s why Larry was the only one to see all three bombs. He drew the short straw. He flew the second mission,” McDuff said.

And then he flew the third mission.

“When you get to meet all these guys - there’s very few of them left. When you do something with them, you have to do it really quick. You never know,” McDuff said. He continued, “Don’t wait too long.”

Photo Gallery: Photographs Show Johnston's Time at Tinian Island