Mac McCormack, 86, of Coeur d'Alene, is seen Tuesday at his Coeur d'Alene home with his Atomic Veterans Commemorative Service Medal. He was among the first Marines to witness the impact of atomic bombs when they were tested in the Nevada desert during the period following World War II.
June 7, 2023
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Honoring our atomic veterans
"That's why I got cancer," Noelan “Mac” McCormack said as he set a copy of Leatherneck magazine on his kitchen table. A mushroom cloud rose into the air in the black and white photograph on the page, an image from Operation Tumbler–Snapper, where a teenage McCormack and his fellow Marines in March 1955 were instructed to be as close as possible to the nuclear testing site as the military conducted experiments with this new and powerful force. "We were 3,000 yards away from ground zero on that one," he said.