Ray's Reviews: Mark Woodbury's Trinity Flight

     “Trinity Flight” by Michigan author Mark Woodbury (Skyhigh Media, $10.99 paperback, $4.90 kindle) is a fascinating, mesmerizing book that deals with an important aspect of American history.
        Subtitled “The First Atomic Veterans of World War II” - it’s not a novel – as the author notes in his introduction - “though the story is based on factual events, it is told using a blend of narrative and dialog.”
        It’s the previously unpublished true story of three young Army Air Force pilots who were caught in the middle of the initial Manhattan Project above-ground testing of the nuclear bomb.
        The focus shifts from the pilots to the scientists at Alamogordo N.M., changing viewpoints seamlessly, offering insights into the main characters - pilots, staff and scientists.
        The aviators were in the wrong place at the worst possible time – flying unauthorized through a rainstorm on July 16th, 1945, at 5:29 AM, just as the world’s first atomic bomb was being detonated at the Trinity Test
Site.
        Woodbury’s uncle, Frank Marecek, Jr., originally from Middleton MI, was the lead pilot on the night-time training flight.
        His experiences preceding, during and after the doomed flight are smoothly relayed, providing many eye-opening details.
        But that’s only part of the story – Marecek was a courageous survivor of radiation poisoning and had other physical problems; three of his children had birth defects.
        Jim Lowells, one of the other pilots, faced different challenges, as did others who later flew in the doomed planes.
        After decades of fear and secrecy, Marecek wanted the truth to be known; he testified in 1985 at House Veteran’s Affairs Committee in front of the assembled U.S. Congress in support of S707, the Atomic Relief Act of 1985.
        As the Trinity Coordinator for the National Association of Atomic Veterans, his testimony was vivid and vital. Later, President Bush signed into law the Radiation Exposed Veterans Compensation Act.
        Woodbury utilized audio-taped testimony as well as maps, flight logs and other documents to gain information and did considerable research.
Photographs are also included, offering images of the planes, pilots, bombs and more. 
        This compelling self-published book is exceptionally well told; it’s one that deserves to get national recognition and should be distributed by a major American publisher.
        Copies are available from Amazon.com; the author can be reached at woodb585@cs.com.

        Ray Walsh, owner of East Lansing’s Curious Book Shop, has reviewed books regularly since 1987.

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This review was originally published by the Lansing State Journal on March 8, 2015.