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Sailor's 'Bikini Letters' described 1946 nuke tests

By the Journal Sentinel

CREATED Jul. 18, 2012

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  • Ed Thornley (right), with Floyd Pleva, broadcasts for the War Emergency Radio Service in Milwaukee County, in 1944 or '45. Image by Courtesty of Linda Thornley

Six "Bikini Letters" from a young Navy man named Ed B. Thornley (right, with Floyd Pleva, broadcasting for the War Emergency Radio Service in Milwaukee County, in 1944 or '45) were sent to his parents in Cudahy in the summer of 1946, detailing the first nuclear blasts.