Army photographer recalls Trinity atomic blast 60 years ago

Friday, July 15, 2005 | 11:07 a.m.

In the minutes before the first atomic bomb exploded and turned New Mexico's predawn desert darkness into light as bright as noon, Army Sgt. Ben Benjamin peered at the sky alight with lightning from thunderstorms.

When nature's fireworks stopped, Benjamin, a photographer, snapped the camera's shutter recording that first atomic bomb blast 60 years ago Saturday.

Benjamin will talk Saturday about his experiences as a member of the Army's Optical Group and display some of the photographs that captured Trinity, which ushered in the nuclear age.

The talk is scheduled at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Atomic Testing Museum, 755 E. Flamingo Road, near Swenson Street.

There is no charge to the public, but seating is limited.

Benjamin is a former Army sergeant and a member of the Photo Optical Group.

He began his career at the Honeywell Company, but soon joined the Army.

Graduating from Carnegie Tech Engineering School in Pittsburgh, Benjamin interviewed with a representative of the Manhattan Engineer District, the top secret project that led to the United States developing a nuclear weapon.

After he witnessed and recorded the Trinity test in New Mexico, Benjamin was discharged from the Army in February 1946 and received a degree in mechanical engineering in 1947.

He then worked for Sandia Laboratory, a national laboratory operated by the Atomic Energy Commission which became the Energy Department, for 40 years.

Among other programs sponsored by the Atomic Testing Museum Foundation will be a talk by Dr. James Yamazaki of the UCLA School of Medicine who will speak at 2 p.m. Aug. 6, the 60th anniversary of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The pediatrics professor will speak about his work documenting the impact of nuclear explosions on children.

A lecture by Harold Agnew, who worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory on the top secret atomic bomb project, will be in November.