&uot;It’s not everyone who gets a book and a movie script written about them,&uot; was the comment made in 1988 by Russell Jack Dann, Albert Lea’s veteran of two 1957 atomic bomb tests in the Nevada desert north of Las Vegas.

Friday, August 06, 1999

&uot;It’s not everyone who gets a book and a movie script written about them,&uot; was the comment made in 1988 by Russell Jack Dann, Albert Lea’s veteran of two 1957 atomic bomb tests in the Nevada desert north of Las Vegas.

The book Dann referred to is &uot;Atomic Soldiers,&uot; written by investigative reporter Howard L. Rosenberg and published by Beacon Press of Boston in 1980.

Rosenberg was one of the reporters at a special Congressional committee hearing in 1978 when Dann testified about his experiences with two atom bomb tests in Nevada. He felt there was more to Dann’s narrative, and this could become the basis for a book.

As a result of a week spent with Dann in Albert Lea, and more research into the nation’s atomic radiation problems, Rosenberg wrote the book which is partly based on Dann’s life story up to that point. The introduction was written by nationally known columnist Jack Anderson.

Rosenberg was working with Anderson at this time, He later became an investigative reporter for CBS-TV News, then a producer for CBS-TV Evening News.

Rosenberg wrote, &uot;Dann was unaware of the lethal consequences … Since that fateful day (Aug. 31, 1957), he has endured … constant physical suffering. …&uot;

Dann grew up in Nashua, Iowa, not too far from the famous &uot;Little Brown Church.&uot; He enlisted in the regular Army in early 1955 and became a paratrooper. The highlight of his military career was taking part in the Smoky and Galileo atom bomb tests in 1957.

Dann told me, &uot;I had the symptoms of radiation sickness before I was 21.&uot; Some of these symptoms, such as nausea and dizzy spells, started after his return to Ft. Bragg, N.C.

Corporal Dann did not reenlist in the Army after his hitch ended in Feb. 1958. He returned to Iowa and took a job selling Singer sewing machines in Charles City, Iowa. A few months later the firm transferred him to Albert Lea.

Shortly after his arrival in Albert Lea, Dann quit Singer and became a cabinet maker at Streaters. A few months later he met Marjorie Smith who grew up in Lake Mills, Iowa, and was working as a checkout clerk in a local grocery store. After a brief courtship, they were married.

During the 1960s and early ’70s, Dann had continuing problems with the dizzy spells and other symptoms of radiation sickness. He became an installer of Streater store fixtures and spent long periods away from Albert Lea. In his book, Rosenberg tells of Dann’s personal and health problems and his quitting Streater in 1973. Dann took temporary carpenter jobs and prepared to leave Albert Lea.

On the night of July 3, 1974, Dann decided to escape the oppressive heat in his apartment by sleeping outside on his second floor balcony. Rosenberg writes in his book, &uot;Dann lit up a cigarette and leaned back against the balcony railing as another dizzy spell engulfed him. He blacked out and broke through the railing, falling to the ground below.&uot;

Dann was unconscious for several hours. He was laying in a mud puddle and could barely move. His calls for help were unanswered. Dann was later found by an Albert Lea police officer who happened to drive down the alley on patrol. The officer quickly called an ambulance.

Dann was rushed to Naeve Hospital where a broken neck was diagnosed. A few hours later he was taken to the Veterans Hospital in Minneapolis. By this time pneumonia had also set in. As soon as possible, Dann was moved again to Wood Veterans Hospital in Milwaukee, Wis., one of the nation’s leading facilities for the treatment of spinal cord injuries.

Dann said, &uot;I spent 11 months, three weeks and two days in the hospitals.&uot;

Dann returned to Albert Lea in 1975 to resume his shattered life. When Rosenberg wrote about him, he was a quadriplegic. He regained limited use of his hands and some mobility by using a motorized wheelchair.

The book, &uot;Atomic Soldiers,&uot; is now out of print and no longer listed as a part of the Albert Lea Public Library. However, there are copies at the Austin, Red Wing, Rochester and Rochester John Marshall libraries which are available on loan through the SELCO system.

Next week we’ll feature Russ Dann’s involvement with the television film, &uot;Nightbreaker.&uot;