When we were at Camp Pendleton, a year after we were married, the Marine Corps decided to use the ground troops to do some testing with A-bombs.  And since Ken was attached to the Seventh Regiment, he "got to be" included.

It's hard to believe, but they took the men, put them in trenches at one-half mile from ground zero and set off not one, or two, but three bombs to see what the effects would be if you were  in a trench.  It sounds impossible to believe.  But they did it.  One of the bombs was the largest ever detonated, including the one dropped on Hiroshima during WW2.  I think it was named Diablo.  You can Google it.

They kept in contact with each of the men from 1957 (or maybe it was 1958) until the present to see if they got leukemia.  Really.  (I still get letters.)  They sent pamphlets to explain what the side effects might be.  Of course, they didn't tell you all this until years later.  By the time the men realized how intensively they had been exposed to radiation, it was too late.  Ken didn't get leukemia, but many of the men did.

One of the bombs didn't detonate.  They sat in trenches for hours while some brave soul disarmed it.

I was thinking about why bad things happen to good people.  I don't know.  Nobody does.  But in 1 Corinthians 3: 10, (My interpretation)  "Nothing will happen to you that hasn't happened to someone else.  But God is faithful and will not let any problem that befalls you be more than you can bear."

It's a promise.  God guarantees it.  Whether it is a child who dies or an A-bomb falls on you, God is there and will get you through it.

I had started a long journey to self discovery after my little girl died.  I was about to find out what I was made of.