When Tetro, who sailed on the Granville Hall, requested help from former Sen. Steve Symms, R-Idaho, to prove that the testing may have caused diseases he suffered, Maj. Gen. L.J. Del Rosso, Army director of space and special weapons, wrote Symms in 1992 with a summary of some of Project Shad's activities.

Del Rosso said Project Shad ships "participated in some 111 tests" from January 1963 to September 1965 and used the nerve agents GB and VX and biological "simulants" bacillus globigii, Serratia marcescens and Escher-ichia coli.

However, Del Rosso's 1992 letter does not mention the tests as early as 1956 found by the Deseret News. It also does not mention other biological and germ tests it found planned for 1966 with "secret" agents flown from Utah. And Dugway historical records show it maintained a Pacific liaison office in Hawaii to help coordinate such tests through at least 1967 — after Del Rosso's letter suggests such work ceased.

FOR THE BIRDS

Del Rosso's letter also does not mention a series of tests involving migratory birds — tests the Washington Post uncovered in 1985. The Post was most interested in disclosing that the Smithsonian Institution had participated in germ weapons research contrary to its non-military scientific mission.

The Post's story said the bird experiments occurred on the Granville Hall and were designed by Deseret Test Center. Those tests involved visiting many out-of-the-way islands and water routes to document which birds and other animals migrated there to help determine whether birds could be infected with germs before they migrated toward an enemy's borders.

Tetro says he remembers scientists shooting many birds and trying to get them to land on the deck of the Hall. He retrieved those that fell into the sea with a whaling boat.

He said he remembers the birds were often gutted and sent to the ship labs for study. Most of the remains were dried and sent back to the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.

Richard Smith, Tetro's shipmate on the Hall, said he remembers hearing that scientists also studied the dead birds to determine whether the Soviet Union or other nations may have been experimenting with germ weapons — which could be shown through traces found in the birds.

The Washington Post said such migratory bird research continued through 1970, when funding disappeared after President Nixon renounced the use of chemical and biological arms. Nixon's action was prompted by a Dugway nerve gas accident that killed 6,000 sheep in Skull Valley.

LAOS AND CAMBODIA ASSIGNMENT