WILLIAMSBURG, Iowa (KCRG) – Saturday, an Iowa man was awarded the Order of the Gray Dragon, recognizing his work in a Navy Nuclear Weapons Program.

Navy veteran Robert Mowry was given the award by the Navy Nuclear Weapons Association in a ceremony in Williamsburg Saturday.

The recognition belongs to one person at a time, the member of the Nuclear Weapons Program with the earliest entry date. With the passing of the previous Dragon, that honor now belongs to Mowry.

“I went into Special Weapons Unit 1233 in January 1953 from boot camp. Had no idea what a special weapons was. Gun that shoots around the corner? What? Had no idea—I had no idea it meant atomic weapons,” said Mowry.

Mowry’s job was to inspect the atomic bombs.

“I did this five days a week for two-and-a-half years,” he said.

He was never able to tell anyone about his service until 1996 with the repeal of the Nuclear Radiation and Secrecy Agreements Act.

“All he said was, ‘I served in the Navy,’” said Mowry’s daughter Angie Daugherty. “It was a big deal to him to be able to finally talk about what he did.”

Kris Hobbs, the president of the Navy Nuclear Weapons Association, said those who worked on nuclear weapons are a dying breed.

“There’s a lot of stuff that’s going on here that they’ve received… radiation exposure and so forth—that the VA is not recognizing it a lot. So it’s good for us to recognize the oldest one here,” said Hobbs.

Mowry watched 17 atomic bombs explode in the Marshall Islands.

“You heard the sound wave come across….watch the mushroom cloud rise and disperse and see if it was going to flow over you or not,” said Mowry.

“Back in the day, they didn’t know anything about radiation,” said Daugherty. “It’s amazing that he’s even still here.”

Mowry is still here, grateful that so many friends and family came to celebrate his service.

“What I did was very unusual. There aren’t many people that did what I did…I’m very proud, very proud of my service,” said Mowry.

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