The author James Howell chronicled his firsthand experience of the Atomic Age:

“The dawning of the Atomic Age occurred on July 16, 1945 in the desert of southern New Mexico. It was 5:30 in the morning and bright daylight as my father was awaken thinking he was late for work. As he dressed, the light faded back to darkness and he went back to bed. I slept through both the bright light the slight concussion that rattled the venation blinds.

“That was the impact on my family in Socorro, New Mexico 27 miles from Trinity Site and Ground Zero. I was five years old and did not recognize the importance of the event until I was much older and in the Army building, maintaining and moving atomic weapons in the 60’s.

“During a visit to the National Nuclear Museum in May of 2014, I was embarrassed to see and explore the many items, people and locations that I had been exposed to during the following 69 years and had forgotten or dismissed as unimportant relics of the past. As a result of that visit, I have now written three books about that time.”

2015 is the 70th anniversary of the test that confirmed that nuclear weapons were possible. It is also the anniversary on the dropping of “Fat Man” and “Little Boy” on two major cities in Japan to end the war in the Pacific.

Howell has written three books (“Countdown to Atomgeddon,” “Countdown to Atomgeddon – Europe,” and the latest novel “Countdown to Atomgeddon: The Pacific War”) to remind himself and others of the importance of that period of time.

Howell now lives with his wife in Grand Prairie, Texas.