I have never thought he was a hero. One of my heroes is my late brother. He joined the USAF as a young teenager. He flew on bombers which flew through the bomb mushroom clouds when they were tested. He was the last one of his group to die from that exposure. Before he died he was taking over 20 different kinds of medicines for radiation exposure. He never, ever complained about the treatment he and other AF personnel received from the VA. In fact, he said when Desert Storm was going on that he would have been right over there except for his age. He had parts of both feet amputated due to that exposure. We miss him terribly. RIP Big Buddy. We love you.
That would qualify as heroic service. In what era did he make those flights, during the testing for the WWII bombs or later during some the testing during the '50s and '60s?
I had an older cousin who was aboard the USS Indianapolis when it was sunk in the Pacific after delivering one of the bombs dropped on Japan, and they spent several days in shark infested waters before being rescued. While he was still alive, I was too young to discuss it intelligently, if he would have discussed it.
Those guys were heros. They may knot have known (no one really did at the time) about the radiation and long term effects. Still, they knew a little, which was why they wanted to fly through the cloud. Knowing that and doing it anyway takes some real guts.
Smithsonian "Air & Space" magazine had a short story from one of the guys that flew F-84s up close to the detonations. A scary read. Like your brother, most all of those guys are dead from the radiation they absorbed.
God bless him