Were those guys volunteers? Why would anyone volunteer for such a test?
https://www.npr.org/sections/krulwic...g-nuclear-bomb
https://www.npr.org/sections/krulwic...g-nuclear-bomb
Further to the above.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Plumbbob
The John shot on July 19, 1957, was the only test of the Air Force's AIR-2 Genie missile with a nuclear warhead.[3] It was fired from an F-89J Scorpion fighter over Yucca Flats at the Nevada National Security Site. On the ground, the Air Force carried out a public relations event by having five Air Force officers and a motion picture photographer stand under ground zero of the blast, which took place at between 18,500 and 20,000 feet (5,600 and 6,100 m) altitude, with the idea of demonstrating the possibility of the use of the weapon over civilian populations without ill effects.[4]
The five officers were Colonel Sidney C. Bruce, later professor of Electrical Engineering at Colorado University, died in 2005; Lieutenant Colonel Frank P. Ball, died in 2003; Major John W. Hughes II, died in 1990; Major Norman B. Bodinger, died in 1997; Major Donald A. Luttrell, died in 2014.[5] The videographer, Akira "George" Yosh1take, died in 2013.[6]