Paul Griego, Enewetak Atoll (1978) Glimmer of Lights
Introducing a series of narrative articles about the Atomic Cleanup Veterans of Enewetak Atoll.
The following are first-hand accounts told by the relatively few survivors of the Enewetak Atoll Atomic Debris Cleanup Mission, Marshall Islands; a mission that took place between 1977-1980. Their stories appear here as told to T-M Fitzgerald (published author, veteran, veteran advocate) because theirs are tales needing to be told.
Introduction: “Where in the World is Enewetak?”
Enewetak is just one of many atolls and islands in the south Pacific’s Marshall Island chain. Located about 2,365 nautical miles SW of Hawaii (just north of the equator), the Marshall Islands were once a major testing ground for nuclear weapons post WWII. This island chain is also home to the project called Cactus Dome, a 350’ wide blast crater located at the northern end of Runit Island that has become known as the ‘Nuclear Trashcan of the Pacific.’
Between 1948-58, forty-three nuclear weapons were detonated over Enewetak and its sister islands. Among these tests were ‘Ivy Mike’ and ‘Castle Bravo’ (a device 1000X as powerful as the bomb ‘Little Boy’ which was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan post Pearl Harbor.)
In 1977, a coalition of United States military forces was sanctioned to ‘clean’ the islands of residual radioactive fallout. Men, many who were mere teenagers back in the day, were tasked with cleaning the contaminated fallout from the nuclear testing that occurred throughout the previous three decades. Keep in mind, that as recent as 2012, the United Nations reported that the cumulative effects from all that nuclear testing had effectively caused near-irreversible environmental contamination. There was a problem beginning in 1977 and currently, effects from that exposure have begun to manifest, taking toll on many surviving Enewetak vets today. Four decades later, survivors are telling their stories because the world needs to know.
Personal story by Paul Griego
Branch: Civilian Contractor Job: Environmental Engineer with Radioactivity Lab Location: Marshall Islands Year: 1978
Quote: “This is not only a story about being abandoned by our government. It’s a piece…and we can paint a picture with all of the pieces.”
“I am but one of a few of the survivors of the 1977-1980 Enewetak Atoll Atomic Debris Cleanup Mission that took place in the Marshall Islands.
A major focus of this group has been to help one another with information and moral support during some of the challenging times we’ve encountered following our time in service at Enewetak.
A secondary focus/goal is to urge Congress to change current law and recognize Cold War Era soldiers of the Enewetak Cleanup Mission as “veterans who participated in radiation-risk activities during active service.”
By obtaining their second goal, individuals experiencing health complications resulting from radiation exposure at Enewetak Atoll will be eligible to apply for funds that have previously been set-aside for other Atomic Veterans who have already been recognized and acknowledged for their service.
“We are the story they don’t want told.”
Paul Griego was the first civilian contractor who made himself available for a Viewpoint Interview.
“During that time in history called ‘The Cold War Era’, a lot of people everywhere were hung out to dry, considered disposable commodities…particularly the men who worked on Lojwa down in the Marshall Islands.” Mr. Griego spoke softly. “When the disaster in Chernobyl happened, the media was all over it; everybody knew what happened. America has its own Chernobyl and nobody has ever heard of it.”
“When we first went to the Marshall Islands, I thought, ‘Okay. I’ll just be testing samples post cleanup.’ That wasn’t the case. I knew this was supposed to have been a cleanup operation but didn’t know I was going to be doing any of the actual cleanup.” Mr. Griego paused briefly before continuing. “When I first arrived, I was shown a short film about Enewetak. That was my orientation that was the only education I received about the job before me and I didn’t take it very seriously. When I got there in 1978, I was 21 years old and invincible. I had no idea that I was being sent to a place with such high levels of radiation.” “Many don’t know about this particular information but there had been a misfire on Runit. The plutonium in one of the bombs failed to ignite and long story short, there are fourteen pounds of unspent plutonium scattered on the island. The idea that a human could walk ashore in that did not make any sense to me.”
“I worked with a physics lab subcontracted by the Department of Energy and our job was to perform environmental sampling/testing. We sampled everything; soil, vegetation, animals. I was already in the industry so I already knew there had been nuclear testing at this location. I had a preliminary understanding of radioisotopes and the way they contaminated the body.” After a moment of thoughtful silence, Mr. Griego let out a sigh. “The military sent young men out there who had no clue. I had an awareness but not the education or experience I should have had. Most of those men didn’t even have that.”
“Okay,” I thought “This is wrong. It must be clean out here.” It wasn’t. “Nobody wore hazmat suits or any protective gear like you would have ordinarily expected. Some of the guys didn’t even wear gloves. It was really kind of scary. And to see the equipment operators stirring up all that dust with no masks? Myself, I was afraid to go anywhere where there was dust being stirred up like that.”
“All the outer islands north of Enewetak were contaminated astronomically. Nuclear physicists wouldn’t even go out to any of those islands. Lojwa wasn’t fit for humans to set foot on for more than six months at a time. My own tour was three months and I had no second. Some of the military guys were out there for two tours back to back which was a violation of regulations that were supposed to be in place at the time.”
“The experiences being shared by the group made me realize how devastating our radiation exposure has been. This was a sort of new light that made me connect the dots in my own health issues caused by exposure to high levels of ionizing radiation. I have multiple intestinal problems I must contend with today and I feel my time down there is directly responsible for my current quality (or lack thereof) of life. That experience took a lot away from me. I’ve already had cataracts and am only 58-years old. That’s the sort of thing that happens though when you’re exposed to ionizing radiation. “As Atomic Cleanup Survivors, the atomic bombs continue to harm lives and kill, even in the absence of nuclear war.”
“As a group, we are left out of everything. Programs designed to aid and assist individuals who worked with and were exposed to nuclear hazards? We are totally ignored. No, it isn’t that they forgot us; they purposefully mentioned our group by name to EXCLUDE us. Why? This group was on a different level, in a different league. We weren’t supposed to survive. It’s horrible what they did to us. Why has this operation been completely slipped under the rug? Was there some other issue going on that we weren’t supposed to discover? And for all the lives affected by this, all the work that was done down there, you know what’s happening? Runit; Cactus Crater. It’s already showing signs that it’s going to breech.”
The primary focus for this group is to urge Congress to change legislation and recognize soldiers of this seemingly forgotten cleanup mission as “veterans who participated in radiation-risk activities during active service.”
Follow our cause: Atomic Veterans of Enewetak Atoll
