Ken Ebert, 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 comparatively few survivors of the Enewetak Atoll Atomic Debris Cleanup Mission, Marshall Islands; a mission that took place from 1977-1980. Their stories appear as told to T-M Fitzgerald(published author, veteran, veteran advocate) because theirs are tales needing to be known.

Read - H.R. 5980: Mark Takai Atomic Veterans Healthcare Parity Act

Introduction: “Where in the World is Enewetak?”

Enewetak is just one of many atolls and islands in the Pacific Ocean’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 and civilian support teams were 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 and contractors today. Four decades later, survivors are telling their stories because the world needs to know.

Personal story by Ken Ebert

Branch: US Army MOS: 61B/LARC 360’s Location: Lowja Year: 1978

Quote: “We need advocacy -keep us on top of the rug instead of getting swept underneath it…”

“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 and contractors 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.

Mr. Ken Ebert was asked to relay something about his military experiences in regard to his participation in the Enewetak Atomic Cleanup project of the Marshall Islands. After giving the question some thought, this is what he had to say.

“It’s been a long time.” He paused. “We knew a little bit about the mission but not much. I think I had a vague notion of the South Pacific. I was actually told we were going to be doing a radiation cleanup from a bunch of bombs that had been blown up back in the 1950’s. (Most of the guys weren’t even told that much.) We were assured that it was going to be safe. So they pulled some LARC 60’s out of mothball and away we went. We learned details of the radiation after we arrived.”

“LARC stands for ‘Landing Craft Resupply and Cargo.’ It was the biggest boat with wheels that the military had at that point in time. I mean, it was huge, bigger than you can imagine, like a really big Humvee. It could carry a dozer, or chopper. It was maybe 17ft high, about 60ft long and maybe about 25ft wide. We ran crews of about five in each one while we were down in Enewetak inclusive of a designated driver, a few lookouts and a mechanic. We’d carry troops out to the islands, took tons of radioactive debris out to Lojwa or Runit or wherever else they told us to go. That’s essentially what we were doing out there for this cleanup. It was contaminated soil and war debris left over from WWII and nuclear testing trash.”

“When we first arrived, everything was basically how I expected it to be (from a 20-year old’s perspective, anyway.) I didn’t have any radiation knowledge, but we were told it was safe, right? I got a little concerned when we started taking guys out with Geiger counters to help them locate ‘hot’ stuff we’d pick up on policing details. That’s when I started thinking, ‘Hey, maybe there’s more to this.’ I think there was always a guy with a Geiger counter with us.”

“Nobody lived out on Runit. We just worked there. Guys would be all over in their dozers and loaders cleaning stuff. They’d load all of that stuff onto the LARC. Sometimes we’d have 25-30 guys on there as well in the well deck. Often times, guys had to sit on that debris they’d just scraped up because there wasn’t any room otherwise. If they weren’t sitting on the load, they’d be all up under the shade back there…behind the piles of stuff. So when we were making our way to go dump it, which direction do you think the breeze would blow? Right across all that stuff to where the guys were in the shade. So even if you weren’t sitting on it, you still got exposed.”

“I’ve always shared my experiences about my service down there. But when I discovered a web page and the Facebook page, I wanted to share with the men I had worked with. Some of us are getting up in our ages, having problems. Things are happening to too many from this group. We just lost a brother from the 309th Transportation Detachment out of Ft. Story, Virginia. It puts a whole new perspective on things when you start seeing that happen.”

“It was hard work. I was getting a little worried about the radiation. It probably did or will have some effect on my health but right now, I’ve been fortunate and haven’t had anything serious health wise happen to me except for a recently diagnosed kidney function problem. This all has me more worried these days, for sure. I’m seeing things happen to all these guys I worked with.”

“After giving his final question some heavy thought, Mr. Ebert gave this as his final remark; “I think if I were able to relay a message of any sort based on my experiences down there, it would have to be about honesty and our government. It was like, ‘Oh you know what? We have to go clean this place up. Humans have to do it because we have no robotics. But whatever happens later on, we aren’t going to worry about that right now. Just go fix the problem and we’ll deal with (or not) the consequences later.”’ As a country, we need to keep better tabs on our government. We need advocacy for groups like us in particular. We need to keep things that happen like this on the forefront of people’s minds and not allow things to get swept under the rug.”

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