David Roach, 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 David Roach

Branch: USAF AFSC: 90750 Environmental Health Specialist Location: Lowja Year: 1978

Quote:“I should have paid more attention to the magazine articles I’d read about Enewetak and Paradise Lost. It’s still lost.”

“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 and workers 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.

“I knew nothing about the nuclear testing program in the Marshalls; I mean I was totally ignorant of it. I knew absolutely nothing about Enewetak or the potential radiation issues that occurred there. I had no idea where the Marshall Islands were even located. I went there in 1978 from Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio. Part of my military job code concerned radiation safety, but other than that I had no specific training to go over there. We were given standard Geiger counters to use and basically that was it.”

“Every day I learn a little more information about Enewetak. Shortly after I was told that I have an extremely rare form of cancer, I walked into the VA to see about getting health coverage. The medical officer there told me “Good luck in proving you were down there.” I just sort of laughed at him because I have every stitch of paper from a bus pass to the humanitarian medal we received for serving. I figured they wouldn’t be able to dispute all of that.”

Mr. Roach gave some thought before answering the next question about how he first began to suspect things weren’t quiet all that they appeared. “Probably about a week after I arrived, I realized that conditions there were worse than anything a recruiter might have lied about to me. I should have paid more attention to the magazine articles I’d read about Enewetak and Paradise Lost. It’s still lost.”

“I wasn’t medically qualified to go down there in the first place. My records were falsified to say I was cleared for world-wide duty. When I got down there, I was on medicine that was supposed to be shipped from Hickam every month but never, ever came. The commander called me in one day and said, “You’re not supposed to be here.” I told him I kind of volunteered and he asked me why. There was a little bit of a story behind the reasons.

“When the new commander came in, I was expedited off the islands. I had been out on Lowja and they’d sent one of the whalers after me to report to the commander. So I did. He made some small talk before proceeding to tell me I wasn’t qualified to be there. I tried explaining things to him and he responded, “Regardless, you’re not qualified so I’m sending you back. Pack your bags and get back here.” I didn’t question him. The doctor had recommended it and so the commander went with it. I had an arrangement with the first commander and he’d agreed to at least let me give the Rock a try. “I’m already here, man. Let me stay.” I didn’t know at the time what the hell was going on out there and of course, I had no way of knowing that 40 years later I was going to have problems. It was amazing to me how I was able to talk so many people into letting me go in the first place.”

David gave some thought before answering the next question. “First of all, I didn’t know about any issues or potential problems until after I’d already been there. As the Internet came into age, I Googled Enewetak and began searching for information. I thought “This is great”…so whatever the search engine was, I found all kinds of people and their blogs. I saved all those pages, too but my computer crashed and I lost all the info. When I got back on line, it was all gone.”

“Nobody knows what I know but me. Nobody knows what all we did on the Rock except for the people who were there. I know one time, the temps reached 147F but 120-130F in a day was nothing. You could get fried very easily, too if you weren’t careful. I saw a guy get court-martialed because he was sunburned so badly. They had to mummy wrap the poor guy. We saw some crazy stuff, too when we went snorkeling. We were out looking for shells and stuff and it was nothing to have sharks all around us. One time, I made the almost fatal mistake of going out shell-hunting off one of the northern islands without telling anybody where I was going. I’d found a good place to snorkel but ended up face-to-face with a shark. I didn’t worry so much about the little ones but had that run-in with a 4 ½ foot Reef shark; an aggressive one. It came up and bumped me.”

“If I had the attention of the world, I would tell everybody this, ‘History repeats itself. Pay attention. Look at how the United States has trained every single combatant we have ever had…every one of them. They know our tactics, they’ve studied our military. These aren’t stupid people. We live in a society where the government feeds us the information they want us to know. When you get back to the states and you hear about how things supposedly happened in the places you were deployed and you know that wasn’t how things really went down, you have to consider your resources. This is the same place your kids are going to raise their kids and their kids….we have to live in this mess that we call our home.”

"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.”

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