Kirk McCann, 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 Kirk McCann

Branch: US Army, Ret. MOS: 12B Combat Engineer Location: Enewetak, Medren Lojwa, other islands Year: 1978-79 (Two tours)

Quote: “There are people dying because we went there and did what we were asked to do…”

“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.

“Our job down on those islands was basically one big police call. (Policing: cleaning). There were no banana suits, no gas masks or even so much as paper masks given out to us. Everything was supposedly ‘clean’ as in not ‘hot’ (radioactive). I remember how I had a hard time believing that after all of those nuclear bombs that had been set off down there, how was there not supposed to be anything to worry about?”

“When we went down, I knew absolutely nothing about Enewetak. I was young, just an E-4 coming from Schofield Barracks over in Hawaii that only had a year in the military under my belt. I was with the 65th Engineers at the time. Well, they needed volunteers to go down and clean those islands, never mentioning there was the possibility of anything being wrong, no mention of anything nuclear. They gave us a short class about alpha, beta, and gamma particles…were told there was no gamma but there were still alpha and beta. ‘Nothing down there’s going to hurt you unless you eat the dirt.’”

“We weren’t told anything else about the mission. Each day we’d basically just go out and pick up all the garbage that had been left out there from WWII and all the nuclear testing. We were told we wouldn’t have anything to worry about as far as contamination went. (We had to take what they said to us as gospel. They knew best, right?) I’ve only been made aware of the problems so many of my brothers have been experiencing rather recently. I mean, I’ve researched Enewetak over the years; it’s someplace that’s always going to be a part of my life I’ll never forget.” Kirk paused again. “One day, I Googled ‘Enewetak’ and up popped Frank Bolton’s name. He basically lived just up the road from me and we got together and started talking. He educated me a great deal about everything that’s been going on…”

“As far as the cleaning went, we found all sorts of things left over from WWII: stuff that the Japanese had left behind like old helmets with holes in them and canteens and whatnot.” Mr. McCann paused in thought. “You know, let me share an interesting fact: my father-in-law was a Marine. He’d been to the Marshall Islands and on Enewetak back when we were fighting with the Japanese.”

“The 65th was in the 25th Infantry Division. The 84th was like a support battalion to us…we were attached to them. It was a fairly easy transition though. I mean, engineers are engineers. We were working in what you’d call a line platoon while we were there. I was down there working on the island of Medren in Feb/March of 1978, taking lunch in an old chapel sitting out in the jungle that had survived the war. My father had been killed on Christmas night in 1977 but that fact really didn’t hit me until I was sitting there in the Marshall Islands in that little chapel one day at lunchtime. All of a sudden, it just hit me that he was gone, in Enewetak of all places.”

“Let me share a little story with you. When I retired from the Army. I decided to set up a bank account. I went in and filled out the paperwork and the process, the lady helping me out, she knew I had just retired. She asked me about all the places I had served. When I mentioned Enewetak, her eyes kind of lit up. See, her father had served there when our government was doing all the bomb testing back in the 40’s and 50’s. By that point, of course her father had died of cancer and they had always thought that cancer had something to do with his time served in Enewetak. They could never prove it. Eventually though, they were compensated but her dad hadn’t been declared an Atomic Vet at the time. This was about thirty years ago. I’ve met another guy, a Navy guy while I was up north one time who was also one of those original guys down there when they were testing…” Kirk paused as he thought about this next sentence. “What’s it going to take? Another thirty years for all of us to get our recognition and compensation for serving there?”

“I decided to share my experiences at Enewetak with the rest of the world because I saw all the other guys, my brothers and what they were answering to. Everybody had a story, but not everybody’s story was the same. Some of us were advanced party, some went down there for one tour and never went back, some of us served multiple tours (like myself). If anybody is going to read about us, there’s so much stuff we can tell. Very few people in the world (much less the United States) have done what we’ve done. So why not share about it?”

“I have to tell you, when I first started learning about all of the health issues that so many of our guys were experiencing, it got me scared, to tell you the truth. To this date, I’ve not been told I have developed any kind of cancers or conditions. I just recently changed doctors. Had an older guy who was pretty much set in his ways but this new one is a lady who actually seemed pretty interested when I brought up Enewetak.”

“When we were down there on Lojwa, there was always one thing that kind of freaked me out. See, out there, we had this ‘hot’ line. It was a matter of designating one side as ‘clean’ and the other as ‘hot’ or dirty/contaminated. Once you got to the ‘hot’ line, it was pretty much banana suit time. Essentially, you’d take your truck, go get your cement, drive up to the crater (Cactus), back in, and dump your cement. You’d be out there doing that for so many hours and then you’d call it a day and drive your truck back up to park and go home. It never dawned on me that I was getting back into a dirty truck after I had changed into clean gear. The only thing separating us from clean and ‘hot’ was a line. That reminds me too, I had to clean the inside of a cement truck one time….the concrete had dried inside so I had to get in and chip it all out. It was contaminated material that I was surrounded by, chipping away at all that dried cement and breathing in the dust from…”

“If there was a message I could convey about my time spent in the Marshall Islands, I would have to tell everyone that it was an experience I hope to never go through again. I don’t believe something of this magnitude was ever attempted before and hasn’t been since. For the government to act like they never did this; from the VA all the way to the men in Washington D.C. is beyond belief. There are people dying because we went there and did what we were asked to do. We need to find the answers and give these guys the proper information/answers. Many of my brothers are sick and are having a heck of a time getting the proper help they need.”

“Setting off that many atomic bombs all in the same area, that’s a lot of fallout to think about. Stuff like that knows no parameters and it doesn’t just fall between ‘this’ line and ‘that’ one. The government is trying to say otherwise. We worked and lived on those islands. We were there. Something needs to be done, something positive needs to happen soon for all the guys with health problems/these cancers...”

"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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