Niles Schwochco, Enewetak Atoll (1977) 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 Niles Schwochco

Branch: Army MOS: 12B10 Combat Engineer Location: Lowja Year: 1977-78

Quote: "If I could, I’d convey to the US Congress and Senate that they should start focusing on this country’s veterans and give us what we earned."

“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.

"Niles Schwochco, former Army Combat Engineer, was more than happy to answer questions about his military experiences when he served his country in the Marshall Islands during the Cold War Era in America’s history. When asked what he knew or was told about the location or mission he was to embark upon in 1977, Niles responded as follows. “I was stationed at Ft. Knox, Kentucky at the time. The only thing I was told was that I was being sent to Hawaii. I didn’t know a thing about the mission or where I was actually going. The officer in charge simply told us we would be going to Hawaii every other weekend for R&R. When it came down to the nuts and bolts of things, we went to Hawaii and then were flown into Enewetak, took a boat over to Lowja and that’s where we sat for seven months.”

“I was a combat engineer. While we were down there south of the equator, I was blowing up anything you can think of. We had no protective gear whatsoever and didn’t know anything about what we should have had, if that makes any sense. All they’d asked for was volunteers. We didn’t know there was anything to worry about so we didn’t know what we were lacking. It wouldn’t have mattered much anyway, given the fact that the temperatures down there were often in the 100’s and getting all decked out in full banana suits was certainly not an option. The uniform of the day consisted of socks and boots, a cut-off pair of pants and maybe a hat.”

“Despite all the explosives we set off and dust we kicked up, we had no special breathing apparatus or masks to speak of. The little paper masks we might have gotten were useless after they got wet and working in the heat like we did, you can imagine how long a little paper dust mask lasted. So off I’d go to blow up whatever it was that I was supposed to blow up that day.”

“We didn’t know what we were in for at the time but we were working on the hottest island there was (and I’m not talking about the temperature, either. I mean radioactive.) We had no idea where we were being sent or any idea about the mission before us. We were just a bunch of 18 and 19 year olds out there on one island or another in the middle of the Pacific Ocean but it wasn’t very long before we found out something wasn’t right. I was on just about every island there was at one time or another. It’s just the nature of the job. The only time I left the Atoll was on Christmas Day. We left Lowja for Enewetak and on Christmas Day we were evacuated to Guam for seven to ten days because of a hurricane. We were evacuees with the native islanders.”

“I first suspected we were in trouble when we were out on one of the boats. We were coming back from work on one of the other islands and I saw a Geiger counter jump. I was a young gun when I served in the military but I knew what a Geiger counter was used for. When I saw that thing react, I started asking questions. It wasn’t easy to ask anybody about anything though. You have to remember, all of this radioactive stuff was under wraps. (Everything was so secret that even the islands were all called by code names for the longest time.) Nobody was supposed to talk about it to any degree. So there we all were. We built, we blasted, and we drank and ate. (We ate exceptionally well, too I should add.) Nobody was at liberty to tell us anything. We had to ask other vets who’d come in ahead of us about what was going on. At the time, we really didn’t know what radiation could do to us.”

“I decided to do some searching on the Internet a little while back and that’s how I found the Enewetak group. I had been remembering things out of a shoebox for 40-some years. We were a bunch of young guys who volunteered to serve our country, volunteered to defend her against all enemies foreign and domestic. Because of what the Federal Government did to all of us I figured it was time for me to talk about my experiences down there. I was one of thousands of ‘guinea pigs’ used by the same government we chose to serve.”

“If I could, I’d convey to the US Congress and Senate that they should start focusing on this country’s veterans and give us what we earned. I think one of us needs to stand before the next Administration and tell them our story. The VA has done so many wrong for so long. They’ve been covering things up for their own convenience. It’s time to step up (or back, whichever the case may be) and do what they were supposed to do in the first place. That’s all we’re asking for. I think America as a whole needs to wise up and realize we are only the country we are because so many of us have made the choice to serve. More people need to stand

up and support the military that protects and defends the constitution, their constitution. Only certain people feel obligated to support any of the military. Wait until we turn into a third world country…”

"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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