Vets Got Cancer After Cleaning Up Nuclear Site at Enewetak Atoll
Vets Who Got Cancer After Cleaning Up Nuclear Site are Looking for Help
Hundreds of veterans who developed cancer as a result of their service in cleaning up a nuclear test site are petitioning the government for help in paying medical expenses associated with their sacrifice. A group of veterans who worked to clean the Enewetak Atoll in the 1970s are now seeking to obtain the “atomic veteran” designation, which has yet eluded them.
The Enewetak Atoll, located in the Marshall Islands archipelago, was a nuclear test from 1948 to 1958, in which time the U.S. government deployed 43 nuclear weapons as part of its arms program. Decades later, a total of 6,000 American soldiers were sent to the area in order to participate in clean-up operations, which were meant to take place before natives repopulated the area.
According to Paul Laird, who was one of the Army soldiers sent to Enewetak, personnel were not provided with adequate protective equipment. “I begged the first two weeks I was there for a dust mask,” Laird told FoxNews.com. “I took my T-shirt off and wrapped it around my head to get a little bit of protection.”
Laird worked in the area for six months in 1977 and has since developed three forms of cancer. Together with the “Enewetak Atomic Cleanup Veterans,” he has worked to include the group under the classification of “atomic veteran,” which would entitle them a suite of benefits. However, Congress must change federal law in order to empower the VA to do so.
“The VA is only doing what they’re allowed to do,” Laird said. “When they deny us, they are legal in doing so. Until Congress changes that law and includes us in that status, we will not be covered.”
A bill called The Atomic Veterans Health Care Parity Act was introduced in November, but has stalled since being referred to the House subcommittee on health. “This is a one-sentence bill,” said Gary Pulis, another Enewetak survivor who has suffered long-term pulmonary disease as a result of his service.
Local veteran seeks recognition for “atomic veterans
Chief Master Sgt. James Rogers, ret., said this happened to him and he wants to tell his story so others who have been through this can get the help they need.
“I want to tell my story not just for myself but to let other veterans of atomic testing and their spouses know that help is out there,” Rogers said.
The long-term effects of Rogers’ exposure during nuclear testing are still coming out. He said he has survived numerous cancer operations and has lost his hearing due to the loud explosions. Nearly 50 years after his exposure, in 2007, Rogers finally learned he could receive compensation for his service-connected disabilities.
Beginnings in Bugtussle. Born and raised in Bugtussle, Rogers had just graduated from Crowder High School when he enlisted in the Air Force.
His career began in the height of the Korean War in 1952 where he served in Korea, Japan, Eniwetok and Puerto Rico. He also had military assignments in Hawaii, Wake Island, Midway, Kwajalein, Majuro, St. Thomas and Alaska.
Rogers had married his wife Margie just a year before he was selected to participate in the U.S. Government Atomic Testing Program, code named Operation Hardtack.
Operation Hardtack was a program consisting of a series of tests of the destructive power of atomic explosions. The tests centered on intercontinental ballistic missile and submarine-launched ballistic missile warheads and high-yield strategic bombs.
In 1958, the year Rogers was assigned to Operation Hardtack, 77 U.S. tests were conducted, more than the three previous record-setting years combined. Partly, this burst of testing activity was due to building pressure for an imminent test moratorium, leading the weapons labs to rush as many device types to the range as possible, according to Rogers.
Between 1945 and 1962, more than 550,000 military personnel were exposed to the harmful effects of nuclear radiation, according to the National Association of Atomic Veterans.
Weapons of mass destruction
The NAAV is a group that assists veterans who were ordered to stand in harm’s way against an invisible enemy — ionizing radiation particles precipitated by the detonation of nuclear and thermal nuclear weapons of mass destruction, according to a letter by R.J. Ritter, national director of NAAV.
The organization asserts that when nuclear testing ended in 1963, “no medical follow-up was ever conducted by the Atomic Energy Commission or the Department of Defense and no government-sponsored medical surveillance of its ‘atomic test subjects’ nor any attempt on the part of the government to contact those who participated in the atomic tests to alert them to the fact their health was potentially at risk” was done.
From February 1958 until January 1959, Rogers was stationed on the tiny island of Eniwetok, also known as Enewetak Atoll, located in the Marshall Islands of the South Pacific.
“I was a member of the 4951st Support Squadron assigned to the Administrative Service Section,” Rogers said.
“My responsibilities included the processing and safe-keeping of classified documents, some of which pertained to the specific tests that were to be conducted.”
Rogers said he doesn’t remember how many nuclear explosions he witnessed, but he said he will never forget the beautiful snow-white clouds in various formations created by the atomic explosions, as well as the colors of the fireball that erupted during each blast.
The shock wave sounds that came with the explosions were also hard to forget, he said.
“The sound was a lot like an aircraft breaking the sound barrier, but it seemed a lot louder to me,” Rogers said.
Mushroom cloud
He said one his most vivid memories is of an atomic explosion called the Tidal Wave Shot.
“My group was positioned on the edge of the island next to the lagoon to ensure a good view,” Rogers said. “The detonation was to take place a specified distance out beyond where we were. We were briefed on what was to take place and what to expect if all went as predicted, but I found out they didn’t really know what was predicted.
“For protection we were required to wear high density goggles and a rubber poncho,” Rogers said.
He said normally they were allowed to face the explosions, but not this time.
“We were used to the heat from the explosions, but because we were closer than usual they told us to face the opposite direction of the blast, cover our head with the poncho and squat down,” Rogers said. “Then we heard the loud deep explosion of the atomic blast.
“I felt the intense heat from the fireball burning my back. As the fireball diminished so did the burning. We were then instructed to turn around take off our goggles and observe what was taking place.
“What we saw stays with me to this day. I could hardly believe my eyes. Everyone was in absolute awe. I saw a very large and extremely tall white cloud mushrooming at the top. The water from the lagoon was being sucked upward into the cloud. The water from the lagoon was disappearing before my eyes then we could actually see the shock wave coming.
“The waves came in the form of a shadow just above the water and it moved rapidly toward us. Then suddenly the water reversed direction from the cloud and started flowing back into the lagoon and then it began overflowing the lagoon.
“We were told to ‘proceed quickly’ to the other side of the island because no one knew how wicked the wall of water would be.
“We ran as far as we could and as fast as we could. I can still recall the sound of the water rushing up on the island and coming toward us but it only came about halfway across the island and remember thinking that if the scientists had miscalculated, we could have been washed off the island.”
Living with radiation
Rogers said the exposure to the radiation was constant.
“The buildings, including the sleeping quarters on Eniwetok, were corrugated metal with metal push-up windows that remained open most of the time,” he said. “I was exposed to whatever was in the air 24 hours a day.
“The soil on the island that I walked on every day must have been contaminated because after the testing was complete, two inches of topsoil was removed from the entire island and encapsulated in concrete to make it safe for the inhabitants who had been removed from the island to return, if they desired.
“I was not only exposed to ionizing radiation as a result of fallout from the explosions, but also continuous exposure to radiation contaminated soil over the entire island,” Rogers said.
It wasn’t until 20 years later that he began to learn more about the testing. But he wasn’t able to get any information about the dangers he faced. He was sworn to secrecy as part of his military service so that he could not even speak of the testing until the ’90s, when the government finally released the information.
Rogers has received many medals for his service to the United States, but none for his service as an atomic veteran because he said the country has not designated a medal for this service.
He said the NAAV has been trying for 31 years to have the United States issue a medal for the men who served as atomic test subjects.
“There are many of us who still don’t know they can receive compensation for their disabilities and I want to help let them know it’s there,” Rogers said.
‘Freedom with price’
He does not regret his service.
“I am sworn to uphold the United States Constitution and I am proud to have served my country,” Rogers said.
“I served my country faithfully for 27 years as a member of the United States Air Force. I am proud of our military and the sacrifices they made to ensure freedom in this great country in which we live.
“Freedom comes with a price. Some lose their lives; some lose arms, legs, eyesight, hearing and become disfigured. Some are affected in others ways such as exposure to chemicals and radiation, which can cause all kinds of cancer.
“My hope is that one day the ‘atomic veterans’ will receive the honor of a medal for our dedicated service to the United States.”
For more information, contact the National Association of Atomic Veterans at www.naav.com or by mail at 11214 Sageland, Houston, TX 77089.
Contact Jeanne LeFlore at jleflore@mcalesternews.com.
Local veteran organizes service members affected by nuclear cleanup
As the third plane carrying engineers and soldiers landed on Enewetak Atoll, Mobile native Frank Bolton III contemplated the history of the land and the reason for his presence there.
Nearly three decades earlier, in 1945, the threat from Nazi Germany was alive and well in the hearts and minds of Americans. This threat multiplied exponentially as rumors of the Nazis’ rapid advancements in the development of nuclear weaponry grew within the scientific community.
The United States had assembled some of the brightest minds in the world and given them but one task — to develop a nuclear bomb and do so as quickly as possible. The country was on the cusp of one of the deadliest creations ever imagined.
On July 16, 1945, “Operation Trinity,” named after a John Donne poem, took place on Nevada’s White Sands Proving Ground. It was the first detonation of a nuclear weapon. Three weeks later, the U.S. bombed Hiroshima, Japan, with a uranium-based device called “Little Boy.” Three days later that, another was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan — a plutonium-based device called “Fat Man.”
Four months after the first explosion, 225,000 Japanese had died from either the blast itself or illness that followed.
These two devices effectively brought Japan to its knees and by Aug. 15, it had surrendered. But the U.S. advancement in nuclear weaponry required additional testing. The military and scientists were interested in needed improvements, atmospheric effects and population impacts. The U.S. needed an isolated offshore testing area.
(Photo/ Courtesy of Frank Bolton III) Service members participating in the cleanup of atomic testing sites in the South Pacific wore little, if any protective gear. Decades later, they are fighting for the same VA benefits currently limited to veterans directly involved with the blasts.
This search brought military leaders — and eventually Frank Bolton — to the South Pacific Ocean. The Pacific itself is a vast body of water — roughly 63.8 million square miles and larger than all of the world’s land combined. In the Southern Hemisphere, there are islands and atolls galore. Within the rings of coral atolls are often partially or completely closed lagoons, formed over millennia by dormant volcanoes or seamounts. Within the Pacific’s vast area, the U.S. found a region perfect for its testing, the Marshall Islands of Enewetak Atoll.
The native Marshallese people — in villages of dozens or hundreds — were relocated to neighboring islands or regions. An area of operation was quickly developed, and scientists and soldiers were ferried in by boat and plane, making the Pacific Proving Ground ready for testing.
All in all, 43 nuclear bombs were detonated between 1948 and 1955, leaving Enewetak a heavily contaminated mess. To put it in perspective, those 43 bombs of varying yields were comparable to a Hiroshima-sized bomb being detonated every day for 19 years.
After repeated reminders to the U.S. from the Marshallese people that they were promised a return to their homeland, in May 1977 the U.S. government assigned a military coalition of engineers and soldiers to clean up and decontaminate Enewetak Atoll. This mission is what drew Frank Bolton III.
“I was transferred to the 84th Engineer Battalion as soon as I finished [training],” Bolton recalled recently. “Shortly after I got to Hawaii, the Enewetak Atoll Cleanup Mission started. I worked as a clerk in C Company Headquarters. I was trained as a combat draftsman. When the captain asked me if I wanted to volunteer to go on the Cleanup Mission, I asked him if I would be able to work as a draftsman, he assured me I would, so I agreed to go.”
Bolton says a distinct duality existed on Enewetak. It was a place of unparalleled beauty, but within its picturesque splendor existed a high concentration of radioactive nuclear waste.
“When I stepped off the plane, I remember the heat and glare of the sun. Then I noticed the ocean and lagoon. The island was barely wide enough for the airstrip our C-141 landed on. The air was salty and fresh. I’ll always have my memories and photo albums. I remember Enewetak to be the most romantic place I’ve ever visited without a woman to enjoy it with,” Bolton said.
He described the beaches, fishing for sharks, eating coconuts and the indigenous life. The stars at night were brighter and more numerous than any he had seen and the ocean was full of phosphorous, giving the waves a green glow. But it was no vacation.
“Even though most of what I describe sounds like a dream vacation, the morale of most of the troops would not agree. Some grumbled that the government could not send prisoners to do the work because that would be inhumane. The heat, the sun, the long work hours, the lack of air conditioning, the lack of female companionship and the [resulting] divorces. You get the idea.”
If Bolton expected the military to train these men on how to safely gather and dispose of the radioactive waste created by nuclear testing, he was disappointed. He says beyond boot camp and the specialized job training for each soldier and engineer, the men received no training on the proper handling and disposal of “hot” materials.
“Once I arrived at Enewetak Island, our group was shown a video explaining the radiation issues. The video was created to explain the situation to the dri-Enewetak people.”
Bolton says the video was created as a public relations tool for the citizens of the Marshall Islands and was the only preparatory training he and his colleagues received.
He said the availability of proper hazmat gear and its usage was also lacking. Supplies were beyond scarce. In fact, many of the men had to roll up their work pants for pillows at night. What little hazmat gear existed could easily be left on a shelf. Bolton said the superior officers told engineers and soldiers they were not in any danger from the elements they worked, ate, recreated, rested and lived in.
Also, the temperature on Enewetak Atoll could easily eclipse 100 degrees by midday, Bolton explained. At times, required pieces of hazmat equipment like face masks were not available to keep radioactive dust from being ingested. They were told they were on backorder. With such complications in the supply chain and assurances from superiors of no radiation danger in their work areas, Bolton said men continued to labor in contaminated work environments — moving soil and debris polluted with fallout — wearing nothing more than short pants and boots.
As the men worked in the unrelenting heat, superiors and officials would come to visit and monitor their progress. Bolton says he and other soldiers were shocked to see the military brass and government officials in full hazmat gear.
“I never questioned the harm the government exposed us to. I feel many of my fellow ‘atomic cleanup vets’ have been cheated and lied to,” Bolton said, using a phrase that he’s since spun off into a website and support group.
The soldiers and engineers did what military personnel do — they followed orders — and Bolton says each was exposed to the radioactive and contaminated elements of the environment. There was plenty to go around. In fact there was nowhere to go to escape this omnipresent and lethal enemy. Following a hard day of work, a soldier would clean up and rest in his barracks. Bolton says the barracks were bunkhouses built on concrete slabs produced using contaminated coral reef aggregate and beach sand. Radiation was everywhere.
The engineers and soldiers reduced radioactive levels by scraping layers of the island’s soil, transporting radioactive debris to the containment area and sealing it inside a concrete Cactus Dome. However, even with the best of decontamination work, there were many areas that remained “uninhabitable” or “restricted” and would remain so classified due to the generations of half-lives in the radioactive elements so thoroughly scattered throughout the atoll during the testing. After all, plutonium has a half-life of 24,000 years and it has been less than 25 years since the last explosion.
Bolton had nearly completed his contract with the Army as he left Enewetak Atoll following his second tour.
“My military contract with the Army spanned from 1976 to 1980. I served two tours at Enewetak Atoll for a total of 14 months. When I left Enewetak Atoll, I finished my assignment at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, and was transferred to Fort Carson in Colorado for my final six months … ,” he said. With the skill sets he acquired while in the Army, Bolton quickly found both employment and success.
“When I returned home to Mobile, I worked in several architectural and engineering firms and was also self-employed and in partnerships,” he said. Bolton’s name and reputation for exemplary work grew steadily. He became a valuable asset among his peers, an active member in the community, a devoted husband and father and is currently a dedicated employee at Heritage Homes of Mobile Inc. LLC.
Thirty-five years following their mission, Bolton says many of the veterans of Enewetak are getting sick and dying. They are suffering from all types of cancers, neurological disorders, incapacitating arthritis — just to name a few of the more common ailments. The Atomic Cleanup Veterans are certain their afflictions can be easily linked to their exposure to the soil and debris contaminated with cesium-137, plutonium and other heavy radioactive elements.
Particularly galling to Bolton and his compatriots is they are not being supported by the military they served.
These men are unable to get treatment at U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals, Bolton says. It all comes down to a simple matter of classification. The Enewetak workers are not considered to be “Atomic Veterans.” By definition, “Atomic Veterans” are personnel who served in the military between the years of 1945 and 1962 and worked in “Radiation Risk” activities while serving.
Because Bolton and his colleagues are not classified as “Atomic Veterans,” they are not entitled to a VA health care service they desperately need. For those who are “Atomic Veterans” as designated by the official definition, VA health care of the highest standard — classified as “Priority One” — is available. There is even a cancer compensation fund for them. The “Atomic Veterans” do not have to prove their illnesses are caused by radiation.
The veterans of the Enewetak cleanup effort are termed as “Occupational Exposure to Ionizing Radiation.” This carries a classification of “Priority Six” and effectively closes and locks the door to the same treatment, Bolton says. Ironically, the people responsible for generating the contamination on Enewetak are covered by the VA’s plan, but the engineers and soldiers who cleaned up the contamination are denied it.
In 1996, the Enewetak Atoll Cleanup Mission was declassified by the Clinton Administration and for the first time soldiers and engineers were allowed to talk freely about what they did and where they did it. Prior to that, Bolton had already been using the Internet as a means of searching for and contacting his fellow veterans.
“I’ve been actively looking for people who participated in the atomic cleanup mission back when the Internet was a bulletin board using DOS, before it evolved into the modern-day resource it is now. I found a site one of our guys created for those who participated in our mission,” he said.
As the men began to communicate with one another, commonalities quickly emerged in their experience with health issues. And as they shared information, the source of their illnesses became more suspect. Two-thirds of the men who have reconnected with their fellow soldiers and engineers believe they have health issues that are the direct result of exposure to ionizing radiation at Enewetak Atoll.
A relatively new and powerful tool emerged as Bolton continued his search for more brothers in arms — social media. He set up a website where communication among those who served could be easily accomplished. The mission statement of the website he designed is twofold: “To help one another with sharing information and providing moral support during difficult times” and to “urge Congress to change current laws and recognize the soldiers of this cleanup mission as ‘veterans who participated in radiation risk activities during service.’”
The website www.atomiccleanupvets.com, offers an array of information and photos from the Enewetak Atoll mission.
Bolton believes he did not escape Enewetak Atoll without being affected by the radioactive fallout that was scattered across the region.
“Not all of my health issues are because of my time at Enewetak Atoll, but I believe the health issues from my exposure to ionizing radiation involve digestive tract issues (stomach ulcers and diverticular disease), neurological issues (tingling and numbness in hands and arms, and fibromyalgia-type pain in my feet and calves), rheumatoid arthritis, calcium issues with my bones (degenerative disc disease) and teeth, and some memory loss.”
Bolton believes it is only fair that as the soldier protects his country, the country in turn protects and provides for the soldier. He and others say they are holding tight to the belief they will not be left behind.
Bolton urges those who served at Enewetak, as well as their families and friends, to contact their federal representatives and tell them simply that the veterans of the Enewetak Atoll cleanup need to be included in the classification of “Atomic Veterans” so they can receive treatment from VA health care facilities.
Several efforts were made to contact the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs concerning the classification of these soldiers and the lack of available medical care, but as of the publication of this article, the agency has not responded to the messages left for them.
Bolton remains optimistic in his activism for “Atomic Cleanup Veterans,” and has dedicated himself to getting all those who served on Enewetak Atoll the recognition and medical coverage they deserve.
Veterans battle VA for atomic designation
BELFAST, Maine — One of Jeffery Dean’s close Army buddies died two days ago of a cancer that the Belfast man has no problem connecting to their stint cleaning up nuclear waste together on a tiny South Pacific atoll.
The problem is, that’s not how they see it over at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs — and that makes Dean see red. The VA recently responded to a Bangor Daily News query asking why the men stationed on hot, dusty Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands in the late 1970s are not designated as “Atomic Veterans.” Dean and his buddy Tod Lentini were among a few thousand American troops tasked with rehabilitating the atoll before it was returned to the people of the Marshall Islands. It was the scene of more than 40 nuclear tests.
“The data accumulated over the three years of the project do not indicate any area or instance of concern over radiological safety. All doses, internal and external were minimal,” VA spokeswoman Ndidi Mojay said in an email.
She said that according to a 1981 report about the Enewetak Atoll cleanup, if a veteran had entered a radiological area during his time on the Marshall Islands, he would have worn a dosimeter — a gadget that measures radiation. Of 12,000 individual records, none showed exposures that exceeded occupational radiation exposure dose limits.
“Overall, the radiation protection program at Enewetak achieved its goal of maintaining personnel radiation exposures as low as reasonably achievable,” Mojay said.
She said that the majority of veterans who served on the atoll use the VA for either primary or supplementary health care and that the agency continues to care for the nation’s veterans.
The designation of Atomic Veteran, narrowly defined by legislation, allows veterans who have developed one of several specific cancers or nonmalignant conditions to be eligible for compensation or free medical care through the VA. They do not have to prove their cancers were caused by radiation.
Dean, a 58-year-old cancer survivor, said Sunday that the VA’s response is not surprising, but it upsets him all the same. His friend, a 62-year-old who spent eight months working on Enewetak Atoll, was diagnosed with prostate cancer just a few months ago. When doctors did more tests, they found the cancer had metastasized through his kidneys and liver. Lentini, a talented mechanic who had moved to Searsport two years ago, couldn’t be helped.
“I didn’t think he’d go this quick,” Dean said of Lentini, adding that the cancer diagnosis pushed him to become an activist. “It became apparent to me somebody’s got to do something. We decided to go out and be vocal about it.”
He said that veterans he knows have written to ask for their dosimeter records from the VA, and when they receive them, all the readings have been blacked out.
He also does not believe the dosimeters they were given back then worked properly.
It’s just common sense, Dean said, that bulldozing radioactive surface soil and moving it to a giant crater with little protective gear would end up causing problems for the men who did the work.
“It’s pure, 100 percent cover-up,” Dean said. “It was the airborne dust that contaminated us. It just absolutely boggles my mind that they can say that.”
Paul Laird, a 58-year-old veteran from Otisfield who has had many health problems, including cancers, landed on the atoll in May 1977. He was tasked with bulldozing vegetation and topsoil in temperatures that rose to 125 degrees.
“I had no protective gear whatsoever. Nothing. Not even a dust mask,” he said. “That stuff would just poof and cover me. I would wrap my T-shirt around my face. I did not feel right from the start. When I’m sitting there on the dozer with no protection and I see a dignitary at the site to check out the project with a full hazmat suit and respirator, that sets up a red flag for me.”
For Laird, getting the Atomic Veterans designation likely would make it easier to get a disability rating from the VA because of his cancers.
“They flat turned me down,” he said. “No proof of radiation exposure.”
U.S. Reps. Bruce Poliquin and Chellie Pingree issued a joint statement last week when asked about the veterans’ quest.
“When our local military heroes return home, it’s important for Congress to do everything possible, within its power, to ensure veterans receive access to the health care they were promised and deserve,” they said. “We have reached out to the VA to seek clarity as to why this group of veterans is not currently classified as ‘Atomic Veterans.’”
U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King said their offices have been in touch with the VA on the issue. This service member was not so lucky, name kept to protect privacy.
“Sens. Collins and King believe that our veterans deserve nothing but the highest-quality care, and if a veteran has developed an illness as a result of their work in the line of duty, then they deserve the appropriate recognition from the VA,” they said jointly in a statement. “We will continue to work closely with veterans moving forward.”
Dean said he hopes they’ll be recognized and will get the designation and health care they need. But days after Lentini died, he’s worried it will be too little, too late.
“We’re all suffering the consequences,” Dean said. “Vets are dying with no mystery to it.”
Source: http://bangordailynews.com/2015/04/05/news/midcoast/veterans-battle-va-for-atomic-designation/
By Ryan Luby
Local 'atomic vets' felt like guinea pigs in Cold War
Effects of radiation exposure long-lasting, lethal
They are America's 'atomic veterans.' Between 1945 and the early 1960s, they helped document atomic bomb tests in the Nevada desert and the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. 1,600 'atomic veterans' are dying every month, according to the National Association of Atomic Veterans. Two remaining ‘atomic veterans’ in Nebraska shared their stories. Aside from paper certificates, few ‘atomic veterans’ received recognition for their work and their years of medical hardship as a result of radiation exposure.
"We were laying on the ground, and we were supposed to cover our eyes, and the flash -- you could see the bones in your fingers," veteran Ernest Havlovic said of one particular atomic bomb test.
Havlovic, who's 80-years-old and lives in his childhood farmhouse in Butler County, Neb., rarely shares his story from Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
"Very seldom," he said.
But his story of sacrifice, during Operation Castle in 1954, is powerful. He was a cook for the Army. While preparing meals for his shipmates, he also witnessed a half dozen atomic bomb tests. Some of those tests were "dirty, Havlovic explained. He said the tests spread radiation in ways the U.S. government didn't anticipate.
As memorable as his experiences were, so were those of Bob Ruyle in Lincoln, Neb. And just like Havlovic, all that Ruyle has to show for his service during Operation Redwing in 1956 is a paper certificate.
“That’s it,” Ruyle said.
Ruyle was a radioman and ‘cryptoman.’ He deciphered top-secret messages from the U.S. military to his captain aboard the USS Navasota, which was also in the Marshall Islands area.
Ruyle was in close proximity of more than a dozen atomic bomb tests during Operation Redwing.
Even though Ruyle and Havlovic hardly know each other, their shared military experiences have led to years of medical hardship. They’ve shared in similar ailments.
Ruyle lost his teeth when he was 27-years-old. He’s worn dentures the last 50 years. A doctor determined the teeth trouble stemmed from Ruyle’s exposure to radiation, Ruyle said. He also had an ear rebuilt roughly eight years ago, he said, after cancer bloomed into a large tumor in just a few days.
Havlovic has had some of his lymph nodes removed, along with his appendix, according to his family. He has also suffered from regular bouts of skin cancer.
Both Havlovic and Ruyle have had access to medical care as a result of their ailments. But given the lack of recognition they received for their services, they and their families hope to receive a little more before it’s too late.
Atomic Clean Up Veterans Seek Recognition from Government
In the late 1940’s, the Marshall Islands were used as nuclear testing sites. Members of the Army were deployed in the 1960’s to clean up the waste that was left behind at the remote, Pacific islands. For many veterans, the exposure to radiation and other elements on the island have produced long-term effects. Some veterans feel like the government has turned their back on them and their time served on the islands.
Veteran Jeff Dean of Maine said, “I am a stage four cancer survivor. We deserve to be recognized and we need the medical assistance, you know? There are a lot of people who are now sick and battling for their lives.”
Specifically, Dean and fellow veteran, Laird, helped with the clean up of Enewetak Island for a span of several months. Dean was well aware that it would be a dirty job, but he was proud to be able to serve his country. Both veterans claim that the Army said there was not any danger from being exposed while on the mission. Multiple soldiers were give radon badges to monitor the amount of radiation or nuclear waste they were being exposed to. However, the badges did not detect another hazard: the content of the air they were breathing.
Since the cleanup of the Marshall Islands, many veterans who were working there have been diagnosed with cancer. Laird thought he might have been lucky until several years ago when he was simultaneously diagnosed with kidney and bladder cancer.
“My three friends who are very sick right now, they have been documented as exposure to radiation,” claims Dean. Even though they have been documented, the United States government has not officially recognized the group as “atomic veterans.”
According to federal law, funding is available for veterans who were exposed to radiation, or Atomic Vets. The members of the Enewetak clean up are not considered such, so they are unable to attain assistance with medical bills. The Enewetak Atomic Clean-Up Veterans group is pushing to be recognized by the Department of Veterans Affairs and be included in the Atomic Vets category. The office of one senator, Angus King, said it has been made aware of the issue and has contacted the VA.
Laird stated, “a lot of people look at us as if we weren’t in a wartime situation, so they look down on you because we never got shot. We did get shot at, but it was with invisible bullets that went right through our body and they are still there. They are inside us right now and can take any of us out at any time.”
Veterans who were apart of the Enewetak clean-up or those who would like more information can visit the Enewetak Atomic Clean-Up Veterans group website.
The Archuleta Law Firm handles injury, death, and veterans medical malpractice claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act. We handle claims in all 50 States and Worldwide. Our focus is helping Veterans, and the families of Veterans and Military Service Members in their claims involving Veterans (VA) Hospitals, Doctors and Clinics and Military Hospitals, Doctors and Clinics. We handle claims involving the Department of Veterans Affairs, the U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy, and the U.S. Air Force.
The Other Side of Memorial Day,’ or Dying in Paradise
Follow Hal Donahue on Twitter: www.twitter.com/haldonahue
The politicians look stern. The old veterans preen. The young soldiers wonder why they had to give up a holiday weekend to march with some old guys. In my last blog post, I mentioned Hillary and politicians doing right by the troops when no one is watching. Memorial Day is different; everyone watches. The veterans being celebrated can neither talk back nor cause problems; quiet they are in their tombs. Memorial Day is a holiday to recognize all military who died in the nation’s service.
Nearly everyone honors our war dead. They cost little and cannot argue back against the pontifications of the politicians and the war hawks. More ignored are the military dead who died following the wars — people who could not breathe from World War I trench warfare and gassing or slowly degenerated from the psychic horrors of bombing population centers or liberating death camps.
Far too often, family and loved ones were abandoned to cope with wounded who would never really recover. The numerous naval and air accidents kept piling up a steady toll of dead and damaged families. All these thoughts flood this career officer’s mind on Memorial Day. These deaths, most caused by operating at the very edge of known science or the environment, come to mind in May. Not all our dead realized that they were in harm’s way. The list of mistakes is long, but an honorable nation must recognize the sacrifices of those who did not even realize they were at risk. Perhaps it is time to discuss when politicians ignore veterans when no one is watching.
Eniwetok Atoll was the site of massive nuclear weapons testing. The islanders who once inhabited the islands were compensated by the U.S. when it realized that fully restoring the islands was impossible. It was here in this tropical paradise that the U.S. military apparently suffered numerous unrecognized casualties. Whether through callousness or oversight, thousands of U.S. servicemen were seemingly sentenced to early death from radiation exposure. The Los Angeles Timesreported in 1986:
Shortly before the United States in 1948 began its testing of atomic bombs on Eniwetok atoll in the central Pacific, Ketty Boktok’s mother was among the 800 people evacuated to other parts of the Marshall Islands. Over the next decade 43 atomic devices were exploded on Eniwetok.
The radioactive fallout from these tests on Eniwetok—and another 23 on Bikini atoll—made parts of the Marshall Islands uninhabitable, forced the relocation of nearly 2,000 people and disrupted traditional life in the Marshall Islands, a chain of 29 coral atolls and five mountaintop islands scattered over half a million square miles in the Central Pacific, about 2,500 miles southwest of Hawaii.
The Cold War period was indeed best described by the politics of terror and mutually assured destruction, or MAD. Both sides terrorized each other with the guarantee that they would literally destroy the world. Shortcuts abounded, and the senior military leadership grew accustomed to hiding from responsibility behind a wall of secrecy and denial, and so it was for the Eniwetok Atomic Veterans. Gary Pulis described the assignment in an excellent article in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette by Rosa Salter Rodriguez: “Picture the most beautiful tropical paradise you’ve ever seen — a beautiful lagoon on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other, and the sound of waves crashing in. A beautiful place.” However, the snake in this particular Eden was radioactivity.
The Pentagon classified the veterans’ mission, and the peacetime veterans were eligible for only limited VA benefits. With the coming of the Internet, Mr. Pulis and others began to look for veterans who had served with the clean-up mission. Their results were alarming. Mr. Pulis said, “Out of the 8,033 people sent to clean Enewetak Atoll, after 35 years of searching, we have found only 210 survivors, or 2 to 3 percent.”
Hillary Clinton did what was right when no one was looking; it is time to demand that the members of Congress who represent these veterans do what is right for these veterans, because we are looking. We cannot undo what has been done, but we very much should do everything possible to ensure that they are treated in the very best way possible for their service.
Whether we’re talking about Iraqi chemical weapons, Agent Orange, or the Atomic Veterans, the American people should demand accountability from the Pentagon and national leadership. People should be considered neither disposable nor riffraff, especially our veterans, who deserve far better from their weak leadership
"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
