Moe Dee, Enewetak Atoll (1978) Glimmers of Light

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 Moe De

Branch: Army MOS: 12B Location: Enewetak Year: 1978

Quote: “We were dealing with an invisible enemy. Just because there wasn’t a physical enemy firing rounds at us, there was still an invisible predator, stalking us, just waiting to take its’ hold.”

“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 started looking into the whole Enewetak angle after seeing so many people on board with the current mission. My finding the Enewetak site basically began when I wanted to get a VA identification card so I could utilize benefits different places afford vets. I had to sign up for a medical card and doctors at the VA I went to had never heard about Enewetak. I filled out all the paperwork anyway and ended up being denied so much as an acknowledgement.”

“After I volunteered to go, that was when we were told more about the Marshall Islands. Even then, all they told us was that we were going to be doing a demolition cleanup and removing some old buildings. I’d never heard of the Islands before that.”

“So I got over to Hawaii and they wanted to know if any of us wanted to volunteer to work over on Enewetak. They never once, not one time told us that we were going into a potentially contaminated zone so sure, I went. As far as our job over there, I slept on Enewetak the entire time there but we generally worked on Medron. I was a combat engineer: heavy equipment operator with B Co, 65th Engineer Battalion and we were tasked with tearing down all these old military huts and various other structures because we were getting ready to give the islands back to the people. I thought we were doing a good thing.”

“There was so much negative publicity regarding the military right after Viet Nam that when I signed up, I was guaranteed my choice of duty station on the spot, essentially before the ink had even dried on my contract. They told me I was going to Schofield in Hawaii and I chose my MOS after I got there. Forty years: seems like a lifetime ago.”

“When I got over to Enewetak, my barracks were located right off the runway, I mean right there. I remember the mess hall being run by civilians and Navy Seals working off shore exploding old ordinance and the only problems we were concerned with was the Cold War and of the former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega.”

“For my job, we’d meet in the morning for assignments. If it wasn’t assigned to do work on Enewetak, we’d get on a landing craft and go out to one or two of the islands located to our immediate east or north. I can’t remember the names of where we went but we dismantled old piers and tore down the old Quonset buildings and took metal off old structures. We’d return to Enewetak at night, get some dinner, maybe take in a movie and try not be overcome by boredom too much. We drank a lot of alcohol: a lot.”

“As far as any safety gear, I’d hear stories about guys who’d been up in the northern islands and how they had to wear suits and respirators. They’d ask us if we ever had to wear that sort of stuff and of course, we never did. The Air Force guys did wand us for contamination but we never got pulled out of rank for anything negative. It didn’t seem like anything to worry about. The equipment we used out there was antiquated, definitely not top of the line. It seems the only thing they consciously protected us from was the sun. I mean, working down there, you had to wear a hat, sunscreen….you had to wear clothes or you’d have been fried.”

“I remember there were a lot of rats out there. We used to take bulldozers and push these big huts into piles and burn them. When we torched them off, the rats would come running out of these piles. Needless to say, I wasn’t too crazy about the rat population.”

“I’ve read about the problems that so many people are having. Myself, I’m having issue with my teeth and see that I’m not alone. Mine are in pretty rough shape as they’re basically disintegrating; Dentists don’t understand why it’s happening. Over the years, I’ve tried locating other people that I served with to compare notes but so far, haven’t located anybody: not on Facebook, LinkedIn or anything.”

“As far as time served in the Marshall Islands, if I could share with the rest of the world anything about my experience, I’d convey the fact that we were dealing with an invisible enemy. Just because there wasn’t a physical enemy firing rounds at us, there was still an invisible predator, stalking us, just waiting to take its’ hold.”

"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