Charles Robbins, Enewetak Atoll (1979) 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 Charles Robbins

Branch: Air Force AFSC: Aerospace Ground Equipment (AGE) Repair Location: Lojwa Year: 1979

Quote: “We had some people in the chain of command who tried to say the right things, tell people things were bad but they were pretty much ignored.”

“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 was stationed in Hawaii at the time and my shop had been sending guys over to the Marshall Islands for some time to do maintenance on the air sampling machines so I knew about it but I didn’t volunteer. I was told that my turn would come up.”

“Our job was actually a two-part one. The guys would go out and stake off an island with flags, grid it off and take petri dish soil samples. They’d bring the samples back to Lojwa and we’d take readings. If any of the tests indicated it, we’d load up on a landing craft; go out to the ‘hot’ area and do a field survey. All the readings were taken by computer and our guys would enter all the necessary information. Safety gear consisted of just a surgical mask. Drinking water hung off the back of our vehicle, so when we’d get something to drink, we were pulling water from containers covered in dust we’d kick up from driving all over the place.”

“Before we ever went over, guys who’d gone before us came back and told us things, so before I ever went, I knew something wasn’t right. (I know one of the guys who’d been over there whom I’ve heard has developed Parkinson’s.”

“I was reading stories about my dad’s experiences back in the 50’s. He was an atomic veteran and they couldn’t talk about anything because it was all classified. Bill Clinton made that our group could start talking about things. I loved the Enewetak Site. I’d been interested in it ever since we were there. I Googled it and checked things out. I’m not a scientist or anything but I told the guys I worked with about what all this stuff and how it was going to go to the bedrock. Rain wasn’t going to just wash everything away from all those years ago but I was a regular grunt. What did I know? It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out how the environment works.”

“The government and our military y really need to step back and take a look at this. I don’t think that our government plans on doing anything aside from shoving this under the rug, but I’ve been reading reports that people have put out about Enewetak. I think the government needs to make some better decisions about the whole ordeal and do so pretty quickly.”

“When we were working out there on the island of Bell, it was a lonely island. There was a point out there where I’d park my vehicle on the point and pile up rocks. I’d go out there and rake up the sand on the beach at the water’s edge and literally stirred up the sharks just so I could chunk rocks at them. It gave me something to do. I got up one morning to go out to work and somebody had taken the landing craft out. They got some leftover chow from someplace and baited a hook. When they got out there the next morning, they had themselves a shark; a good-sized one, too. I never threw rocks at sharks the size of that one. At low tide, we’d go out in our boots and go shell hunting. We’d see eels, sharks and barracudas. We had everything out there, except snakes. I didn’t see a snake one.”

“I was medicaled out of the service after serving in Desert Storm. I don’t have any hard-feelings toward the military, just our leaders and the powers that be. I heard some of the guys talking about a general who was in charge of the cleanup for a time. Apparently, he had been telling the upper echelon how things weren’t exactly the way they were supposed to be on those atolls and he was kind of retired. When we were out at Enewetak, we had some people in the chain of command who tried to say the right things, tell people things were bad but they were pretty much ignored.”

"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