Nuclear test 'guinea pigs' go back to their island paradise (Rongelap)

[struggle4progress]

By Hannah Cleaver in the Marshall Islands
June 5, 2005
The Sun-Herald

<snip> "Later, stuff fell from the sky, it tasted bitter but some of us children were playing in it. We did not become frightened until we saw the eyes of the older people and we realised that they were scared."

Dreadfully contaminated, the islanders were removed by American soldiers and held in camps for three years before being taken back and told they would be safe as long as they avoided local foods such as the coconut crab.

In fact, the Rongelapese stayed on their beloved island for nearly 30 years. But the rates of miscarriage soared, as did the number of strange and aggressive cancers. <snip>

Eventually, the Rongelapese escaped their homes, fleeing on the Rainbow Warrior, Greenpeace's flagship which in 1985 was leading a nuclear-free Pacific campaign. <snip>

http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Nuclear-test-guinea-pigs-go-back-to-their-island-paradise/2005/06/04/1117825105109.html


OPERATION CROSSROADS, BIKINI ATOLL LAGOON


July 1, 1946 - Operation Crossroads. Tests to determine the effects of atomic bombs on naval targets were conducted at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific. In the first test, the bomb was dropped from a B-29 at 30,000 feet on ships anchored in the lagoon. Five sank outright and nine others were heavily damaged.

http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/ships/carriers/op-xroad.html


BAKER DAY AT BIKINI ATOLL, 25 July 1946