Atomic Veterans Speak Out

GoneGaryT writes "Last night I stumbled across the site for Atomic Veterans, the guys in the forces who were present at the Pacific atmospheric nuclear tests and those who 'cleaned-up' Eniwetok 20 years later. There are scores of testimonies, many from men who have a range of cancers or who have since died from them. The absolute and callous disregard for their health and safety at the time is shocking; I suppose the same kind of thing happened to British, French, Russian and Chinese troops in similar circumstances. The Chernobyl pages discussed here a few months ago were eerie; this site is simply heartbreaking. On the one hand, I hate the idea of this site being Slashdotted, on the other hand, people, you've just got to read some of these testimonies. What happened back then is no joke and I'm not sure if we have half the fallout story even now. For the continental US, see this compilation."

Comments

True dat

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, and the other real shame is the obsession that certain groups have with the effects of radiation. One of the main reasons why the USA has not progressed to using nuclear for bulk power is the overzealous regulations by the government, passed by under-educated representatives who's ears are turned by hyper-sensitive environmentalists.

All I Have To Say Is...

[Snagle]

You Can't Hug Your Children With Nuclear Arms! No, but seriously, those guys got hosed :(

You say 'Whoa', but...

[krog]

You'd think that would discourage the use of depleted uranium in modern warfare.

But you'd be wrong.

America fights dirty.

Splitting the Atopic

[Mulletproof]

Ok, but is there really a point to this story? I mean really. It's pretty common knowledge that corners were cut to get nuclear programs fielded in time and it's pretty well known that those involved didn't always come out unscathed. This isn't exactly news here. It hasn't been for a long time. Is there really anything beyond the "Ode to the victims of nuclear power" moral lesson I should be getting here, cuz I just ain't feeling it. If this stuff were still happening today I may give an extra shit or two, but the days of ignorance and nessecity are far, far behind us when it comes to the blind employment of nuclear testing and such.

Now why do I doubt that you'll never see a story posted here taking the opposite position-- The benefits of nuclear power and how it was instrumental in stopping Stalin, a real, hardcore mass murderer in check.

Corners were cut. People died due to ignorance. It's sad, but it's not news. In fact, it's been covered and documented in every possible way. But hey, what's a little more rehash between friends, right?

Re:The flip side of the coin.

[Veridium]

You got that effectiveness testing right...

http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/1997/nd97/nd96 or tmeyer.html

Isn't it nice that nuclear weapons testing poisoned so many americans?

You know, maybe if we hadn't slapped Japan with an oil embargo, they wouldn't have felt the need to attack us... But what am I saying, we all know Oil isn't a good justification for war, that's why you have lie about WMDs...

Re:thx for their efforts and sacrifices

[Lord Kano]

Apologies don't bring anybody back from the dead, but at least it brings home the point that the action was wrong. It is pretty sad that neither the US or Japan want to admit that they did something wrong a lifetime ago.

That would be because that it wasn't wrong for us to use those bombs. Have you ever heard the term "Necessary Evil"? The closest we should come to an apology is "We're sorry that your conduct and the resolve of your people forced us to unleash our most powerful weapon on you."

LK

Re:The great scientific irony..

[dvdeug]

In the interviening time some very smart men had to discover isotope separation (extreemly hard as Uranium 235 and 238 are chemically identical),

Was it really that hard? You have two substances mixed together only differing in mass. It seems obvious to turn them into a liquid or gas (by including them in a compound, since liquid uranium is hot) and run them through a centrifuge. Of all the problems involved in nuclear weapon production, that seems rather easy.

My conclusion...

[robertobobengo]

One thing is sure with nuclear weapons : Like with guns, they have killed more innocent and civil human lifes in manipulations and negligenges than against foreign enemies ... Source : http://www.campusprogram.com/reference/en/wikipedi a/l/li/list_of_nuclear_accidents.html We've to tell our governments to ban nuclear power plants and weapons and to restrict the number of guns to civilians.

Re:You just happen to be on the side that won

[LordLucless]

Remember, the Japanese attacked us. That made them the bad guys that time around. We did bad things too, but at least we weren't trying to rule the world.

Which would make the US the bad guys in the Iraq war, and thus deserving of a nuke or two in some heavily populated cities? Now there are a tonne of problems with "pre-emptive strikes" but saying "whoever attacked first is necessarily wrong" is just stupid.

Situational ethics. Fewer people died that way than if we'd used conventional weapons.

Right. Where's the proof? Many people have pointed out theat the Japanese were considering surrender before the bombings. It was the nuclear attack that made them surrender unconditionally.

And I truly doubt that the people who made the decision were thinking of the good of the many. It's not likely they were counting total lives lost - more likely they were counting American military lives lost. That's the way people tend to think in wartime - their thoughts become polarised into "us and them".