i 1g | ! Ea Ne|| oO E 6 s & ; On November 15, fa 19-year old Micronesian, died of. fF leukemia induced by fallout from a | March 1, 1954 H-bomb blast on Bi- -kini atoll. Over 200 Marshall IsFlanders were contaminated by heavy fF doses of fallout, but the people of Fymost severely affected. lived, were In late September 1972 it was - found that was suffering from r acute myelogenous leukemia. He f was treated at the U.S. Government's f National Institutes of Health. Like ; just about everybody his age on F Rongelap, he had previously had f surgery to remove a thyroid tumor | also caused by the Bomb. body was recently re+ turned to Micronesia, J _ - | Rongelap, where ao accompanied | by his parents and an Atomic Energy ; Gommission representative. Unforp tunately, the AEC man neglected to 2 U S445 b- LAID 4oeisa =IO¢02 see that body was put on the proper flight and as a result the casket was left behind in Honolulu. To make matters worse, the Navy had planned to provide an amphibious plane for the last leg of the journey but the pilot damaged the plane while on a joy-ride to another island. The Government has tried to keep death quiet. An exPeace Corps volunteer who knew well has received anonymous phone calls threatening legal action if anyone should see photos taken of Lekoj in the hospital. To the AEC's embarassment, Stewart Alsop was coincidentally assigned to share a . room with at NIH and wrote a ‘moving story about him in Newsweek. But the AEC has not yet officially notified leaders of the Ceougress of Micronesia of his death, nor has the covernmeént news service in Micronesia told the Micronesian people “and the Bomb. themselves about BEST COPYAVAILABLE VED — PRIVACY ACT MATERIAL REMO fue ' GIAOWSY TWIYALV LOW AOWAlud oS] OVA] wht ! a | - ee ee VTS Ty 8 DQ] — MWA Var, Ce eee ee PON SES | i yy tT mie [oi te RY] AT siSS Sis JNop Re ~ :t 2IGL7 9 MES.Al lomgumtoe &(4 SS QO _— ¢ a TA sate cme ee 1 : i . at ae ee ete