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VETERANS ADMINISTRATION

Q

HOSPITAL

410454

2002 HOLCOMBE BOULEVARD

HOUSTON, TEXAS

77031

December 15, 1970

YOUR FILE REFERENCE,

BEST COPY AVAILABLE
Robert A,

inmepty merER to,

Conard, M.D,

Medical Research Center

580/172

250°

a7

£?

Brookhaven National Laboratory
Upt
on, New York 11973
PRIVACY ACT MATERIAL REMOVED
Dear Dr.

Conard:

On November 3, 1970 Mr.
of San Antonio, Texas was admitted
to this hospital for observation and evaluation.
From the enclosed discharge summary you may see that he had a multiplicity of complaints and
was found to have certain conditions which he all related to an exposure
to ionizing radiation in the Marshall Islands.
In reviewing the locally
available literature follow-up examinations of these Marshallese, I _—
noted that Dr. Sutow was a member of the team/examiners.
When I called

him for assistance he advised me to get in touch with you.
I hope I annot imposing upon your time,
I am enclosing also a statement Mr.

has made about the accident,
My questions are:

Are you aware of any American service men being on an

island of the Bikini Atoll at the time of the fallout incidence other than
Rongerik,
Mr.
claims that he was 20 miles from ground "0" while
in fact Rongelap is listed as 105 nautical miles from ground "0" and
Rongerik evenfarther.
This appears to be a discrepsncy unless there was

another group of American service men somewhere else than Rongerik.
Secondly I was wondering if you know of anyone who has done a close followup
on the 28 American service men on che Island of Rongerik and with what

results.
Of course. I do realize that almost all of Mr.
problems are not related to the incident, at least phyaically. Yet I do
want to be fair and correct in my judgement. And chis is the reason why [I
am seeking your advice and your help.

And one more favor:

I would appreciate it if you could send me the reprints

of articles published by your group on the Marshallese Islanders.

I am

looking forward to hearing from you and let me thank you in advance for

your efforts.

Sincerely yours,

AS » Prvlaa .
——

PRIVACY ACT MATERIAL REMOVED
7

Encl,

,

Felix J. Pircher, M.D.
Chief, Nuclear Medicine Service

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