It did not seem prudent to further move the natives around by dividing thum
up between the two ships, inasmuch as no great overcrowding was evident.
The Munro had a medical officer on board and offered his services which
fortunately were not necded.
It was comforting to know he was available
however, should any of the pregnant women fall due and payable while on
board.
Reception and handling of the natives on board worked out fairly well
and generally as was expected.
Hach one was monitored as they came on boarc.
and readings were around 7 mr/hr which was substantially lower than the
average of 20 mr/hr readings on the beach. This indicated that wading out
to the rafts had helped quite a bit in reducing presence of fall-out material on feet and clothing. Some of the children were routed through the
showers as soon as they came on board. But it was decided to feed all of
them before starting decontamination of adults.
Serving lines were set up
on the fantail using regular steam table trays of food and giving the natives
paper plates, cups, etc. They didn't eat very well, perhaps from the excitement or méybe they just don't like meat loaf. They did better on the
bread, mashed potatoes and oranges.
.
After lunch the Trust Territory official made some suggestions for
changing and improving our facilities which included careful partitioning
and segregation of the women's side of the head and washrooms.
He explained
that under conditions of excitement and strange surroundings the women are
extremely modest. Then commenced decontamination measures and considerable
resistence was encountered, But by prodding and cajoling we managed to
get all about 10% of them through the showers.
These were the aged, infirm
and sick. With no readings higher than 7 mr/hr it was decided not prudent
to force the old people in the showers. Next the problem of clothing arose,
Ne had sufficient clean dungarees for them all znd plenned to run all their
clothes through the laundry and give them back to put on before leaving the
ship. But here again stiff resistence was encountered. We tried but they
couldn't seem to understand taking their clothes away and the women wanted
no part of the dungarees. Clothes were monitored and since they averaged
only about 3-4 mr/hr it was decided that the situation did not call for such
drastic measures. Ali of these matters were discussed with the Trust Territory official, and decisions were concurred in or made on his recommen~
dations. Careful observation of the natives and questioning of the inter-
preter as to their mood, excitement and general morale convinced us that
forcing them to give up their clothes would really shake them up.
By late afternoon they were settled dovm on their mats and generally
quiet except for the kids, some of whom took several showers. They were
bright-eyed anc cute as could be. Some few of the women, as is their wont.
talked quietly but steadily all aftermocn from the time
they came aboard.
Declassifieg
DOD Dir 5200.19
Dey
~ 0 oyas;
$ifeg
$20Q lo
EMCLOSUR: (1)
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