- § Port — Sun., July 23, 1978 - ne ee -- Los Angeles Times int Istencays—Another Loss Continued from Third Page is an expression of who I am—ofindividual identity.” Or, as fellow anthropologist Jack farewell. The next morning they were unioaded at Rongerik. Qn the morning of July 1, a B-29 bomber called Dave's Dream dropped Tobin, another academic expert with erience in the Marshalls, exon pressed it: “In these islands, a man without land is no man.’ By a split vote of the atoli’s leaders, a “nominal yield’ 20-kiloton (the equivalent of 29,000 tons of TNT) atomic bomb over che fleet of 70 obsolete U.S. and captured Japanese and German warships moored just off Bikini Island. It exploded 500 feet above Atoll, 128 miles east of their home atoll. The Navy, which put out press releases at the time indicating that “the natives were delighted” by the move, was only sughtiy more restrained a year later inits official history of Crossroads, “Bombs at Bikini.” “The Bikinians, convinced that the (A-bo) tests would be a contribution to world peace, indicated their willingness to evacuate,” the Navy his- and crushing other like cheap toys— and initiatung the radiation poisoning of Bikini. Among the 42,000 observers of the awesome blast was Chief Juda, watching as a guest.of the Navyfram the deck of the USS Mt. Mckinley, several mules away. The Navy used more than 10,000 imstruments to record test data. Chief Juda’s reaction was not recorded. The next day he rejoined his people at Rongerik. the Bikinians chose to go to Rongerik torian wrote. It wasn't quite that way, according to Tobin, emeritus proiessor of anthropology at University of Hawaii. “They did not go willingly,’ Tobin said. “They were forced to go. . Tney agreed because thev hac to, just as they had agreed to do things wnen the Japanese had bayonets in the background. “Put yourself in their shoes: You've been told what to do by the Japanese for a quarter-century . . . and told by the Japanese military the Americans were weak. So when the Americans wiped out the Japanese. . all those American ships appearing, the natur-al reaction. .. would be to go along with what theyare told.” On the afternoon of March 7, 1946, the 166 men, women and children of Bikini were loaded aboard Navy LST 1108. As the awkward landing craft backed off the beach at Bikim Island end churned cut of the blue-green !aFoon. the people gathered on the main deck to sing tradiuonal songs of the fleet, sinking five snips, twisting wo Rongerik was a disaster. It was too small. Threre was too littie feed. And, according to lesend, it was haunted by an evil witch named Likortsa. who poisoned the fish of the lagoon. In fact, certain fish of the !agoon were poisonous which was why Rongerik had been uninhabited for years. But it was close to Bikini and the people had chosen it for that reason. They thought they could bear up under the harcsh:rps unui) they went beck to ther home atoll. That, they were convinced, would be in a couple of years at most. Chief Juda had returned from the first bomb test (the second, an underwater shot, was held July 23, 1946) to tell his people that while there nad been great damage to the shins, there seemed to be Ititle to Bikini itself. The trees were stul standing, suli bearing coconuts. But the radiation, invisible, was not something he could under- stand. severe: food shortages developed dunng the winter of 1946-47. In spring of 1947, fire destroyed a third of Rongenk’s coconut trees. The peo- ple pressed for a return to Bikini, but a radic.ogical survey indicated that it was too “hot” for permanent occupancy and would be for many years. In October, the Navy announced that the Bikinians would be relocated on Ujelang. But two monthslater, the Pentagon announced a newseries of nuciear tests would be held. this ume at Enewetak, another atoli in the Marshalls. The Enewetak people would go to Ujelang instead of the E1kimans. The Biximans had to wait. Andrew Jakeo remembered the Rongerik period well. “I was a big man then,” he said, “but I got skinny.” He held up the little finger of his left hand. “Skinnylike this. One cic woman died from hunger... . For 2 year and a half, we did not have enough food, (sometimes) got our food by cutting open the coconut tree and eating the heart of the tree. This Killed the tree.” Jeladrik Jakeo, Andrew's 48-year- old brother, was a teen-ager on Ron- gerik. “It was terrible,” he remembered. “We ate things that were not good, gathered coconuts that floatea in from the sea. Bad food; we gotsick. Arms and legs swelled up, and we got blisters on the arms and we had c:arrhea.” Late in January, 1948, the Nav: dispatched anthropologist Leonaris Mason, now of the University of Fa- wali, to investigate. He found the exiles at the point of starvation, hvins on rawflour diluted with water. In strong terms, Mason recommended that the people be remove: from Rongerik as soon as possible. Ii: also recommended Kuli Island. al ete ep te ee ee ete now peter mer a ts nn seem TET ‘ ‘ reo aia at = " = nner tT ‘ .