With the writing of this report I am ending 26 years of affiliation with this program. During the past year, since my retirement in 1979, I have acted as Consultant to Drs. H. Pratt and E.P. Cronkite, my successors.* This has been a most gratifying and stimulating experience for me and I am happy that we have been able to contribute to the medical evaluation and health care of these people and help expand the knowledge of radiation effects in human beings. In spite of criticism and misunderstandings I am convinced that the Marshallese people have basically maintained strong feelings of friendship and respect for the medical team, and I personally am most grateful to them for this and believe that they know these feelings are mutual. We have been most fortunate in obtaining the dedicated help of many first-rate physicians and technicians including those from the Trust Territory. My heartfelt thanks to them all. Also the program could not have been carried out without the staunch support of people at Brookhaven National Laboratory, the Departments of Energy and Interior, the Trust Territory, the Army at Kwajalein, and others, to whom I am most grateful. With the further development of thyroid abnormalities and the possibility that other late effects of radiation may appear, it is imperative that the special medical examinations and health care of these people be continued. I stand ready to help my successors in any way that I can. The Marshall Islands are entering an era of widespread change, and I sincerely hope that with the greater awareness of the need for improved medical care in the Islands by the new Marshallese Government and the U.S., the future will be brighter for better care of these people. Robert A. Conard, M.D. co => CST Cc c> cr *On June 1, 1981, Dr. William H. Adams (from Texas Tech Academic Health Center, El Paso) came to BNL to take charge of the program. -vii -