40307 7 April 9, 1975. Rongelap Island, Micronesia. Dr. Robert Conard Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, Long Island, New York 11790 Dear[Pr Fonard, ‘ ~ Qa : Ith_sorry | was not at home when you visited my island. Instead;—t have spent the past few months travelling to Japan and Fiji learning about treatment of atomic bomb victims and about attempts to; nd! the nuclear threat in the Pacific. “* Since leaving Rongelap on the peace ship Fri, | have learned a great deal and am/writing to you to clarify some of my feelings regarding your continued use of us as research subjects. noosa et” |! realize now that your entire career is based on our illness. We are far more valuable to you than you are to us. You have never really cared about us as. people -- only as a group of guinea pigs for your government's bomb" research effort. For me and for the ether people on Rongelap, it is life,which matters most. For you it is facts and figures. There is ho \question about your technical competence, but we often wonder abou your humanity. We don't need you and your technological machinery. yMe want our life and our health. We want to be free. S In all the years you've come to.‘our island, you've never treated us as people. You've never sat down among us and really helped us honestly with our problems. You have told: ‘people that the "worst is over'', then ; died. 1! don't. know yet how many new cases you'll find during your current trip, but | am Very worried that we will suffer again and again. !'Tl never forget how you told a newspaper._reporter that it was our fault that “died because we wouldn't let you examine us in early 1972. You seem to forgetthat it is your’ country and the people you work for who murdered : As a result of my trip, I've made some decisions that | want you to know about. The main decision is that we do not want to see you again. We want medical care from doctors who care about us, not about collecting information for the U.S. government's war makers. We want a doctor to live on our island permanently. Wedon't need medical care only when it is convenient for you to visit.--We want to be able to see a doctor when we want to. America has been trying to Americanize us by flying flags and using cast-off textbooks. . It's about time America gave us the kind of medical care it provides its.own citizens. We've never really trusted you. So we're going to invite doctors from hospitals in Hiroshima to examine us in a caring way.