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ENIWETAK (MNS) -- When the MS Militobi
arrived at Japtan Island on the morning
of Harcn 15, with 55 Marshallese from
ber 20, 1947, in a ilavel LST for Ujelang
Atoll, 124 miles to tne southwest.
On December 2, 1947, the United States
government had notified the Security Council of the United Nations that Enewetak
Atoll was to be closed to the world for
security reasons in order that “necessary
experiments relating to nuclear fissian"
be conducted at the 30-square-mile atoll.
The people of Enawetak moved te Ujelang
based on an agreement which was to give
wetak is dominated by a mighty 8,190-foot
concrete runway which handled 75 bombers
during World War II. The other half of the
istand is crowded with anodized aluminum
Butler buildings of every shape and size;
warehouses, living quarters, messhallts and
. clubs. Fuel tanks, water towers, a huge
hangar, Saltwater conversien units, and concrete bunkers also dot the two and a half
mile strip which lies between tne deep
blue Pacific and the aqua tlue lagoon.
A.
Gilmer 5) 321
J
| ° }
nee
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hundred-foot wall of water generated by
the hydrogen blast and is not considered
thabitable for another thirty years.
a
What are the people of Enewetak finding
upon their return? The main island of Ene-
,
|
main northern island, was inundated by a
them full land rights to the uninhabited
years.
woe,
~ several hundred years during their 29-year
absence.
.
There are other changes too that they
are well aware of. Traditionally the northern islands of the atol} were occupied by |
the Enjebi people and the southern istands
by the Enewetak people. Only the southern
islands are considered inhabitable. Twa
northern islands were vaporized during the
tests: one during the explosion of the
world's first hydrogen bomb in 1952, and
the second six years later. Enjebi, the
- back to the peopie who left here on Decem-
not only be returning, but will also participate in the clean-up and rehabilitation
program which may last as long as three
|
‘time waro. Their old world will hava aged
the forties, and the cold war and atomic
testing of the fifties, is being turned
The 56 Wwho-are now arriving will
_
To those returning for the first time,
they wili probably feel like science fic' tion space voyagers who passed thraugh a
‘ symbol of the war in the Pacific during
for a $20 million clean-up program to get
underway.
-
Militobi.
Ujetang, it marked the beginning of the
nd of the American era on Enewetak Atol).
Enewetak, known to most*Americans as a
missioner cf the Trust Territcry, Peter T.
Coleman signed a series of agreements which
would begin the return process and allow
-
|
buildings, bunkers, communications sites,
animal pens and other reminders of tne nu- |
clear testing program. It is presently undergoing an intensive clean-up and rehabil- |
jtation for the first arrivals. A !iawaiian
Juau is scneduled upon the arrival of the
weterxese to their home islands after 3
years of absence. Following is his storw)
But the 136 Enewetakese becaine 450 by
1976, and Ujelang was no longer adequate.
The U.S. had ended its atomic testing program in 1958, and its other scientific and
technical programs were slowly being phased
out. There was a growing sentiment emong
~
the Enewetak people to return to their ancestral home.
On September 16, 1976, Acting High Com-
:
The island of Japtan, where the first
returnees will Jive, has numerous Butler
Territory #ign Commissioner's prass offi-
atoll.
AD Enos Abel eae
na AP Spacer at ApeIe
The island of Runit, near the line di-
I viding the north and south, is contaminated |
!by radio-active plutonium and is off limits
{for the indefinite future.
This poses a serious political question: —
Despite frequent intermarriages, will the
j Enjebt people wish to live on the islands
which traditionally belong to the Enewetak
peoole, or will they choose to remain on
_Ujelang?
;
|.
And another question: What will become of:
| the massive scientific, technological com—
‘plex on Enewetek Island, which once housed
!
' over 5,000 technicians, but 1s now a 2ist
- Century ghost town situated amiast a timeless environment where the lazy tradewinds
i swirl coral dust around the coconut palms?
oO