me leew e + SUNDAY50c wie ERRED 10 YEARS AGO ixini is anders Lose Acain to Raclation When the atomic bomb cropped, I thought Bikini would disappear completely. It would have been better, maybe, if it had... . Then we wouldn't haveall these troubles. —~Nathan Note, scribe of the Bikini pecple, 1978 BY JERRY BELCHER Times Statt Writer Andrew Jakeo and the othersliving BIKINI, Marshail Islands--When the Americans made him leave Bikini on Bikini [sland are being sub'ected to Lyndon B. Johnson assured him. his Some younger Bikinians may live to.see their homeland again. but Andrew Jakeo wul not. It may be 30 years before Bikini is fit for human habitation. Andrew Jakeo is bitter and angry, although like most Marshallese he veils his emotions from outsiders. “The Americans told us in 1946 that they had come to test a bomb,” he said not long ago. “They told us they did not know how much the bomb would hurt Bikini. They told us that after they tested the bomb, and Bikini 1s good again. they will bring us back. They did not say howlongit would be.” But Andrew—Marshallese address one anotherby first names and expect outsiders to do the same—believed, along with the 165 others the U.S. Navy removed in 1U46, that they , for the first time. m 1946. Andrew Jakeo was 34 years old. When, after using the fragile Pacific atoll for 23 nuctear test blasts, the Americans in the person of President fellow islanders and the rest of the world that Bixini once again was safe for humanlife, Andrew Jakeo was 56. Now Andrew Jakeo 1s 66 and, above all cise, he wants to live out the days that remain to him cn this tiny curve of coral, sand and coconut palms with his family and friends. te The Bikinians must Jeave their ancestral home and its beautiful. fishteeming lagaon because the Americans, as they themselves now admit, made a regrettable error 10 years ago: Despite what the scientists and the President said—despite an investment of $3.25 million for cleanup and rebuilding—Bikini is not safe after all. Then. when his time comes. he wants to be buried here among his ancestors. But the old man will not be permitted to end his days where he wishes. For one day next month—federal officials say about Aug. 22. although official plans dealing with this place and these people seem to go awry more often than not—the Americans will remove Andrew Jakeo and the 140 others living on 449-acre Bikint Istand, largest of the 26 islets that make up Bikini Atoll. They will be transported to “temporary’ quarters m Kull, a single island with a land area one-sixth that of their 2.2-square-mule home atoll. Kilt. without a lagoon, les neariy 500 Mics southeast ft is an island some Bikinians hatiiually refer to as “the Prison,” unacceptably high doses of radiation left hehind by atomie and hydrogen bombblasts that seared the atoll during 12 yearsof tesung. would be back within a year orso. Meantime, he was convinced. the Americans would provide for him and the other people of Bikin. Andrew finally came back about eight years ago. He was among the first to return. It was 24 vears after the Navv had taxen him away, two years after Prosment Jonnson’s announcement that Bikini was safe. Please Turn to Page 3, Col. 4 410304 “LE RUVG 6ZE'7C0'L “1SAM AHL DM NOILVINDUID 1839481 we AVONNS SZ8°2EE : ANO LuYvVd-SLuvd NadLNIA 4a Copyright © 1978 tos Angeles Times . S3IOVd 99P ‘ 8/61 ‘EZ AINE ‘ONINYOW AVGNNS wee