ae - IENE ee er ee Los Angeles Times 6 Port tH sun., fuly 23, 1978 Rilkint Islancers—Anot eT “a farewell. The next morning they were Continued from Third Page is an expression of who I am—ofindividual idenuty.” unloaded at Rongenk. On the morning of July 1. a B-29 bomber called Dave's Dream dropped a “nominal yield” 20-kiloton (the Or, as fellow anthropologist Jack Tobin, another academic expert with Tongexpenence in the Marshalls, ex- pressedit: “In those islands, a man without land is no man.” By a split vote of the atoll’s leaders. the Bikinians chose to go to Rongerik 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 shghtly more restrained a year later in its 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 historian wrote. It wasn't quite that way, according to Tobin, emeritus professor of anthropology at University of Hawaui. “They did not go willingly,” Tobin said. “They were forced to go... . They agreed because they hac to, just as they had agreed to do things when 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 natural reaction. . . woud be to go along with what they are 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[sland and churned cutof the blue-green iagoon, the people gathered on the main deck to sing traditional songs of Pe & . samereee we a --- os equivalent of 20,000 tons of TNT) atomic bomb over the fleet of 70 ob- solete U.S. and captured Japanese and German warships moored just off Bikim Island. It exploded 500 feet above the fleet, smking five shios, twisting and crushing other lixe cheap toys— and initiating the radiation poisoning of Bikini. Among the 42,000 observers of the awesome blast was Chief Juda, watching as a guest of the Navy from the deck of the USS Mt. Mckinley. several miles away. The Navy used more than 10,000 instruments to record test data. Chief Juda’s reaction was not recorded. The next day he rejoined his people at Rongerik. Rongerik was a disaster. It was too small. There was tco iittie food. And, according to lecsend, it was hauntea by an evil witen named Liberia, wro poisoned the fish of the lagoon. In fact. certain fish of the lagoon were poisonous which was why Ronger:k had been unmhabited 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 hardsmps unt! they went back 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 25, 1946) to tell his people that while there had been great camage to the ships, there seemed to be hittle to Bikin) itself. The trees were sil! standing, suli cearing coconuts. But the radiation, invisible, ee me TO Loss ® was not something he could understand. Severe: food shortages developed dumng the winter of 1946-47. In spring of 1947, fire destroyed a third of Rongerik’s coconut trees. The people pressed for a return to Bikini, but a radioiogical survey indicated that it was too “hot” for permanent occupancy and would be for many years. In October, the Navy announced that the Bixinians would be relocated on Ujelang. But two monthslater, the Pentagon announced a newseries of nuclear tests would be held. this ume at Enewetak, another atoli in the Marshalls. The Enewetak people would go to Ujelang instead of the Bi- kimans, The B:kinians had to wait. Andrew Jakeo remembered the Rongerik period weil. “I was a big man then,” he said, “but I got skinny.” He held up the little finger of his Jeft hand. “Skinny like this. One of: 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 (he heart of the tree. This killed the tree.” Jeladrik Jakeo, Andrew's 48-yearold brother, was a teen-ager on Rongerk. “It was terrible,” he remembered. “We ate things that were nat good, gathered coconuts that floated in from the sea. Bad food; we got sick Arms and legs swelled up, and we gat blisters on the arms and we had ciarrhea.” Late in January, 1948, the Nas dispatched anthropologist Leanuru Mason, now of the University of Ha- wali, to investigate. He found the exiles at the point of starvation, livins on rawflour diluted with water. In strong terms, Mason recom- mended that the peopie be remove: from Rongerik as soon 2s possible. I! also recommended Kili Isiand. «: ee mga: +o<=ay _ = 2 ETNsort