was preparing breakfast while his
wife was nursingtheir one-yearold child.
Suddeniy, there was a blinding flash. and they
saw a huge red fireball ascending upward
"ike the sun rising in the west.” Minuteslater, a tremendous blast knocked thatched win' dows out of the huts and coconuts out of the
trees.
In the late morning the atmosphere
became murky, and a snow-like, gritty material
began falling from the sky; this continued for
some hours, covering the ground and palm trees
with a white coating, adhering to the skin and
in the hair of the people, causing itching and
burning of the skin and irritation of the eyes.
Manychildren played in the ash; someof the
_ children frolicked in the lagoon edge and thus,
unknowingly, helped prevent or modify the
development of radiation burns of the skin. The
fallout settled on their food: some said the coconuts tasted bitter. Since it was the dry season,
the water in the catchment systems was low.
and a brief rain shower that evening caused the
water in the cisterns to turn yellow. .:+.we
s+, the Health Aide, advised the people nat to
drink the water. However, manydid.
During the night of March 1 many people.
lost their appetites and became nauseated: a
few vomited and had diarrhea. These symptoms
persisted into the next day.
OntheafternoonofMatrch’2:(heTas
people left on the ship about noon for Sifo Island
at Ailingnae Atoll where the other 18 Rongelap
people were picked up, and the snip proceeded
to Kwajalein. Showerfacilities were made
available to attempt to decontaminate the peo-
ple, and some of their clothes were jaundered.
The ship arrived at Kwajalein at
a 8:30 a.m.,
March 4.
2. Utirik
The 159 people living on Utirik Atoll saw
the flash of the detonation inthe western sky in
the early morning of March 1 andfelt the concussion of the blast wave. Fallout was not seen
on Utirik, probably because there was less and
it had dispersed by the time it reached that
island. It was later estimated that the fallout
began at about 4:00 a.m. on March 2 (about 22
hours after the detonation) and continued for
about 4-5 hours. The Utirik people did not complain of symptoms, such as skin irritation or
gastrointestinal effects as the Rongelap people
experienced. The first of two ships ordered to
Utirik to evacuate the people was the USS
Renshaw, which arrived about 6:30 a.m. on
March 4 and sailed again at 1:30 p.m. The USS
Monroe did not arrive until after the people
were evacuated. “
D. Atomic Energy Commission(AEC),
CR wees
_.7 Washington’:
awe Why, >
MA peg
Force sent twomen one seap
Asiese}Rongefap to
' TheJointTask forteCommandnotified
measure radiationlevels.They wereon the.
a‘the AEC,in ,Waghington aboutthe evacuation of
isiand only 10-20 minutes anda
aid’ at stpiak'to
the Marshallese from. RongelapandUtirik and
_ the people, perhaps|because
eg they.did}bagttow
- the servicemen from Rongerikandrequested a
Marshallese.
medicalteam to evaiuate possib{efallout effecta
At 7:30 a.m. on March 3, the USSPhilip
on the people.* John Bugher, Head of the
anchored in the lagoon at Rongelap. Shortly
after, a seaplane arrived from Kwajalein with
Marion Wilds, a Trust Territory Representative,
and Oscar DeBrum, a Marshallese interpreter.’
The following description is taken from theofficial account of the Captain of the USS Philip
(B-10).
A radiological monitoring team went
ashore with the landing party and measured
radiation levels on the island.
the
Magistrate, was informed that it was necessary
to evacuate the people. He designated 16 people
(older people, and those with sickness) to return
to Kwajalein on the plane. The remaining 45
*DeBrum iater became Marshall Island District Administrator
under the Trust Terntory Government, and then Secretary to
the Repuhiie of the Marshall Islands.
6
IGOR fob
Division of Biology and Medicine, called on the
Surgeon Generalof the Navy to form a special
medical team. E. P. Cronkite at the Naval
Medical Research Institute was asked to head a
joint AEC-Departmentof Defense emergency
medica] team. The expedition was outfitted in
record time and left for the Marshall Islands on
March 7.
On March 11, the Atomic Energy
Commission made the following announce-
ment:?
—
“In March. the AEC issued a terse release stating that a test
detonation had occurred. There was little reaction in press. The
Task Force personnel were advised not to talk about the acci-
dent. [t was some weeks before the U.S. public became aware of
the extend of the accident (B-9),
5Our group felt that this announcement was misieading and
inaccurate sinew. at that ume. some eflects were being observed.