“0.
STITT
oe
ta
Ulan
se Ri agp p eemetmenn
:
lorax)
.
tee Sommnrmind 1
|ae
tt
vente ge
.
November 25, 1967
Senator Clifford Case
United States Senate
Washington, D.C.
Dear Mr. Case;
My husband and I are serving in the Peace Corps in the Marshall
islands district of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.
I
suspect that you receive many lettcrs from Volunteers whose new
"Ss
erspective has heightened their awareness of a problem in which the
United States is involved,
‘This has been tne case in our situation,
Tne island where we are located has its special problems which have
involved us deeply.
The name Bikini is familiar to most Americans today, I believe.
fais was an atoll in.the Marshall Islands used for atomic testing.
How
many Americans are familiar with the fact that there were people living
on this atoll before the bomb tests?
TI don't believe there are too
many, and I myself belonged to that majority who did not until a very
short time ago,
Those people wore moved, of course, before the tests.
After several unsuccessful moves, they were finally moved to the island
of Killi,
This is their home today.
It is also my home for two years.
‘To understand the problems, one necds some background about the
Marshallese people.
Briefly, they are people who value their land
nighly, especially since there is none to spare among these tiny
islands.
Also their welfare is highly dependent on the sea and the
food available from the sea,
The Marshall Islands, as you m:y know,
is comprised mostly of atolls, not single islands,
These atolls are
strings of islands on a foundation of coral rock generally forming an,
We A ceee center
fe ee ee ee ee
oval, encircling a body of water called a lagoon,
This lagoon is the
"pread| basket" of those people living on the atoll.
Lagoon waters are
generally calm, protected from the rough water of the open ocean. Aliso
they are generally woll stocked with fish, turtles, lobster, clans, a
plentiful food supply.
4
Bikini was such an atoll.
Mae
Lee
eee
One other important
,