~8details about the Tabershaw contract for the evaluation of Likiap.
I explained
to him the position that existed when I left the U.S., indicating that no solid
commitment has been made by the Congress via legislation for funding to care for
the Bikinians but that the BNL medical team would continue to take care of them
on a humanitarian basis as long as we could afford it.
information I had given Oscar de Brum
I again repeated the
on the Tabershaw proposal.
Later on that
same day, I met with Ezra Riklon, the Director of the Majuro Hospital.
He
indicated that he would loan us the Trust Territory personnel whom we had requested
in our preplanning letter,
with the exception of Kalman Gideon.
Kalman Gideon's
place would be taken by Mamaru Kabua, the younger brother of the President of the
Marshall Islands, Amata Kabua.
He stated that there was a slight problem with
Mamaru, i.e., "he drank too much" and that he was sorry to burden me with his
problem but he recommended that I watch Mamaru very carefully during the survey.
I assured him that any drinking that was done aboard ship would be done in confined
Spaces and that no Marshallese would ever be aware that any member of the scientific
crew had been drinking.
Of interest, while having breakfast the first morning in Majuro, we were
approached by Morley Safer and members of the 60 Minutes CBS crew (Enclosure 8).
They expressed an interest in our role in Majuro.
We gave them a brief survey
of the 25 year history of the BNL medical surveillance program and later on in
the day Mr. Safer, along with his entire crew, appeared in our decrepit examining
trailer at the back of the hospital and asked to film a short interview.
Since
I was faced with the option of refusing the interview and having CBS stand in
front of the Majuro Hospital and say that BNL had refused to allow their examination
to be filmed, or of granting the interview, I chose the latter.
The interview
consisted of a short film strip of myself examining a patient under a rather
Lae
er
beat
el.
Cai
primitive field condition.
Dr. Donald Paglia was standing behind the cameraman