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REFER:
TEL. YAPHANK 4-6262
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gl April 1961
403815
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Mr. Courts Oula
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Deputy General Counsel
Office of the General Counsel
Atomic Energy Commission - Room A-251
Washington 25, D.C.
Dear Mr.
Oulahan:
In regard to our telephone conversation of 14 April, the
following remarks are presented concerning the general situa~
tion at Rongelap during our medical survey carried out in
March,1961,
On arrival at Majuro, Mr. William Finale (District Adminis~
trator of the Marshall Islands District) informed me that the
‘letter written by Dr. Dunham to the Rongelap people had not been
sent to Rongelap but had been read over the radio. This broad =
cas.t probably did not reach the Rongelap people since there are
only three radios on the Island. Mr. Finale agreed not to send
the letter to Rongelap for publication in view of your request
that the letter be rescinded.
Prior to our arrival at Rongelap, Dr. H. EB. Macdonald
(Director of Public Health of the Trust Terri tory) who participa-
ted in the survey, along with several other Trust Territory per -
sonnel, showed me a report written by a secretary of the UN
meeting of the Rongelap people held in February 1961. I was not
able to get a copy of this report but it contained principally
the complaints of the people, most of which were related to
supposed effects of the fallout. Since these complaints were
very similar to those to be discussed below, they will not be
reiterated here,
On my arrival at Rongelap, a town meeting was held and Dr.
Macdonald and I expressed to the people the objectives of our
visit and answered questions. The people continued to be con -
‘cerned about the effects of fallout on their Atoll and on them -
selves, I did not feel that their concern was any greater this
year than expressed in similar meetings with the people during
the past years. A chief complaint was that they were not getting
enough to eat and felt weak. Dr. Macdonald told them that the
Trust Territory policy was, "--No work, no eat--". This matter
Was not pursued since it was not within the province of our group.
Some of the other complaints concerned poisoning by fish (an old
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