given for security rev qns.)
Most of them had seen the manifestations of
the blast at Enewet¢ +1918; hence had a basis for comparison. -
The LST returned vwUjelang and off~loaded all passengers after the
Operation Safety Officer had inspected the island for* possible radioactivity ———
and had given the safety clearance.
* The passengers were sent home with presents of old shoes, clothing and
other useful and much needed articles donated by the officers and crew at
the request of the Commanding Officer. Off-loading operations, while not
ideal, were not as hazardous as: the loading operations had been and the
trips. to shore were fairly smooth and uneventful.
The Ujelang people were very happt to return home and to find that no
damage had been done. All the passengers were. landed safely ashore and
the ship departed the same day (2 Nov.)
CONCLUSION £ND RECOMMENDATIONS s
nt ye Jedy
ws
i
il. As stated initially, the ex-Enewetak people are making a reasonably successful adjustment, both psychological and economic to their new
home, which is much smaller and reportedly poorer in natural resources.
These people have planted food trees (pandanus, breadfruit, papaia
and banana) as well as pumpkins andarrowroot. They have raised pigs,
chickens and ducks and have cleared away large areas of overgrown land and™
made other improvements. The realities of the situation had been faced and
these people are planning to remain on Ujelang permanently. This is the
situation now. The obvious question in this context follows: Will these
people continue to adjust and to improve local conditions if they are to
undergo a regular annual temporary dislocation with the possibility of
being displaced permanently from Ujelang? Will they not sink into a cone
dition of apathy? Will they plan for the future as they have been doing
if the future is uncertain as far as their land is concerned? ---The
answers should be obvious.
The writer believes that the reaction of the Ujelang people to my
possible displacement next year will be quite different than their re-
actions to the recent displacement. Feelings of anxiety and insecurity
will undoubtedly be reflected in their attitudes toward adjusting to Ujelang.
While the writer can offer no solution to this problem other than the
obvious and probably impractical one of using another testing ground, he
feels that the Administration should be made cognizant of the latent
danger of this situation.
2. If the Ujelang people, or any other group are to be moved from
their lands in the future, the writer strongly recommends that they not be
transferred in the open sea, The writer will never be a party to such
procedure again unless it is absolutely the only procedure possibi2, Tran=
sfer of passengers, especially the aged and inform, from small eratt to
ship, is extremely hazardous under unfavorable weather conditions (as
previously delineated).
>
COPIzD/>
LANL R
p o
The Commanding Officer of LST 827 concurred with
hye
7,