How US Nuclear Testing Continues to Haunt the Marshall Islands

Correspondent Ben Anderson explores the nuclear legacy of the United States' atomic weapons testing in the Marshall Islands and the nuclear waste facility that is threatening to spill into the ocean.

This segment is from the show ‘VICE’ which originally aired in May 2020.

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[craccocrai]

So glad you give voice to the poor victims of this atrocity

[tsnap]

My grandfather was one of the testers for this; he was a diver who would observe the underwater conditions directly after the bombs were detonated.
He died at 56 years old from cancer caused by the high levels of radiation.

[llXchonll]

"they're not civilized like us" after creating one of the most horrific disasters in human history.

[blayworld]

Imagine how psychotic you have to be to drop nuclear bombs in the most beautiful place on earth… disgusting.

[BackcountryExposure]

I spent 9 days on Majuro last year, and had the opportunity to hear a presentation from the nuclear commission about the history of all of this. It’s one of the most somber, heart breaking things I’ve ever heard. The Marshallese people deserve better.

[jsanc]

Ahh yes ship it thousands of miles to a concrete crater right next to a thriving ocean ecosystem. Let's NOT burry it in the middle of the desert in Nevada

[MES]

When nuclear bombs are mentioned, we all think about Hiroshima and Japan but we must also remember the Marshall islands and their people that were nuclear testing sites to 62 nuclear bombs that were stronger than the ones dropped on Japan.

Edit: I understand there were also other nuclear test sites for other countries like USSR but in this case, USA nuked a foreign nation during occupation,

[thesquatchdoctor]

Someone in the embassy wanted to talk and got told no

[zoechase]

My father in law served in the army in the 70s, he was sent to clean up the islands, no ppe, no clean drinking water etc, a lot of people that served over there are no longer alive, died horrible painful deaths. The government recognizes him as an atomic veteran after years of trying to get justice, no compensation. I also feel for the people who are native to the Marshall Islands they didn’t deserve that

[elmerkilred]

Should have took a Geiger counter around the dome and the excavated soil, and everywhere else on the island to show the radiation level readings.

[Bloke]

10:04 2.2billion were promised - and only 4million have been This is insane

[JimSuperwhite]

My father was a lifer military physician. He retired as a captain after 30 years then took a job at UAB in Alabama doing health maintenance on islanders of the Kwagelein Atoll. He basically reported that the culture was utterly destroyed by the process of evacuating the atoll, exploding the bomb, then repopulating the atoll a short time later. Basically they were radiation gun pigs. Each islander was given some manner of cash settlement, like ten grand, which they squandered over the course of a generation as their culture was unaccustomed to a cash economy, and in the process of blowing through the settlement money many of the survival techniques endemic to that culture for eons and ages were lost, as they were no longer practiced because everyone was "rich" and didn't have to fish and forage etc. Massive goiters were commonplace, as were other obvious signs of radiation poisoning. Life expectancy was greatly curtailed and birth defects were common. Then the money ran out and they were totally screwed. It was a criminal act, to be sure, but nobody prosecutes a big country like the USA, now do they?

[TheMILVSCR]

"A baby born with no arms, and no legs... and no head." Literally watched those few seconds about 20 times. The way she nonchalantly threw that in there made me audibly say WHAT in a quiet room full of people. It's just insane to hear that.

[Taintlessdisc]

Another example of we the ppl say no and they the military do it anyway

[tatertx]

I've missed this kind of Vice news.

[DingleBerry]

I grew up in a small town in Johnson County Texas and in our community we had many Marshallese families which were the most humble and friendly people you could imagine. I was very young and didn't know the history of the Marshallese. In retrospect it makes sense because the government had not disclosed much information about the atrocities the US govt. had committed in their islands. It's incredibly sad and infuriating how so many lives were and continue to be affected by this. I hope there's some form of justice for this community.

[arcasb]

Not only the US has this on its conscience, but also the French in French Polynesia.

[DanielDaniel]

US government
*sees paradise on earth

“Hey I have an idea…”

[capone_rd_]

The United States conducted 67 nuclear and thermonuclear weapons tests in the Marshall Islands between 1946 and 1958, including the first H-bomb test in 1952. The tests took place at seven sites on Bikini Atoll, in the air, underwater, and at sea, and had a combined explosive power of about 77 megatons of TNT. The U.S. military also forcibly displaced thousands of Marshallese people to make way for the testing and other military activities.

[MCNUGGETS]

US Government still mining Uranium near the Grand Canyon. Navajo nation and other native nation have spoke out against mining. So many People have been affected.