Introduction
In June 1946, the United States tested two nuclear bombs at Bikini, a small island in the larger Marshall Islands. My father, Will Whitmore, was a civilian participant in this project known as Operation Crossroads. He was one of 40,000 Americans who took part in the project. The devastation of the small island, the displacement of 167 Bikini Islanders and the demise of their culture have haunted me for many years. The Bikini Project is my personal endeavor to understand this period in American history, the consequences of Operation Crossroads for the Bikini people and my father’s voluntary agreement to participate in a project that has brought suffering to many people.
The boxes that contained my father’s Bikini memorabilia were deeply buried in a family storage room until the winter of 2018 when I decided to open them with much trepidation and to take a look. I discovered the six-month daily journal in which my father described his experiences at Bikini. I read the journal at least three times. I peered at his image and the photographs he made of the explosions. I perused the newspaper clippings and his letters to me when I was six years old. In the boxes, I found three reels of 16mm film and the news reel he projected during his public presentations after he returned. I began to organize my father’s Bikini material. I read about Bikini, asked questions and searched for answers.
I hoped to add a human element to our understanding of Operation Crossroads, to make it more than just a chapter in a history book. I wanted my father to be a real person, not just one of the many who died from radiation exposure. I wanted to know what happened to the Bikini people after they were evacuated.
I decided to follow the lives of two individuals affected by Operation Crossroads, my father and Chief Juda who led the Bikini People in their exodus from their home. Despite the obvious differences between Juda and Will, they were similar in important ways.They, as well as all of us, share a common humanity and basic human rights.
The Bikini Project: Part 1
Bikini Island and the Bikini People
In March 1946, Bikini was a beautiful Island. Located in the Marshall Islands, Bikini is situated in the central Pacific Ocean halfway between Hawaii and Australia. In 1946, it was endowed with white beaches, turquoise blue waters and natural resources sufficiently abundant to feed its people and provide the resources necessary for their way of life.
The Bikini Islanders were a communal and generous people who cherished their culture and lived according to the life values of reciprocity and kindness. Kan drikdrik kong yokwe, “We share what little we have with love”, and Jiban don, “we help each other.” In March 1946, 167 people, from 11 family lineages, lived on Bikini Island, and Juda was their chief, an alap, head of a family lineage.
The United States and The Cold War
While the Bikini Islanders were engaged in a simple and uncomplicated way of life, the United States, a highly sophisticated western nation with a large military and complex social society, was embroiled in the conflicts of a Cold War with the Soviet Union. The testing of nuclear weapons was deemed to be of utmost importance.
Seeking a location for nuclear tests far from its shores, The United States determined that Bikini Island, because of its isolation and protected harbor, would be the most desirable place. Negotiations with the Bikini people, who were inexperienced in dealing with foreigners, took place on the sandy beach of Bikini under palm trees in front of houses made of pandanus fronds.
The Bikini People Leave their Island “For the Good of Humanity”
United States Commodore Ben H. Wyatt spoke to Chief Juda through an interpreter. He requested that the islanders move to a yet-to-be determined location and make the ultimate sacrifice of their sacred home “for the good of humanity and to prevent all future wars.” They were led to believe that they would be able to return to their home after the tests were completed. Trusting all was in the hands of god, 167 Bikini Islanders agreed to be displaced so that nuclear testing could proceed on their island.
This video documents the exodus of the Bikini People to their new home. I believe the video is overly idealistic regarding the mission of the United States and condescending of the Bikini people. Nevertheless, the ethnographic images of the Bikini people and their way of life are historic and informative.
Rongerik Island
Rongerik Island was chosen as the new home for the displaced Bikini Islanders. The island, however, was known to be a “bad place” once inhabited by the evil spirit, Libokra, who poisoned fish and vegetation and turned the water brackish. Despite their fears, the Bikini people agreed to Rongerik because it was uninhabited and not under the control of another “alap”, the head of a family lineage.
In early March 1946, Juda directed his people to pack their personal belongings and to dismantle their homes in preparation for relocation. They visited the burials of their ancestors and decorated their graves with flowers and palm fronds. On March 7, weeping and singing farewells, 167 Bikini people were transported to Rongerik, an island one sixth the size of Bikini and 125 miles away.
Will Whitmore and His Family
Will Whitmore and his family celebrate Easter April 21, 1946 in Manhasset, New York. It is the day before Will leaves for Bikini to participate as a civilian in Operation Crossroads. Will is my father, and at the time of this photo, I am five years old. My sister Jean is 18 months old. Allene is Will’s wife and my mother.
We were a typical suburban American family. Will was an advertising Manager for the Western Electric Company. He commuted by train to New York City and returned home in the evenings in time for dinner with his family. This was his daily routine.
Will Leaves For Bikini
April 22, 1946, my mother, sister and I drove Will to Laguardia Airport to catch his American Airlines plane to Washington, D. C. Will reported for duty, received his orders, his inoculations and his identification card, # 551. Then, Will flew to San Francisco and left for Bikini Island on USS Avery Island. He was one of the 40,000 Americans who participated in Operation Crossroads and the first two of 67 nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands.
As a member of Code 980, Will would prepare technical reports, write manuscripts, coordinate press releases and keep the official and public channels informed of activities. He believed he was embarking on a great adventure, and like Juda and the Bikini people, he believed he was making a contribution to the “good of humanity and to the prevention of all future wars”.
Arrival at Bikini Island
On June 1, 1946 Will’s ship reached Bikini Island. He writes in his journal “…Reduced speed all morning and then about 1430 a faint smudge on the horizon, more ships faintly seen. Looking through glasses. A low strip of green against the sky, a line of white underneath. Sure, it’s an island and those are palm trees. …Finally inside the lagoon. … The anchor goes down.”
The Bikini People Struggle
While Will and the other participants in Operation Crossroads were preparing for the detonation of Able on July 1, Juda and the Bikini people were struggling to adjust to their new home on Rongerik Island. They had been given sufficient government provisions to last a few weeks. However, the resources on Rongerik had been greatly exaggerated to them. As the rations ran out, and they turned to the island’s resources for food, it became obvious that the resources on Rongerik were inadequate to support them. The small island, one sixth the size of Bikini, did not have enough food for them to eat or water for them to drink.
After they had lived on Rongerik for two months, the seriousness of their situation became evident, and Juda began the first of his many requests to return his people to Bikini. Despite Juda’s reports of the desperate conditions under which his people lived, the welfare of the 167 Bikini people on Rongerik Island was of minor significance to others.
The Detonation of Able
At last, the day Will was awaiting arrived, Able Day, Monday, 1 July 1946.”We all got into life jackets about 15 minutes before HOW. The heat was insufferable, the sea and air almost dead calm. Sweat poured off me. … I had my camera held in my left hand with the hand grip and leather strap around my wrist. My hand was so sweaty, I could hardly hold on to it. … HOW minus 20 seconds. The seconds seemed like minutes. … There it was a small red ball of fire. I swung my camera to it. Around the small central ball of fire there formed another, it grew swiftly to tremendous height and width, … The great perpendicular tower of white cloud was forming fast and rising swiftly, the mushroom formed and above it … a flat sort of dish like gleaming white cloud. …
“My camera going all the time, shoot, rewind shoot. … ”My shirt and trousers completely wet with sweat. Hard to keep my head. … “just silence and the ever climbing cloud … about two minutes after the flash a low, almost inaudible rumble.” It was Operation Crossroads, and the fourth atomic bomb had just been detonated at the island of Bikini. Able followed an initial test at the Trinity Site in New Mexico and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan during World War II.
The Detonation of Baker
Baker Day, Thursday, 25 July 1946, the fifth atomic bomb is about to be exploded. Will says, “I was on the bridge before 0800. Took movies of the whole show. As the voice of Abraham clicked off the minutes and then the seconds, five seconds, four seconds, three seconds, two seconds, one second and then the blast, … A great column of water went right straight up and a mist shot out laterally… . Up and up went the column of water, and a big white cloud seemed to form and sit atop the water. Then the column began to spill over from the top and a tremendous curtain of water hung in the air and then slowly descended. It seemed a minute or more before the the big booOOOooooMMMM came to us, … . A mist hung over the lagoon for at least half an hour after it was over.”
Sunday, July 28, Will’s journal entry is ominous. Will states, ”At about four we left the lagoon and cruised in open water all night. The water had increased in radioactivity to the point where it was best to get out. We came back to our earlier berth Monday morning.” Thursday, August 1: “… Only six ships have been inspected. the rest are still too hot for men to board.”
Termination of Operation Crossroads
Operation Crossroads ended prematurely August 10, 1946. The detonation of a third scheduled atomic test, “Charlie,” was deemed too dangerous. High radiation levels and concern for the sailors’ safety were the main reasons for the cancellation. There were also concerns about the inability of the geiger counters to register plutonium.
Weighing Anchor
Wednesday, August 7, 1946 was “Getaway Day.” Will states, “ The Captain called muster right after breakfast,” and the USS Avery Island “weighed anchor,” headed straight for the channel and passed Enyu Island on the way. August 21, 1946, the USS Avery Island slipped under the Golden Gate Bridge and docked in San Francisco harbor. Will states I… “got my orders signed and finished packing and left the Avery Island for good. When we pulled away from it I thought I should have some emotions about leaving the ship for good but there was nothing.”
Returning to the United States
From San Francisco, Will flew to Chicago where he met my mother, sister and me. We traveled together to Manhasset, New York where we lived in a three bedroom home with a nice garden. While it was not an elaborate home, It was comfortable and secure. Having enough food to eat was never a concern for Will.
The Bikini People Experience Multiple Relocations
After two years had passed and it was indisputable that the Rongerik settlement had failed, the Trust Territory administration began a thorough investigation of the status of the Bikini Islanders on Rongerik.
The University of Hawaii anthropologist, Leonard Mason, was chosen to conduct the investigation. When Mason arrived at Rongerik January 31, 1948, he discovered the Bikini people were eating a gruel of flour and water, all resources from the store were depleted, the crops were failing and fish were scarce. The only drinkable water was rainwater doled out to each family one bucket per day. Mason also learned that in May 1947 a fire destroyed one fifth of the island, further reducing the food supply. He concluded the Bikini people were in “an extreme state of impoverishment” and recommended immediate relocation.
Kwajalein, Kili and Continued Relocations
Juda and the Bikini people were relocated from Rongerik on March 14, 1948 to Kwajalein Atoll where they lived in a tent camp beside the airstrip used by the American military. As the link between the Territorial Trust administration and the Bikini community on Kwajalein, Juda gained experience in working with Americans and greater respect within his own community as their leader.
After eight months in temporary housing on Kwajalein, they were relocated again, this time to Kili, an uninhabited island in the Southern Marshall Islands. Kili lacked a lagoon and a sheltered fishing area. Seas were rough with waves 10 to 20 feet high. In bad weather the Bikini people could not fish, and the Trust Territory ships that brought food supplies could not unload.
Despite these difficulties, Juda and the Bikini people obtained some success in growing crops on Kili and in achieving partial revitalization of their community. By continuing the communal governing council established at Rongerik under Juda’s direction, they approached work tasks more effectively as a community rather than individual family units. Demonstrating faith in Juda’s leadership, the Territorial Trust administration invited Juda to represent the Bikini people at a conference of atoll magistrates in Majuro in 1949. The following year he was elected to the newly formed Marshall Islands Congress.
In the long run, however, the crops the Bikini people grew and the fish they caught were insufficient to sustain them. In 1957 and 1958, typhoons hit Kili hard and destroyed most of the crops they had planted. Eventually, the Bikini people became dependent on United States canned food for their survival.
The images of Rongerik and Kwajalein were made by Anthropologist Leonard Mason in 1948. Images of Kili are by Anthropologist Robert Kiste in 1963. Kiste was a student of Leonard Mason at the University of Hawaii. The original images were donated to the University of Hawaii Photo Archives for inclusion in the Pacific Collection of the Manoa Library in 2005. The original 35 mm colors slides were then digitized and auto corrected for color and exposure improvement. I further photoshop corrected the images included above by enhancing resolution, improving color and lightening under exposed images to improve readability. To view the images in the context of the Pacific Collection and to read the comments of Anthropologists Mason and Kiste, please click on the link to the collection or the link under each image which will also take you to the collection.
https://digital.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/
Despite the destruction caused by the detonations of Able and Baker, the United States continued its nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands including the detonation of 23 nuclear weapons on Bikini Atoll. March 1, 1954, the United States exploded the hydrogen bomb, Bravo, in the northwest corner of Bikini Atoll. Bravo was the largest nuclear bomb ever detonated, 1000 times more powerful than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Three islands were pulverized by the explosion and no longer exist. Radioactive debris rose more than 20 miles into the air and fallout spread over much of the Marshall Islands.
Attempted Resettlement of Bikini
Throughout the years, the emotional attachment of Juda and the Bikini people to their homeland remained strong. They continued to believe that someday they would be able to return to their island. Since the Kili settlement had not been successful, officials in Washington, D.C. eventually agreed to investigate the feasibility of returning the Bikini people to their island.
A study by The Atomic Energy Commission concluded, “The exposures of radiation that would result from the repatriation of the Bikini people do not offer a significant threat to their health and safety.” June 1968, President Lynden B. Johnson announced that the 540 Bikini people living on Kili at that time would be able to return to their island.
However, at the time of President Johnson’s statement, Bikini was not the island the people remembered. Debris and equipment from the nuclear tests cluttered the land. Three islands in the atoll had been vaporized by Bravo and had disappeared. Most coconut palms had been destroyed and the island was covered with scrub vegetation.
Despite the condition of the island, an immense effort to restore Bikini for habitation began in 1969. After the cleanup and replanting phase was completed, the Atomic Energy Commission stated, ”There’s virtually no radiation left and we can find no discernible effect on either plant or animal life.”
High Levels of Radioactivity Discovered on Bikini
During the second phase of rehabilitation, however, investigators discovered that coconut crab shells contained high levels of radioactivity. This information was alarming since three extended families had already moved into the cement structures created for them.
In 1975 during routine monitoring, radioactivity levels were again discovered to be high, and the United States Department of Interior stated, ”Bikini appears to be hotter or questionable as to safety.” Additional studies indicated water from the wells was too contaminated to drink and the local foods such as pandanus and breadfruit, were too contaminated to eat. Continued investigations confirmed that Bikini was too radioactive to support life, and in September 1978 officials once again evacuated the Bikini Islanders. It is hard to imagine the ongoing disappointment, discouragement and trauma the Bikini Islanders experienced in the struggle for their basic human rights: to have a home, safety and a reliable way of life.
The Seafaring Legacy
When Will returned to San Francisco and left the USS Avery Island, he stated he had “no emotion” about leaving the ship for good. However, it is clear Bikini Island made a lasting impression on Will. At Bikini, he learned to love the sea. Will had grown up landlocked in Lockhart, Texas and was fascinated by the outrigger canoes the Bikini people built. They were the largest and some of the most seaworthy outriggers in the Marshall Islands. He was astounded by the ability of the Bikini people to navigate their craft in all kinds of weather by merely reading the ripples in the sea.
After Will left Bikini, he too wanted to sail. Manhasset, New York where Will lived was located on a protected bay that emptied into Long Island Sound and from there, flowed into the Atlantic Ocean. The Sound offered entry to many ports, rivers and safe harbors.
Will named his sail boat Bikini. It was a Mount Desert Island craft built in a small workshop in Maine. She was fast and heeled to the wind with sails filled full. Our family spent almost every summer weekend sailing together. Will’s book shelves were filled with tomes about sailing and navigational adventures.
The Death of Will Whitmore
While the Bikini people experienced untold trauma and insecurity, Will’s life seemed secure, filled with good family times and a lot of fun sailing. He and his family felt safe and their way of life was reliable. However, unknown to Will or his family, radiation was slowly taking a toll on his body. It would be several years before the extent of the devastation was apparent. Will Whitmore died of cancer October 20, 1959 at the age of 57. His doctors believed the cancer was caused by exposure to excessive levels of radiation at Bikini during Operation Crossroads.
The Death of Chief Juda
Juda outlived Will by nine years. He died from cancer in 1968 a few months before the false announcement that Bikini was safe for habitation. He had led his people through all of their relocations, petitioned for their welfare and sought retribution for damage to Bikini and the hardships his people endured. He was followed by his older son, Tomaki Juda, as a leader of the Bikini people.
Disregard for Human Life and Health
Will and Juda mostly likely never met, although they were human faces of the nuclear age. Their lives and the lives of their families were impacted by the testing of atomic bombs at Bikini and the United States’s careless disregard for human life and the health of the American, Bikini and other Marshallese People.
References:
Barker, Holly M. 2004. Bravo for the Marshallese: Regaining Control in a Post-Nuclear, Post Colonial World. Thompson and Wadsworth.
Bradley, David. 1948. No Place to Hide. Little Brown and Company, Boston.
Johnson, Giff. 2013. Don’t Ever Whisper. Darlene Keju, Pacific Health Pioneer.
Kiste, Robert C. 1974. The Bikinians: A Study in Forced Migration. Cummings Publishing Company.
Mason, Leonard. 1948. Rongerik Report: Summary Findings and Recommendations.
Office of the High Commissioner of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.
National Nuclear Commission of the Marshall Islands. FY 2020-FY2023. Nuclear Justice for the Marshall Islands, A Strategy for Coordinated Action.
Niedenthal, Jack. 2001. For the Good of Mankind, A History of the People of Bikini and Their Islands. Bravo Publishers Majuro, Marshall Islands.
The Bikini Project: Part 2
My First Question
Why did Will participate voluntarily as a civilian in Operation Crossroads, a project that brought suffering to others and set the stage for nuclear proliferation and the threat of nuclear war?
The Times
If I remind myself that Will was born in 1902 and was 44 years old when he left for Bikini, I am better able to understand his decision to participate in Operation Crossroads. Ideas I take for grated now had not yet reached American consciousness in 1946. The peace and civil rights movements would not occur for another 20 years. America was ethnocentric, segregated and prided itself on military strength. When Will received the invitation to join Operation Crossroads, he jumped at the opportunity. Allene, his wife, supported him like most wives at the time supported their husbands. She told him it was “a chance of a lifetime”, and he should go. In the 1940’s little was known about the longterm effects of radiation. Neither Will nor Allene knew he would die twelve years later, mostly likely from radiation exposure during Operation Crossroads. In addition, it appears Will did not experience or denied a conflict between his values and the underlying mission of Operation Crossroads. Will did not understand the significance of what he was doing.
World War II Era Patriotism
In the World War II era, the United States was seeped in patriotism. Many men felt a duty to their country including Will. However, Will was rejected for military service because of his age. I speculate that he viewed the opportunity to participate in Operation Crossroads as a second chance to perform his duty. Unfortunately, as we have seen, patriotic zeal without contemplation can lead to the support of unworthy causes. I believe Will could have found other ways to make a make a contribution, yet he chose Operation Crossroads.
Belief in the Prevention of Future Wars
The belief that the development and possession of nuclear weapons by the United States would deter other nations from instigating wars was prevalent. By extension, Will may have believed he was helping to prevent future wars. This idea was fallacious. During the last 75 years, nuclear weapons have proliferated. On September 23, 1949, Moscow Radio announced that the Soviet Union had developed an atomic bomb.Today, nine nation possess nuclear weapons, and together they have tested more than 2,000 nuclear weapons. The threat of a nuclear disaster from intent or accident has become more real, not less.
United States Exceptionalism
The United States exited World War II as an “exceptional” and powerful world leader with a felt obligation to lead and protect other nations. This attitude of exceptionalism is vividly portrayed in the film “Operation Crossroads, March 1946” (Please see below). The development of nuclear weapons is presented as a great accomplishment and a necessary choice for the United States. Will was undoubtedly susceptible to the propaganda.
The Disregard for Indigenous People
I have read Will’s journal several times. Will writes about beautiful sunsets, the night sky and fantasizes a simple and peaceful life on Bikini. However, he does not mention the Bikini and Marshallese people who sacrificed their island “For the Good of Mankind”. He does not reflect upon the demise of their homeland or their health risks from radiation exposure. His journal focuses instead on the detonation of two nuclear bombs, Able and Baker. The goal was simple. Test bombs and leave.
On August 6, 1945, the United States had detonated the atomic bomb, Little Boy, on Hiroshima. Three days later it detonated a second atomic bomb, Fat Man, on Nagasaki. It is estimated that 140,000 people, most of whom were civilians, died at Hiroshima, and 74,000 died at Nagasaki. Thousands more died from radiation sickness and the longterm effects of radiation exposure in the days, weeks and years following the explosions. The atomic bombing of Japan and the deaths of more than 200,000 people, most of whom were civilians, was a horrific crime against humanity committed by the United States.
At the time of Operation Crossroads, The United States was aware of the humanitarian implication of what it had done at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The United States and Will ignored or reframed these issues to avoid the horror and to allow nuclear testing on Bikini to proceed. The welfare of the Bikinians, and ultimately the rest of the world, was insignificant in comparison to the perceived importance of the United States’s mission at Operation Crossroads.
An Answer to My Question
Will was an ordinary man typical of many. He was not an evil person who intended to contribute to the suffering of others. Will was, instead, susceptible to the propaganda that justified Operation Crossroads. He failed at critical thinking and the courage to object, to say this is not right. He lacked a humanitarian perspective on human rights and never thought about the consequences of Operation Crossroads for the indigenous people whose homeland was devastated. Will’s personal story and the Bikini Project in general illustrate the importance, for you and for me, of careful thought and reflection regarding the longterm consequences of our actions. I believe we do have a duty to others, not to our county per se, but to our global community. I believe we must be conscientiously vigilant and discerning of the missions we choose to support.
My second Question
What has happened to The Bikini People?
According to Sosylina Maddison, the Coordinator for the Bikini Coalition, there are approximately 7,000 living Bikini Islanders. The 2020 census indicates the largest island population of Bikini people is 548 on Kili island, the last relocation site of the Bikini people following Operation Crossroads. Many Bikini descendants now live in urban center such as Majuro, the capital of the Marshall Islands. Approximately 1400 Bikinians live in the United States and other countries.
One third of all Marshallese people, has migrated to the United States. The largest United States population of Marshallese people and Bikini descendants (15,000) resides in Springdale, Arkansas, a city of 80,000 people. With its large Marshallese population, Springdale, Arkansas has been referred to as the “New Atoll.”
Click here to see images of the Bikini and Marshalles people
Please listen to the Marshallese poet, Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, read her poem “Tell Them” (who we are).
Bikinian Flag
The 23 white stars represent the islands of Bikini Atoll.
The 3 black stars in the upper right corner represent the three islands vaporized by the Castle Bravo detonation on March 1, 1954.
The two black stars in the lower right hand corner represent the islands of Ejit and Kili, where the majority of Bikinians in the Marshall Islands reside today.
The words MEN OTEMJEJ REJ ILO BEIN ANIJ (MORIBA), which translate as “Everything is in God’s hands,” is the response of Bikinian leader, Juda, to U.S. Commodore Ben Wyatt in 1946 when the Americans asked the Bikinians to give up their islands for the ‘good of mankind.’
Bikinian Anthem (1946), Peformed by Ejit Choir
Written by Lore Kessibuki (1914-1994)
No longer can I stay, it’s true.
No longer can I live in peace and harmony.
No longer can I rest on my sleeping mat and pillow
Because of my island and the life I once knew there.
The thought is overwhelming
Rendering me helpless and in great despair.
My spirit leaves, drifting around and far away
Where it becomes caught in a current of immense power
And only then do I find tranquility.
Credits: Translation of the Bikinian anthem and the description of the flag from Jack Niedenthal, For the Good of Mankind; the Bikinian Anthem recorded at Nuclear Victims and Survivors Day, Ejit, courtesy of Jessica A. Schwartz. Source: Official Website of the Kili/Bikini/Ejit Local Government
I was introduced to and become acquainted with the Marshallese and Bikini people in Springdale, Arkansas during the Nuclear Remembrance Day activities February 28-March 1, 2020 and the Atoll Stroll festivities July 27-August 1, 2021. I was impressed by the culture and resilience of these people who have struggled to maintain their language, food, song and dance in the United States. I have found them to be:
The United States governed Bikini and the Marshall Islands as a United Nations Strategic Trust Territory from 1947 until 1986 when an independent Republic of the Marshall Islands was established. As the administrator of the Trust Territory, the United States’s responsibility was to “promote the economic advancement and self-sufficiency of the inhabitants”, and to this end to “…protect the inhabitants against the loss of their lands and resources…”
The United States blatantly and intentionally failed its mission. After the explosion of Baker in 1946, the United States detonated an additional 21 nuclear weapons on Bikini Atoll.
When the Bikini people were removed from their island a second time in 1978, The United States government awarded them a small compensation for their hardships. The initial fund was approximately 6 million dollars. The Bikinians generally received $40,000 a month distributed through the Kili/Bikini/Ejit local Governing Council to all individuals with legitimate rights on Bikini Atoll.
Since 1982 and throughout the years the United States renewed or established other trust funds for the Bikini people. The Bikinians also filed suits against the United States for the damages they incurred from nuclear testing and violation of their fifth amendment rights under the United States constitution. This amendment states the United States shall not deprive a person of life, liberty or property without due process of law.
The Compact of Free Association
In 1986 the Compact of Free Association was approved by the United States Congress as an extension of the United Nations Territorial Trusteeship. The agreement created The Nuclear Claims Tribunal to handle litigations. The Tribunal awarded the Bikini People $563,315,500 in funds that did to exist. However, since the agreement halted all previous Marshallese suits against the United States, the onus of legal pursuit was placed upon the Bikini people.
The Compact of Free Association also accorded the United states the right to a continued military presence on the Marshall Islands. In return, the Marshall Islanders were granted non-immigrant status. With this status, they received the right to live and work in the United states without a visa or work permit. The agreement, however, failed to provide an avenue to citizenship, and the Marshallese people have been denied benefits such as health insurance. In December 2020 they became eligible for medicaid.
In 2017 the remaining Bikini trust was valued at $59 million. Until that time, the United States Department of the Interior had veto power over how much money the Kili/Bikini/Ejit Governing Council could withdraw. In November 2017 the Department of the Interior relinquished the veto right, and the K/B/E Governing Council now has complete decision making rights over the funds.
Bikini Survivors of Operation Crossroads
When I began the Bikini Project in 2018, my research indicated twenty-five Bikinians who were alive at the time of Operation Crossroads were still alive. At the time I received the CENTER Launch Grant, June 2021, Sosylina Maddison indicated only eleven survivors were alive. When I visited Springdale in July 2021, she revealed that two more survivors had died. The last Bikini survivors in Springdale died a few years ago. At the present time, two survivors live in Oregon and the remainder (7) lives in the Marshall Islands on the Island of Kili. I would like to meet the survivors of Operation Crossroads. However, due to the pandemic, the Marshall Islands is closed to travelers and travel in the United States is not recommended. Nevertheless, I maintain the goal to hear the stories and document the experiences of the Bikini survivors.
Five Bikini Descendants Describe The Bikini Experience and What It Means to be Bikinian
While I was in Springdale for the Atoll Stroll festivities July 2021, I interviewed and photographed Bikini descendants of Operation Crossroads survivors. Their stories and memories are rich with detail and emotion about their families’ experiences. I am grateful for their kindness and help with my project. Please see their images below and click on the link to their interviews. Several themes were discussed by all five of the descendants, and, in addition to their own words, I have tried to summarize them below.
Bikini Descendent
His Grandfather, Josaiah Kerong, was the First Pastor of the Bikini Protestant Church.
His mother was a Bikini survivor and an adolescent during Operation Crossroads.
Mr. Benjamin is the Executive Councilman for the Kili/Bikini/Ejit Local Government
Great Grandmother was a Bikini Survivor
Loss of Homeland
The Bikini descendants expressed great sadness and, at times, anger regarding the loss of their homeland. Their forefathers, they said, were asked to leave Bikini “For the good of mankind” so that the United States could conduct nuclear testing on their land. Believing “All was in the hands of God,” and that they could return to Bikini after the testing was completed, they agreed. They moved their families and all their belongings to Rongerik, an island with insufficient resources to support them. At Rongerik, they were forgotten, suffering hardships and starvation for two years. Seventy-five years later, the Bikini people are still nomads moving from island to island in hopes of finding a permanent home. Bikini remains unsafe for habitation and, most likely, will never be habitable again since radiation has contaminated the land, food and water. The Bikini descendants want a permanent home where they can live together, a place where they can obtain health care, support for their basic needs and quality of life.
Identification as Bikinian
When I asked the Bikini descendants whether they felt an identification as Bikinian despite all the changes and relocations in the last 75 years, each gave a strong positive response. They are proud to be Bikinian, the descendants of strong and resilient people who were great boat builders and navigators. They also believe there is Bikini way of doing things which is distinct from the cultural traditions of the other islanders. In addition, their Bikini identity has been amplified by stories and memories passed down by their elders.
Faith
I wondered how the Bikini people were able to survive the consequences of their nuclear trauma. The descendants said their faith gave them strength and the perseverance to look towards the future. “It is all in God’s hands” were Juda’s words in 1946. These words continue to provide solace to Juda’s descendants. As one descendant remarked, when his forefathers left Bikini, they dismantled the church and carried it with them to Rongerik and to each subsequent relocation. The original church remains on Kili, the site of their last relocation.
Health Care
One descendant discussed her medical needs and the difficulty in obtaining adequate medical care in the Marshall Islands. She reported that four years ago she developed a severe headache and was transported from Kili to the hospital in Majuro. She was hospitalized for two months receiving only infusions, medication and bed rest. Not until she lost her vision and became paralyzed was she transported to the Philippines for surgery. She is now living in Springdale and struggles to maneuver the medicaid protocol in order to receive approval for further treatment of her condition.
The Marshallese people have the highest rate of diabetes in the world, 25-40%. In comparison, the United States rate of diabetes is 8%. Dr. Sheldon Rilkon, one of only two Marshallese doctors in the United States, believes many health problems are directly related to the impacts to their traditional culture.
In their relocations to Rogerik, Kwajalein and Kili, the Bikinians found scant resources and experienced an inability to continue their traditional way of life. Gradually they became dependent on imported canned food such as Spam and other foods from the US Department of Agriculture. To a large extent, as a result of changes in their diet and way of life, many Marshallese people have developed other health problems such as heart disease and hypertension and diabetes. These underlying health problem created a greater risk factor for Covid 19. According to Mr. Alik, 53 Marshallese individuals died from the Corona Virus in Arkansas during the pandemic.
In addition, radiation exposure, especially from Bravo in 1954, is responsible for exceedingly high rates of thyroid and other types of cancer, Graves Disease, autoimmune illness and clusters of rare conditions. Despite the need for a cancer treatment center to deal with the high rates of cancer among Marshallese People, none exists in the Marshall Islands. Women experience a higher than normal rate of miscarriage, and the incidence of cervical cancer is the highest in the world (NNC p. 30). Many children have been born with severe abnormalities. DNA studies indicate that the intergenerational effects from radiation can persist for several generations.
Climate Change
The Marshall Islands is at risk to disappear as sea levels rise. Kili, the island on which most Bikini people live, is six feet above sea level. The island is small only 200 acres in size, approximately one mile long by one half mile wide. The descendants described the “king tides” that wash over Kili during storms and cause damage to their homes and land. One descendant made an analogy between the irresponsibility of the global community with regards to climate change and the irresponsibility of the Unites States towards the welfare of the Bikini and Marshallese people. Just as the United States relinquishes responsibility for the damage it has done to the Marshall Islands, the world’s most powerful nations are relinquishing their responsibility for damage to the environment. The descendants state that unless the global community takes responsibility for the environment, climate change will necessitate the removal of the Bikini people from Kili.
Advocates for Nuclear Justice
The resilience of the Bikini and Marshallese people does not indicate that they no longer seek nuclear justice for the lasting effects of the United States’s nuclear testing on their homeland. Their strength indicates, instead, that they have been resilient despite the suffering they have endured. It is indisputable that they have experienced trauma and human rights violations.
The National Nuclear Commission of the Marshall Islands has developed a strategy for obtaining nuclear justice defined by five pillars. They advocate for compensation for their losses, quality health care, a toxic free environment, empowerment to develop a national capacity independent of the United States and education and awareness regarding their nuclear legacy. The strategy is specific and contains goals, objectives and actions. In summary, the strategy proclaims:
“We know we will obtain nuclear justice when the health of the Marshallese people and our islands is restored, when displaced communities are returned to or compensated for their homelands, when the full range of damages and injuries stemming from the program is acknowledged and compensated by the U.S. Government, when the record of adverse impacts from nuclear weapons testing is preserved for the benefit of humankind, and when every Marshallese citizen understands the activities that took place in our islands and their aftermath and feels empowered to use their voice to advocate for the needs of their communities.” (NNC: FY2020-2023 p.4)
Please see: National Nuclear Commission: Nuclear Justice for the Marshall Islands a Strategy for Coordinated Action, FY 2020 to FY 2023.
The Bikini Project Can Help
With regards to the five pillars of nuclear justice identified as goals in the Marshallese Strategy for Nuclear Justice, I believe the Bikini Project makes a contribution to “education and awareness” by drawing attention to the catastrophic consequences of nuclear weapons.
The Bikini Project was awarded the 2021 Project Launch Grant by CENTER in Santa Fe, New Mexico. CENTER, a not for profit organization, supports photography projects that pursue social and environmental goals. The grant offers many opportunities to make others aware of and educated about the nuclear history of Bikini and the Marshall Islands. It is also an opportunity to draw attention to the relevancy of the Bikini and Marshallese story for the global community.
On January 22, 2021, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons entered force without the signatures of the United States, Russia or the seven other nations possessing nuclear weapons. Despite the absence of their signatures, a sense of urgency regarding nuclear disarmament is evident suggesting the avoidance of nuclear war by accident or intent is of prime importance in the world today. The Bikini Project is poised to recognize and take advantage of any opportunity to increase awareness and education about the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons.
Personal Communications
Alik, Eldon. Consul General, Republic of the Marshall Island, Springdale, Arkansas.
Burleson, Derek. Public Relations, Tyson Foods, Springdale, Arkansas.
Grahlfs, Ph.D., F. Lincoln. Past Vice Commander, National Association of Atomic Veterans, Surviving Operation Crossroads participant.
Griego, Paul. New Mexico State Commander, National Association of Atomic Veterans.
Maddison, Sosylina. Coordinator, Bikini Coalition, Springdale, Arkansas.
Laelan, Melisa. Director, Arkansas Coalition of Marshallese, Springdale, Arkansas.
Riklon, Sheldon. Associate Professor UAMS, Office of Community Health and Research, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine.
Recognition
In Recognition of the Kind and Trusting Bikini People
Who made a well intended sacrifice of their Homeland
“For the Good of Mankind”
Acknowledgments
I would like to acknowledge my younger sister, Gene (Jean) Whitmore Marsh. She was 18 months old when Will left for Bikini and 14 years old when he died. Her life, as well as mine, was impacted by Will’s decision to participate in Operation Crossroads. Gene became an advanced practice nurse and eventually obtained a Ph.D. in clinical nursing research. Her contribution to public health, the care of vulnerable populations, teaching, conducting research, and her work at the university level in Kenya are commendable. Gene is an Associate Professor Emerita at the University of Colorado College of Nursing. She relates the course of her professional life to the impact of Will’s Operation Crossroads experiences and his probable illness and subsequent death from radiation exposure. Will’s Bikini memorabilia were stored in Gene’s basement. They belong to her as much as to me. Gene is writing a memoir about her nursing experiences in Kenya.
Thank you West Cooper of West Design Tech. Without West’s support and technical expertise, I would not have been able to share the Bikini images, essays, videos and the many links on my website with you. West “tech savvy”, and he is an amazingly patient teacher. No matter what I have asked West to do, he has found a way to do it. He has “hung in there” with me, providing the explanations I needed to feel confident the website would successfully convey my thoughts and ideas to you, my viewers.
I am very grateful to CENTER for awarding the Bikini Project the 2021 Project Launch Grant. CENTER is a Not-For-Profit organization that supports photographers and socially and environmentally engaged lens based projects. The grant provides financial support and many professional development opportunities. In the future, I would like to visit the Marshall Islands and to meet the survivors and descendants of Operation Crossroads who live there today. The Launch Grant will help to cover the expense of travel, logistics and translation. The grant also offers many opportunities to share my work, and the funding will help to facilitate these opportunities when they arise.
Sosylina Maddison, the Coordinator for the Bikini Coalition, has arranged interviews with the Bikini descendants and offered her office as a place to conduct the interviews and make photographs. She also invited me to participate in the Atoll Stroll at the Bikini booth. She provided logistical support while I was in Springdale, Arkansas and has been a good friend. I also want to thank Eldon Alik, Consul General for the Republic of the Marshall Island, for his support and interest in the Bikini Project. Melisa Laelan, Director, Arkansas Coalition of Marshallese, has also offered encouragement and interest in the Bikini Project.
The Marshallese and especially the Bikini people are known for their kindness and hospitality. I consider it a privilege to have met these people. I am thankful for their willingness to share their stories and the stories of their families.