We are but a few of the Survivors of the 1977-1980 Enewetak Atoll Atomic Debris Cleanup Mission in the Marshall Islands.
Our Original Mission was to relocate radioactive fallout and debris from the surface of the islands of Enewetak Atoll so the dri-Enewetak Islanders could return to their beautiful homeland of 40 Islands at Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
We accomplished our Humanitarian Mission in 1980. Currently, some of us have health challenges.
On September 13th, 2015, we took the initiative to create a White House Petition so the President can be made aware of our challenges and take steps required by Congress to change the law.
After creating our petition, we were made aware that we had a hard deadline of obtaining 100,000 signatures before the President would be informed of our petition.
We found out the White House policy is, if we cannot obtain 100,000 signatures within one month, our petition is removed along with all our signatures and we have to start all over at ZERO.
We encourage you to read, learn and the act on our petition NOW. Our deadline is October 13, 2015.
(MISSION FAILED: ARCHIVED BY THE WHITE HOUSE 10/15/2015 WITH 342 SIGNATURES.)
This is our White House Petition:
WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO:
Add 1977-1980 Enewetak Atoll Atomic Cleanup Veterans to the “Atomic Veterans” definition by the Veterans Administration.
Issues: Veterans and Military Families
We do not expect anyone to blindly sign our petition without knowing our backstory.
We have been fortunate to have gained the attention of several news agencies.
Read the most recent article from a weekly newspaper in Mobile, Alabama called Lagnaippe at http://bit.ly/LagniappeEnewetak
Stars and Stripes Magazine republished a great article written by Abigail Curtis of Bangor Daily News in Maine on 3/24/2015 http://goo.gl/289NYC
On 8/15/2015, KITV 4 News released their story about us in Hawaii http://bit.ly/1NaDXAQ
These are not the only stories news agencies have produced about our current situation.
As much as we appreciate our increased exposure to the general public, we need your help and need your actions to be a top priority.
We’ve been asked “How can I Help?” from most every supporter who takes an interest in our group of Atomic Cleanup Veterans.
Here is a list of “To Do Items” that makes it easy for you to help us in the quickest amount of time:
- Sign Our White House Petition at wh.gov/inXsb
- Share wh.gov/inXsb on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ & the rest of the internet social networks where you have influential connections.
- Write your local newspapers and ask them to share our petition with their subscribers in their publications.
- Call your local television and radio stations and ask them to share our White House Petition with their dedicated audience.
- Contact your local military & veterans’ associations & ask them to encourage their members to sign our petition.
- Ask your friends and associates to sign our petition.
- Ask your spouses, adult children, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, adult grandchildren and other loved ones to sign our petition so the White House Administration can act on our behalf.
- Contact your Federal Senator: Senate.gov/senators/contact/ and share our wh.gov/inXsb White House Petition Link.
- Contact your Federal Representative: House.gov/representatives/find/ and share our wh.gov/inXsb White House Petition Link.
- Please return to our White House Petition and tell us (in our comments) which signature number they assigned to you at wh.gov/inXsb
Remember: The government refuses to admit our exposure to radiation during the cleanup mission was considered a “radiation-risk” activity. The government continues to state our exposure to radiation was “occupational” in nature. With your signature, we are one step closer to obtaining the health care some of our group members desperately need.
Continue to learn more about us from various resources shared by supporters and cleanup participants in future AtomicCleanupVets.com articles. Our articles contain photographs, videos, documents and stories written by the actual participants who cleaned radioactive contaminated soils and materials from the surface of the islands at Enewetak Atoll.
Article written by Girard Frank Bolton, III. 1977-1979 (14 month) participant with C Company and HHC S-3 (Operations) 84th Engineer Battalion (Combat Heavy) (Fwd) Enewetak Atoll, Marshall Islands.
Our Current Mission is to help health challenged Atomic Cleanup Veterans become included in the Veterans Administration’s definition of an Atomic Veteran so we can qualify to apply for funds set aside for veterans “who participated in radiation-risk activities during active service.”
10/15/2015 White House Petition Mission Update: Mission Failed due to inability to obtain 100,000 signatures within 32 days per the White House Petition Rules. Only 342 signatures were documented. Many people reported their internet signatures were not accepted by the White House. Several supporters reported it took several attempts to sign the White House Petition before their signatures were accepted by the White House Website. It has been determined this mission’s failure revealed organizational flaws in the mission’s campaign. Our next attempt to Petition the White House Administration shall correct previous organizational flaws of our first petition attempt by orchestrating the planning, pre-petition release date notifications, and recommended actions for supporters to perform during our 30 day petition campaign. The creation date of our second White House Petition Campaign shall be determined and announced at a later date.
In response to Rodney Milligan, I was with the team that stayed behind on the Atoll during the typhoon.
If I remember correctly, there were 25 of us who stayed behind, so we could clean up the air craft runway of debris. No one was hurt, but it was an exciting time. The next storm that came in early 78, did a lot more damage to equipment and boats. My LCU was torn from it’s anchorage and was washed ashore. Had fun getting it afloat again.
I was craft master on MASH 3 and the Navy AOinC from November 77 until April 78.
Our original mission was to study the long-term effects of radiation exposure on the clean up crew themselves. Making us part of the original test.
I want to know when is the reunion in Vegas. I was apart that clean up I’d like to see some of the guys from there.
I was with the second group that came over. The group that went to Wake Atoll when the typhoon came up on us. I was eating at the time. I was over there and I enjoyed myself because I worked with the Command Headquarters Group. I was construction inspector.