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Atomic Vets: 38 Years After The Fact

By VVAW

Thirty-eight years after the first veterans were exposed to atomic tests the VA has begun to treat veterans who have become ill as a result of their exposure, the final treatment of the atomic vets—though many years later than it should have been—is a hopeful sign.

As many as 500,000 GI's took part in the various atomic tests, both in the Pacific and in Nevada between 1945 and 1962. A smaller group was exposed to the deadly effects of radiation when sent in to Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the Japanese surrender in 1945.

Although the government did not have a clear idea of how much radiation might be dangerous to an individual, even some of the simplest precautions were not observed; as in other wars in other places, the GI was the easiest item to replace and therefore the most expendable.

Several groups of radiation-exposed veterans have been fighting for VA treatment for years as they watched their numbers dwindle; various forms of cancer and thyroid problems were the prevalent results of exposure. As in the case of Agent Orange, however, the VA dragged its feet at every opportunity. At one point in the effort, only 69 of 3,325 radiation exposure claims in front of the Department of Veterans Benefits were found to be ?service-connected.? And even after Congress passed legislation directing the VA to provide medical care to radiation victims, it still took the VA another 17 months to announce that it would begin such treatment.

Treatment for Agent Orange victims should come next; we can't afford to wait as long.