Washington, D.C. -- Memorial Day is a time of somber, painful reflection for veterans like Kailua resident Charles Clark, one of the first Americans to enter Nagasaki after the atomic bomb was dropped on the city August 9, 1945.

“I entered Nagasaki September 23, 1945, forty-five days after the bombing to establish ship to shore communications,” says Clark, a Navy veteran of World War II and the Korean Conflict and current president of the Radiated Veterans of America. “We were on the beach five days.”

Those five days forever changed Clark’s life and health. “I have had over 180 skin cancers removed from my face, and they will never stop. I see my doctor every two months, each time with follow up surgery,” said Clark, adding that he will travel to the Mainland this week to visit his daughter who’s been fighting serious health problems, such as cancer, resulting from his exposure to radiation.

Clark’s experience is typical of others that are shared by “Atomic Veterans” like him across the country. An estimated 200,000 military personnel participated in atmospheric nuclear testing from 1945 to 1962. The majority of the tests were in Nevada and Marshall Islands, exposing veterans to varying degrees of “ionizing” radiation. Another 200,000 personnel were members of occupation forces or prisoners of war in or near Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan after World War II. Many of them are ill today because of the exposure, and Clark’s organization, the Radiated Veterans of America, represents vets who were exposed to ionizing radiation.

U.S. Representative Neil Abercrombie has introduced a House bill to revise eligibility requirements that have prevented thousands of those veterans from getting medical treatment for illnesses caused by radiation exposure during their military service.

“The veterans we honor on Memorial Day include those who have died and remain with us today and were exposed to radiation as the result of the bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II and other uses of atomic weapons and material,” said Abercrombie, chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Air and Land Forces, which oversees the Army and Air Force.

“We must honor our commitment to the surviving ‘Atomic Veterans’ and honor their service by doing what’s right, and that means tending to their medical needs. These veterans are dying every day from diseases caused, at least in part, by their service in atomic tests and other nuclear-weapon related activities. This bill, the Atomic Veterans Relief Act, is needed to clear what amounts to bureaucratic barriers that have needlessly prolonged their suffering.”

Abercrombie’s bill would address questions and controversy over the standards, called “dose reconstruction, that are set by the Defense Department’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). The agency applies “dose reconstruction” standards to determine an Atomic Veteran’s eligibility to file a medical claim resulting from radiation exposure during military service.

But Abercrombie and Atomic Veterans advocates say the current standards rely on unreliable or incomplete historical data in an almost secretive process that cannot be appealed. The congressional watchdog Government Accountability Office, National Academy of Sciences and Nuclear Regulatory Commission also have raised questions about the standards.

“The end result: Less than one percent of about 2,500 veterans seeking treatment of illnesses connected to radiation exposure during military service received approval for help,” said Abercrombie. “While not all claims may have merit, I believe this approval rating is disgraceful. Clearly, this process must change.”

Atomic veterans were members of the U.S. military who participated in atmospheric and underwater nuclear weapons tests from July 16, 1945 to October 30, 1962. They also include a wide variety of veterans such as those who were assigned to guard nuclear weapons, work with test animals, operate nuclear equipment and vessels, and those like Charlie Clark who were a part of occupation forces in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan after atomic bombs were detonated over those cities to end World War II.

“Our Atomic Veterans deserve better. After years of sworn secrecy, those that have borne out the burden of weapons of mass destruction should be provided just medical treatment,” Abercrombie said.

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