Book+Review

="American Ground Zero: The Secret Nuclear War" by Carole Gallagher=

= If I were to ask someone “Who was affected the most by nuclear weapons?” I believe that their answer would have something to do with Hiroshima or Nagasaki. In fact, I did ask someone that exact question and my hypothesis was supported. Tim Roush's response was “I would have to say the Japanese were.” Before reading Carole Gallagher’s “American Ground Zero: The Secret Nuclear War”, I probably would have answered the same. However, Gallagher’s book made me think differently about who was really affected by nuclear bombs as well as the government. The setup of the book is very unique, one left page is a full size photograph of the person being “interviewed”, and the pages following are their firsthand accounts with the affects of nuclear testing. Also, the last section of the book was full of large photographs with a small caption. For these pictures, the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” definitely holds true. If the photographs were omitted from the book, it would not have the same meaning. While reading I felt as if each person was talking to me and telling me their story; if I thought about skipping over a page I would feel guilty and make it a point to read those pages. =

= Most people interviewed either performed different aspects of nuclear testing, had family members that worked in the sites, or lived in the surrounding area of the testing areas. The government did nothing to protect the people working at the Nevada Test Site, or any other test site for that matter of fact. They didn’t even say something like, “We are not aware of the dangers of working in this setting, so it is up to you to work here.” Instead, they gave the false security that everything was safe and that working at ground zero of a 48 kiloton nuclear explosion fifteen minutes after impact was safe. After all, why would an eighteen year old worker question the government about safety? They should be the experts and under no circumstances would intentionally harm United States citizens. Looking back on the years, there are people that believe that the workers were really just there as a part of an experiment. Multiple people interviewed used the term “guinea pigs”. One of the most memorable statements that multiple people gave to Gallagher was that when they covered their face with their hands or arm, they could actually see their bone structures. This really messed with peoples’ minds because they were told nothing was harmful, and here they were seeing straight through their eyelids and arms. = = = = Due to the fact that the government kept all of the information about radiation classified, it was a common activity for families to gather outside on a hill during the time of a test to see the mushroom cloud. The tests were so frequent that after five or so tests, it was just another thing happening. Residences were so close to ground zero that people watching would end up with their skin turning red, and with boils forming. Local doctors did not want to deal with the results of radiation poisoning so they would say the redness was just sunburn, or if someone kept throwing up they would blame it on a stomach ache. Only after visiting many doctors and hearing the same old responses, people started to travel to see different specialists. By that time, the damage had already been done. Each person interviewed in the book had at least one deadly disease, whether it is leukemia or any type of cancer imaginable. Many people had lung cancer, even though they never smoked cigarettes. Radiation related illnesses branched off and multiplied rapidly. For example, a man would return home from work and spread radiation to his children, wife, and home. Fallout would land on farms and infect the ground and animals, vegetables were grown from the ground and meat was taken from the animals for meals. There are reports of animals becoming so radioactive and diseased that they would give birth to half of a baby, or a baby with two heads and missing legs. But of course, the government had no idea that this would happen. I call bull shit. If they thought the radiation and debris from the test bombs would be harmless, then they would not have had everyone swear to secrecy and sign a document saying they would never sue before being given the job. Also, why would they wait for the wind to carry the fallout away from Los Angeles if there was no harm to it? = = = = The promise of secrecy was never enough. When an employee died of a job related illness, the Atomic Energy Commission would do their part to dispose of all evidence that would lead back to them. Grace Swartzbaugh recalled, “A couple days after [my husband’s] funeral, two men came and they showed me badges from the AEC. They burned everything that was in that desk, even my stuff. Things they had no business touching. And they just walked out…” This is not the only occurrence in which the AEC burned evidence. Everyone working at the test site was required to wear a badge that measured the amount of radiation exposure. There was supposed to be a daily limit, and once that limit was reached you could no longer be exposed for the day. Whenever someone would bring their badge to the safety supervisors to show their exposure, they would always blame it on a faulty badge. After handing out a new badge, the old one would be burned to erase all evidence of exposure. Sometimes, when someone was sent for treatment of a cancerous disease, the doctors would use radiation to try to cure it. This usually works if the radiation is focused on the tumor, but these doctors did not have the equipment for this to happen. In a way, the “treatment” was more of a catalyst to death. The safety department was more of a scam than anything else. They would change the data in the radiation exposure charts and “lose” anything that may come back to harm them at a later date. = = = = All this time, President Eisenhower knew what the dangers were to the workers and people living in the surrounding areas where the wind would carry radioactive fallout to. His mindset was that testing the weapons would save many American lives in the future, so it is acceptable to put a “small” group in danger. I would expect such reasoning from Eisenhower; he always seemed to be trigger happy. When asked if he would use nuclear weapons if war broke out in the Far East, he said “Yes, of course they would be used. In any combat where these things can be used on strictly military targets and for strictly military purposes, I see no reason why they shouldn't be used just exactly as you would use a bullet or anything else.” In regard to squirrels burying acorns in his putting green, he said “The next time you see one of those squirrels go near my putting green, take a gun and shoot it!” It seems to me that his first reaction to most things that can involve weapons is to use them. = = = = I would recommend this book to anyone. I have learned more about nuclear weapons and testing by reading this book than I have in my past history classes. In fact, in all the history classes I have taken the instructor has never mentioned the innocent people who were affected by the testing. The focus of the teaching has been on the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This is a great book is someone does not want to sit down for hours and read. Each interview is a separate life, and sometimes death, story. =