1 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:19,400 Speaker 1: About twenty years ago, maybe thirty, a circus fitted to Majoro, 2 00:00:20,079 --> 00:00:23,120 Speaker 1: the largest island on the Marjoro Atoll, in the capital 3 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:26,920 Speaker 1: city of the Marshall Islands. It came to Majoro as 4 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:30,880 Speaker 1: almost everything that isn't breadfruit, pandanas or fish does on 5 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:35,400 Speaker 1: a boat. After performing, they couldn't find a boat to 6 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:38,320 Speaker 1: take them to their next destination, and so the resident 7 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:41,040 Speaker 1: of this tiny island, which at times is no wider 8 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:44,519 Speaker 1: than the single road which travels its whole length, decided 9 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:46,400 Speaker 1: that they'd have to share the food that they themselves 10 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:51,000 Speaker 1: had imported a great cost, and they set about gathering apples, bananas, 11 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:53,280 Speaker 1: and anything else that they thought an elephant might like 12 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:55,200 Speaker 1: to eat while it waited for a way off an 13 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:57,920 Speaker 1: island that barely has enough room for its own people, 14 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:02,520 Speaker 1: let alone the largest land animal on earth. The people 15 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:05,680 Speaker 1: of the Marshall Islands, for whom hospitality is as natural 16 00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:08,240 Speaker 1: as the times of the sea, greet each other the 17 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:12,520 Speaker 1: same way they do strangers, by saying your quay. The 18 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:16,320 Speaker 1: word has several meanings, but I'll let David Kaboo explain them. 19 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:18,680 Speaker 1: He's the President of the Republic of the Marshal Islands, 20 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:20,080 Speaker 1: so he seems like he'd be a good source. 21 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:24,360 Speaker 2: I would say the word yuppid yupey is our greeting 22 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:31,520 Speaker 2: word yuguey. There's a lot of several meanings. When you 23 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:34,200 Speaker 2: can say when you meet someone first time, you say 24 00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:38,440 Speaker 2: yahweh when you greet someone, and when you also say goodbye, 25 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:43,080 Speaker 2: instead of saying goodbye, you also say yupey. So's you 26 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:50,360 Speaker 2: can use that also, like during the weekend there was 27 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:53,680 Speaker 2: a tournament, fishing tournament and if you were fishing and 28 00:01:53,800 --> 00:01:57,080 Speaker 2: you got it. You have a big fish on the 29 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:02,040 Speaker 2: land and you really mhmm. You're about to land the fish, 30 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:04,680 Speaker 2: but the lands snap. So what do you say? 31 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:04,920 Speaker 3: Say? 32 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:09,000 Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, yeah, way, hello to the fish. But you 33 00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:12,239 Speaker 2: just say yeah because you lost the pitcatch. So it 34 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 2: can be said way like when you lose someone or 35 00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:19,840 Speaker 2: someone passed away. You've missed that prison, yup way, So 36 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:22,000 Speaker 2: and so was here but no one could hear so 37 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:25,480 Speaker 2: the said yep way. So it has several meanings. But 38 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:30,000 Speaker 2: the deeper meaning of yuppoy is you are beautiful like 39 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:35,840 Speaker 2: the rainbow. Yeah means rainbow and ways, So we combine 40 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:39,080 Speaker 2: the two words. You are a rainbow and you're beautiful 41 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:40,240 Speaker 2: as a rainbow. 42 00:02:40,919 --> 00:02:41,399 Speaker 3: On the map. 43 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:44,239 Speaker 1: The Marshall Islands look like the little dots that appear 44 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:47,720 Speaker 1: in my photos of the beach at Margiro. But unlike 45 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:49,800 Speaker 1: there's little specks of dust that manage to sneak their 46 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:54,119 Speaker 1: way onto my camera center, Marshall Islands belong here. Here 47 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:57,919 Speaker 1: is a pretty vague turn. The twenty nine coral atolls 48 00:02:57,960 --> 00:03:01,280 Speaker 1: and five islands that allow fifty four thousand marshal Eies 49 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:03,600 Speaker 1: to live on one hundred and eighty two square kilometers 50 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 1: of land span an oceanic territory of two hundred thousand kilometers. 51 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:11,400 Speaker 1: It's like you took a small American town and scattered 52 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:13,320 Speaker 1: it across an area more than a half times the 53 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:17,040 Speaker 1: size of Alaska. Even though the Rami is ninety eight 54 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:20,840 Speaker 1: percent water, every inch of land is precious to the Marshalise, 55 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:24,799 Speaker 1: whose matrilineal society ensures that land passes from mother to 56 00:03:24,919 --> 00:03:28,080 Speaker 1: daughter and ties families to the remote islands that make 57 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:31,519 Speaker 1: up the low lying atolls of the Republic. It was 58 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:33,359 Speaker 1: on one of the bigger chunks of land that I 59 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:37,160 Speaker 1: recorded the music you heard a minute ago. Marjorro is 60 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:40,280 Speaker 1: an atoll that's a coral ring that encircles the lagoon 61 00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:44,160 Speaker 1: and its biggest island is about thirty miles long but 62 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:48,000 Speaker 1: often less than one hundred yards wide. There's one road 63 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:50,360 Speaker 1: that runs the length of it and sometimes also spans 64 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:53,080 Speaker 1: the width of it. It's also home to about half 65 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:57,320 Speaker 1: the Ramis population. The highest point on the atoll lies 66 00:03:57,440 --> 00:03:59,800 Speaker 1: just three meters above sea level. If you want to 67 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:02,120 Speaker 1: get higher than that than your only options are houses 68 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:05,880 Speaker 1: or palm trees. From the top of the fifth floor 69 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 1: of the NAPA Autoparts Store, which also houses the UNDP 70 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:12,680 Speaker 1: and the Marshal Arns Olympic Committee, you can see the 71 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:18,240 Speaker 1: whole island. For Marshallese people, these tiny pieces of paradise 72 00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:20,280 Speaker 1: that barely poke their heads out from the top of 73 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:23,600 Speaker 1: the ocean are everything. Their land and their ties to 74 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:27,359 Speaker 1: it defined them. Without their place, they can't be themselves. 75 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:31,640 Speaker 1: Even though many thousands of Marshallese live in the diasper 76 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:34,960 Speaker 1: of the United States, they still important handicrafts made from 77 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:39,520 Speaker 1: little shells and the outer islands and coconut husks. Many 78 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:43,000 Speaker 1: of them come back to the islands to retire, but 79 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:48,040 Speaker 1: slowly the ocean is taking those islands back. Rising sea 80 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:51,119 Speaker 1: levels and more extreme tidal surges have placed this tiny 81 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:55,000 Speaker 1: Pacific nation on the front lines of climate change. There 82 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:57,440 Speaker 1: isn't an exact estimate as to how long the Marshall 83 00:04:57,440 --> 00:05:00,040 Speaker 1: Islands have or what they can do to hold the 84 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:03,360 Speaker 1: creeping advance of the ocean. They've always existed on just 85 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:06,279 Speaker 1: a few square kilometers of land among millions of square 86 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:09,560 Speaker 1: kilometers of ocean, and they depend on that ocean for everything. 87 00:05:10,279 --> 00:05:12,320 Speaker 1: But now it's threatening to take everything away from them. 88 00:05:13,279 --> 00:05:16,320 Speaker 1: One day. They fear their islands will become uninhabitable. A 89 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:19,120 Speaker 1: salt water invads of water table and their trees die, 90 00:05:19,760 --> 00:05:22,800 Speaker 1: while storms bring more and more frequent floods that sweep 91 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:26,159 Speaker 1: away their homes and their possessions. They don't want to leave, 92 00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:30,800 Speaker 1: but they can't stand alone against climate change either. But 93 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:34,760 Speaker 1: the Marshalis are resilient people. They've weathered many storms to 94 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:37,560 Speaker 1: get to where they are now. The tiny museum in 95 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:41,320 Speaker 1: Maduro hosts artifacts of several crises that would seem apocalyptic, 96 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:46,440 Speaker 1: a nuclear bomb, the Second World War, but in the 97 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:49,200 Speaker 1: end these did little to cress the incredible kindness of 98 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:54,080 Speaker 1: the tenacity of the Marshalies. The islands that make up 99 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:57,239 Speaker 1: the Aramai have been inhabited by indigenous people for thousands 100 00:05:57,279 --> 00:06:02,360 Speaker 1: of years, and they've been variously ruled by the Spanish, German, Japanese, 101 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:08,520 Speaker 1: and United States governments before becoming an independent republic. Before 102 00:06:08,520 --> 00:06:10,719 Speaker 1: they were named by a British sailor, the islands had 103 00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:14,400 Speaker 1: their own name. I'll let jeff a Marshallely's renaissance man, 104 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:17,040 Speaker 1: who was at one side driver, the head of the 105 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:21,599 Speaker 1: World Health Organization's EMT program on the islands, a registered nurse, 106 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:26,040 Speaker 1: and the custodiuns. An incredible collection of Marshalley's music explained 107 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:27,080 Speaker 1: what they were called before that. 108 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:32,800 Speaker 4: Or before he used to call La La la Larlie like. 109 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:35,479 Speaker 2: L or l. 110 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:41,600 Speaker 5: L o l luck lap. 111 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:48,880 Speaker 4: Laps before it turned out turns into Marshall because this 112 00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:52,120 Speaker 4: word Marshall came from this Kane. 113 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:55,520 Speaker 6: Oh found these islands. 114 00:06:55,800 --> 00:07:00,760 Speaker 1: Captain Marshon undeniably. The Marshall Islands are not a bad 115 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:03,880 Speaker 1: place to find yourself on a summer afternoon, and in 116 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:06,240 Speaker 1: the time I spent there, I took several trips to 117 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:10,080 Speaker 1: the smaller islands around my dro Atoll. They look like 118 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:13,720 Speaker 1: the Platonic ideal of a tropical island, complete with coconut palms, 119 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:18,280 Speaker 1: vibrant coral reefs, white sand and turquoise water. I love 120 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:21,440 Speaker 1: free diving and dropping down onto a wrecked aircraft and 121 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:24,760 Speaker 1: dozens of brightly colored species of fish in almost infinite 122 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:27,560 Speaker 1: visibility without even needing to put on a wet tou 123 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:29,600 Speaker 1: or a weight belt. Might be the closest I'll ever 124 00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:32,680 Speaker 1: get to flying. But I wasn't just here for a 125 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:35,160 Speaker 1: dip in the ocean. I'm actually here to tell you 126 00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:39,560 Speaker 1: a story of incredible resilience. Much of America, both on 127 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:41,720 Speaker 1: the left and on the right, spends much of its 128 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:44,600 Speaker 1: time and money preparing for its own imagined version of 129 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:48,720 Speaker 1: a crisis. For some, that's the unimaginable destruction of nuclear war. 130 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:51,560 Speaker 1: For others, it's the encroaching of the ocean on It's 131 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:53,560 Speaker 1: the land and a resulting loss of places to live 132 00:07:53,640 --> 00:07:56,320 Speaker 1: and grow food, And for others, it's a collapse of 133 00:07:56,360 --> 00:07:58,960 Speaker 1: basic services like power and clean water that we take 134 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:03,000 Speaker 1: for granted. These are all storms, so the tiny island 135 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:06,000 Speaker 1: nation has already weathered, and it hasn't done so in 136 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:09,080 Speaker 1: the atomized and individualistic way that so many American preppers 137 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:15,280 Speaker 1: fantasize about online. It's done so as an incredibly strong, optimistic, 138 00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:18,560 Speaker 1: and welcoming community there's a lot we can learn from 139 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:21,000 Speaker 1: the people of the Marshall Islands and their story, and 140 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:22,800 Speaker 1: so this week I'll be doing my best to share 141 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:39,000 Speaker 1: the stories that they share with me. If you're familiar 142 00:08:39,040 --> 00:08:41,599 Speaker 1: with the islands, it's likely because of the history of 143 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:44,760 Speaker 1: one of the other atolls in the group, Bikini Atoll. 144 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:48,360 Speaker 1: The name is the German bastardization of a Marshal Leasee 145 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:54,080 Speaker 1: word pikini pick meaning plain surface, and knee meaning coconut tree. 146 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:58,920 Speaker 1: It's a flat based where coconuts career, but you likely 147 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:01,640 Speaker 1: don't know the island for its coconuts, and those aren't 148 00:09:01,679 --> 00:09:05,280 Speaker 1: safe to eat anymore anyway. If you've heard of Bikinia Toll, 149 00:09:05,720 --> 00:09:07,840 Speaker 1: it's because of what the United States did there after 150 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:10,800 Speaker 1: the Second World War. On the eighteenth of July and 151 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:13,480 Speaker 1: nineteen forty seven, the Marshall Islands were placed in a 152 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:17,640 Speaker 1: Strategic Trust territory by the United Nations. This territory was 153 00:09:17,679 --> 00:09:20,520 Speaker 1: administered by the United States, which are supposed to administer 154 00:09:20,559 --> 00:09:22,959 Speaker 1: the islands in the best interest of their inhabitants out 155 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:26,800 Speaker 1: of international peace and security. But a year before the 156 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:30,120 Speaker 1: trust territory was created, the US began nuclear testing and 157 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:33,439 Speaker 1: the lagoon at Bikinia Toll, a site that would, over 158 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:36,840 Speaker 1: the next fifteen years, become the most heavily bombed place 159 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:40,160 Speaker 1: on Earth, with some islands entirely removed from the map, 160 00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:44,400 Speaker 1: and much of their population left dead, sick without the 161 00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:46,800 Speaker 1: land that defines them and their ability to thrive on 162 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:51,160 Speaker 1: these tiny islands amidst the endless ocean. As far as possible, 163 00:09:51,559 --> 00:09:53,280 Speaker 1: I want to let the marshal Lease survivors of the 164 00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:58,120 Speaker 1: nuclear tests and their families tell their own stories. They 165 00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:00,439 Speaker 1: call what happened on Bikini in and Awa at All 166 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:04,080 Speaker 1: the nuclear legacy of their country. Talking about the nuclear 167 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:07,240 Speaker 1: legacy is a difficult topic for the Marshallese, especially the 168 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:09,439 Speaker 1: time when none of them have been paid the compensation 169 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:13,120 Speaker 1: they were allotted, and the US was negotiating a new 170 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:16,959 Speaker 1: agreement with the Marshalise government. It was very far from settled, 171 00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:19,360 Speaker 1: and the numbers of the US were offering were very 172 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:22,400 Speaker 1: far from sufficient. I was very fortunate to join a 173 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:24,920 Speaker 1: few other journalists on the tiny island of boken bowten, 174 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:28,400 Speaker 1: a short boat right away from Mitro and home to 175 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:32,160 Speaker 1: perhaps most beautiful coral reef I've ever seen. We had lunch, 176 00:10:32,679 --> 00:10:35,040 Speaker 1: walked around the island, and then had a talk on 177 00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:37,959 Speaker 1: the nuclear legacy from descendants of some of the survivors. 178 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:40,080 Speaker 1: I'll let them introduce themselves. 179 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:46,520 Speaker 7: My name is Zakabekivion. I'm from the Marshall Allen. I 180 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:50,199 Speaker 7: am a student at CMI College of the Marshall Ellen 181 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:53,439 Speaker 7: and I am currently the president for the CMI Nuclear Club, 182 00:10:53,880 --> 00:11:00,920 Speaker 7: which we mostly work under National Nuclear Commission with with 183 00:11:01,160 --> 00:11:04,880 Speaker 7: our director Mary Sock and now our Commissioner Ariana. 184 00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:07,320 Speaker 3: A great yeah. 185 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:12,719 Speaker 5: Well, once again, my name is Ariana. I work as 186 00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:16,040 Speaker 5: a Commissioner and Nuclear Justice Envoy for the r m 187 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:20,560 Speaker 5: I National Nuclear Commission. Him once again, thank you very 188 00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:23,520 Speaker 5: much for having us this afternoon, Jael. 189 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:27,240 Speaker 3: Welcome to the Marshall Island. My name is Evelin Ralpho. 190 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:32,000 Speaker 3: I'm the director for Education and Public Awareness. Once again, welcome, 191 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:34,040 Speaker 3: enjoy the rese of your days here. 192 00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:39,120 Speaker 8: Well, my name is Sinceretian Pernet. I work with the 193 00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:43,760 Speaker 8: National Nuclear Commission as an headman and physical officer. I'm 194 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:46,120 Speaker 8: not sure if it's necessary for me to come, but 195 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:50,360 Speaker 8: since the post that we all go so support the 196 00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:53,360 Speaker 8: post go work on the same poet, Welcome to the 197 00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:54,199 Speaker 8: Partial Islands. 198 00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:56,000 Speaker 5: She's from Mayata. 199 00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:56,880 Speaker 3: She's from. 200 00:11:58,640 --> 00:11:59,880 Speaker 7: Y three. 201 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:04,319 Speaker 5: Some of us are all descendants of nuclear survivors. They 202 00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:07,679 Speaker 5: were exposed to fall out. Her mother was exposed to 203 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:11,599 Speaker 5: fall out. Her mother, Grace's mother was also exposed to 204 00:12:11,679 --> 00:12:15,319 Speaker 5: the radioactive fallout, as well as my great grandfather. I 205 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:20,040 Speaker 5: think that's what really drives us to share this with you. 206 00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:23,880 Speaker 1: Almost everyone in the RMI has a family member directly 207 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:26,360 Speaker 1: impacted by the testing and the decades of mistreatment that 208 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:30,400 Speaker 1: came after it. Although we know the name Bikini A Toll, 209 00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:35,199 Speaker 1: the entire Republic was impacted by nuclear fallout, including Madro itself, 210 00:12:36,040 --> 00:12:38,360 Speaker 1: thanks to the elevised decision to drop bombs on a 211 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:41,080 Speaker 1: day when the populated atolls were downwind of the test site. 212 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:45,000 Speaker 1: In fact, right next to our hotel, showing the same 213 00:12:45,080 --> 00:12:49,200 Speaker 1: parking lot, there's the US Department of Energy office. Hou's, Jeff, 214 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:50,160 Speaker 1: what that was doing there? 215 00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:50,960 Speaker 3: Yeah? 216 00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:51,199 Speaker 4: I saw. 217 00:12:51,240 --> 00:12:56,160 Speaker 1: There's a diary office, the health office on the street here, the. 218 00:12:56,240 --> 00:12:59,600 Speaker 6: One in the next to the autel, that's the office 219 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:03,719 Speaker 6: where they through the radiation testing. And there's the one 220 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:10,240 Speaker 6: near the AMI R. Marshall that's the clinic for those survivors. Now, 221 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:14,319 Speaker 6: the survivors, there's few of them live, like maybe less 222 00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:15,480 Speaker 6: than fifty wow. 223 00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:18,040 Speaker 1: The RMI is saw fighting in the Second World War. 224 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:24,920 Speaker 1: It's memorialized in murals across Marjorro. In nineteen forty three 225 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:27,439 Speaker 1: and early nineteen forty four, the USA bombed and then 226 00:13:27,559 --> 00:13:31,000 Speaker 1: fought the Imperial Japanese military, who have been occupying the 227 00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:35,880 Speaker 1: island since nineteen fourteen. US soldiers and marines, along with 228 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:40,560 Speaker 1: marsh Lea's scouts, landed on Marjorro Quadulan in anywhere thought 229 00:13:40,880 --> 00:13:43,560 Speaker 1: on Higgins boats that were virtually identical to the boat 230 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:46,880 Speaker 1: we took across the lagoon to Bocan Boten. The fighting 231 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:51,160 Speaker 1: was fierce and the scale of the destruction was immense. Overall, 232 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:54,200 Speaker 1: the Americans lost six hundred and eleven men and suffered 233 00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:57,959 Speaker 1: two thy three hundred and forty one wounded, two hundred 234 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:02,360 Speaker 1: and sixty one were missing. Meanwhile, the Japanese lost over 235 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:07,520 Speaker 1: eleven thousand men and had three hundred and fifty eight captured. Today, 236 00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:11,160 Speaker 1: the Bikinia Toll Lagoon still holds the ghostly remains of 237 00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:15,840 Speaker 1: the ships and plains that fought that battle, alongside the Nagato, 238 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:19,400 Speaker 1: the flagship of the Imperial Japanese Navy, and the ship 239 00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:22,960 Speaker 1: from whose bridge Admiral Yamamoto launched the attack on Pearl Harbor. 240 00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:26,560 Speaker 1: It was a shadow of this war that was evoked 241 00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:29,240 Speaker 1: in nineteen forty six, when one hundred and sixty seven 242 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:32,640 Speaker 1: a Bikini A Tolls inhabitants were forcibly relocated by the 243 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:37,440 Speaker 1: United States. They initially accepted this settlement quote for the 244 00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:40,360 Speaker 1: good of mankind and to end all wars, in the 245 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:44,680 Speaker 1: words of the US commandant at the time. Assisted by U. S. 246 00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:49,120 Speaker 1: Navy seabees, they disassembled their church and moved to different atolls. 247 00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:54,160 Speaker 1: Nine of the eleven family heads from Bikini elected to 248 00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:57,000 Speaker 1: be transported one hundred and twenty five miles to Rohngerikatoll, 249 00:14:57,600 --> 00:14:59,600 Speaker 1: an island with about one quarter of the land mass 250 00:14:59,600 --> 00:15:03,960 Speaker 1: of Bikini. Many believe the island to be haunted. By 251 00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:05,720 Speaker 1: the time the Navy left them with a few weeks 252 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:08,840 Speaker 1: of water and food, they had every reason to be afraid. 253 00:15:09,760 --> 00:15:12,600 Speaker 1: I'll let Ariana explain what that removal process was like. 254 00:15:13,200 --> 00:15:15,440 Speaker 5: They had asked the people if they were willing to 255 00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:18,720 Speaker 5: give up their homelands for the good of mankind and 256 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:22,640 Speaker 5: to end all wars. And because our people are people 257 00:15:22,760 --> 00:15:27,520 Speaker 5: of faith in Christianity, they the and they were very afraid. 258 00:15:27,920 --> 00:15:31,120 Speaker 5: They did not want to leave. But because of the 259 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:36,600 Speaker 5: amount of power that the that the military showed up 260 00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:39,640 Speaker 5: with with their big ships compared to our small canoes, 261 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:43,440 Speaker 5: and the amount of troops that were on that island 262 00:15:44,200 --> 00:15:47,080 Speaker 5: on that morning, it was very hard for them to, 263 00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:51,640 Speaker 5: you know, fight against what was being asked of them. 264 00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:57,960 Speaker 5: And if you have time to look through documentaries of 265 00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:01,360 Speaker 5: the nuclear legacy, you will see a certain port where 266 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:04,560 Speaker 5: the commander or commodore, his name was Ben Wyatt. He 267 00:16:04,720 --> 00:16:07,520 Speaker 5: was sitting down and asking the chief at that time, 268 00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:09,720 Speaker 5: can we use this island for the good of mankind? 269 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:15,160 Speaker 5: And in response the people all respond in unison elman, 270 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:19,760 Speaker 5: which means okay. And from their testimonies, they had to 271 00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:24,160 Speaker 5: take that shot over forty times to make sure that, 272 00:16:24,680 --> 00:16:26,720 Speaker 5: you know, they all said mmin at the same time, 273 00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:29,680 Speaker 5: to get the best shot they could for you know, 274 00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:32,760 Speaker 5: maybe for reports to the UN. But it was a 275 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:34,440 Speaker 5: very frustrating time for them. 276 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:39,680 Speaker 1: Following their removal, the testing began. The idea was to 277 00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:43,040 Speaker 1: test nuclear bombs on ships, so the US bought ninety 278 00:16:43,080 --> 00:16:47,320 Speaker 1: five ships fully loaded with weapons and fuel. At this time, 279 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:50,160 Speaker 1: this would have ranked the navy of Bikinia toll just 280 00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:53,120 Speaker 1: outside the top five biggest fleets in the world. But 281 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:54,920 Speaker 1: those boats didn't stay afloat for long. 282 00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:07,920 Speaker 3: Now. 283 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:11,320 Speaker 1: You might think that, given the testing was on ships, 284 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:14,080 Speaker 1: the atoll's navy would be some kind of mid century 285 00:17:14,160 --> 00:17:19,120 Speaker 1: Mary Celeste, but you'd be wrong. Three hundred and fifty 286 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:23,320 Speaker 1: experimental rats, goats, and pigs died in the service of 287 00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:27,440 Speaker 1: its strange nuclear experiment, some of them after being subjected 288 00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:30,520 Speaker 1: to the great indignity of being covered in sunscreen, which 289 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:34,040 Speaker 1: bizarrely scientists thought might be useful in alleviating the impact 290 00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:38,000 Speaker 1: of radiation. It's rather staggering that this research was being 291 00:17:38,119 --> 00:17:41,800 Speaker 1: done three years after the United States dropped nuclear bombs 292 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:45,520 Speaker 1: on whole cities full of human beings. But as you've 293 00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:48,639 Speaker 1: maybe already picked up in this story, the possibility of 294 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:51,840 Speaker 1: unintended but entirely predictable human suffering does not seem to 295 00:17:51,880 --> 00:17:55,240 Speaker 1: have been top of the priority list. The first test 296 00:17:55,320 --> 00:17:59,560 Speaker 1: of the island somehow misfired. The gathered press were disappointed 297 00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:02,760 Speaker 1: in many of the went home, but the second, codenamed 298 00:18:02,800 --> 00:18:08,159 Speaker 1: Baker didn't. Chemist Glen t. Seborg, the longest serving chairman 299 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:11,159 Speaker 1: of the Atomic Energy Commission, called the Baker test the 300 00:18:11,240 --> 00:18:15,320 Speaker 1: world's first nuclear disaster. It drove a two thousand foot 301 00:18:15,359 --> 00:18:18,240 Speaker 1: wide pillar of water into the air. It sunk the 302 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:22,320 Speaker 1: USS Arkansas and released massive amounts of radiation across the 303 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:25,760 Speaker 1: islands of the atoll, which at the time the residents 304 00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:29,960 Speaker 1: had been expecting to return to. Just five days after 305 00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:33,480 Speaker 1: the first bomb went off, Louis Road, a French mechanical 306 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:36,840 Speaker 1: engineer who was working as manager of his mother's lingerie 307 00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:40,680 Speaker 1: shop in Paris, introduced a new swimsuit designed named the 308 00:18:40,760 --> 00:18:45,240 Speaker 1: Bikini after the atoll. It was one wright equipped the 309 00:18:45,359 --> 00:18:50,359 Speaker 1: atom bomb of fashion. The people of the atoll, however, 310 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:54,520 Speaker 1: gained little from the outfit or the testing. January of 311 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:58,320 Speaker 1: nineteen forty eight, just two years after their removal, doctor 312 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:02,160 Speaker 1: Leonard Mason visited the Bikinians on Rongrik and was appalled 313 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:06,119 Speaker 1: to find the people there had almost starved death. We 314 00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:09,359 Speaker 1: were dying, but they didn't listen to us, one of 315 00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:13,440 Speaker 1: them said to him. Mason, an anthropologist at the University 316 00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:16,720 Speaker 1: of WAYI asked that food and water be bought immediately. 317 00:19:18,119 --> 00:19:21,919 Speaker 1: The US built houses for Bikini Atol residents on Ujilangatol, 318 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:25,280 Speaker 1: but it decided to use these for the residents of 319 00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:28,320 Speaker 1: Aniwata Katol, where it was also about to begin conducting 320 00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:33,160 Speaker 1: nuclear experiments. Instead, the Bikini Islanders were placed in tents 321 00:19:33,359 --> 00:19:37,760 Speaker 1: alongside a runway before they eventually chose Kille Island, a 322 00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:41,120 Speaker 1: line of less than one square kilometer, as their next home. 323 00:19:43,680 --> 00:19:49,040 Speaker 1: Also evacuated where Anewata, Krangalap and Warthaw Islanders. They too 324 00:19:49,119 --> 00:19:51,280 Speaker 1: thought this was a temporary arrangement and that they could 325 00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:54,719 Speaker 1: go home in a short period of time. They too 326 00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:58,080 Speaker 1: found out later that this was not the case. Over 327 00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:00,920 Speaker 1: the course of their exile, they've been moved several more times, 328 00:20:00,960 --> 00:20:04,679 Speaker 1: staffed half to death, cheated of their compensation, and stripped 329 00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:08,800 Speaker 1: to their ancestral homeland. For the next twelve years, the 330 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:13,119 Speaker 1: United States would drop increasingly large bombs, culminating in nineteen 331 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:17,160 Speaker 1: fifty four with the Bravo Shot of Operation Castle, also 332 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:20,680 Speaker 1: known as Castle Bravo, the biggest nuclear device that we 333 00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:22,520 Speaker 1: know of the US ever deploying. 334 00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:26,200 Speaker 5: Within those twelve years, there were sixty seven known devices 335 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:29,080 Speaker 5: that were tested here. There could have been more, but 336 00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:32,400 Speaker 5: all we know of is sixty seven. One of them 337 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:37,480 Speaker 5: was the Castle Bravo shat that yielded fifteen megatons, which 338 00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:43,520 Speaker 5: when scientists calculated the equivalent of the Bravo shat would 339 00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:47,200 Speaker 5: have required testing the Hiroshima bomb one and a half 340 00:20:47,359 --> 00:20:49,960 Speaker 5: times every single day for twelve years. 341 00:20:50,520 --> 00:20:54,280 Speaker 1: That fifteen megaton Bravo shot yielded more than two point 342 00:20:54,359 --> 00:20:57,760 Speaker 1: five times the estimated six megaton explosion. When it was 343 00:20:57,840 --> 00:21:01,920 Speaker 1: detonated on an artificial island in the Bikinia Toll, the 344 00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:05,880 Speaker 1: device's mushroom cloud reached a height of forty seven thousand feet, 345 00:21:06,119 --> 00:21:09,480 Speaker 1: which is fourteen hundred meters, and a diameter of seven 346 00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:13,399 Speaker 1: miles or eleven kilometers in about one minute. Eventually it 347 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:16,520 Speaker 1: reached a height of forty kilometers and a diameter of 348 00:21:16,560 --> 00:21:20,640 Speaker 1: one hundred kilometers. This took less than ten minutes, traveled 349 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:23,879 Speaker 1: more than one hundred meters per second, and covered seven 350 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:27,159 Speaker 1: thousand kilometers of the Pacific Ocean and everything in it 351 00:21:27,560 --> 00:21:31,359 Speaker 1: with nuclear fallout. On the eve of the Bravo shot, 352 00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:35,920 Speaker 1: weather reports indicated that the quote conditions were getting less favorable, 353 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:38,960 Speaker 1: but nonetheless the decision to go ahead with the first 354 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:43,760 Speaker 1: test was taken by to Alvin Sea Graves jointed task 355 00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:47,760 Speaker 1: for seven ships located thirty miles east of Bikini and 356 00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:51,200 Speaker 1: what was thought to be an Upwin position began detecting 357 00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:53,960 Speaker 1: high levels of radiation just two hours after the test. 358 00:21:55,600 --> 00:21:58,200 Speaker 1: Very soon after, they began traveling south at full speed 359 00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:02,280 Speaker 1: to avoid the fallout, but directly down window the blast 360 00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:04,920 Speaker 1: and unable to travel were wrong. A lap and A 361 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:09,200 Speaker 1: Lingeni Atolls Arianna explained the impact to fall out there, 362 00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:12,920 Speaker 1: which residents were not warned about. American servatives people there 363 00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:16,879 Speaker 1: want to stay inside, not eat or drink anything, but 364 00:22:17,040 --> 00:22:19,440 Speaker 1: no such warning was given to the local residents. 365 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:23,800 Speaker 5: Some said it looked like the sky was changing colors 366 00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:26,080 Speaker 5: from red to yellow to orange. It was just a 367 00:22:26,359 --> 00:22:29,960 Speaker 5: very very bright morning and then they started hearing like 368 00:22:30,119 --> 00:22:32,639 Speaker 5: thunderous roars a couple of minutes later, and it was 369 00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:35,639 Speaker 5: just like roars after wars. And it was a very 370 00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:39,879 Speaker 5: frightening time because this was just not something you know, 371 00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:43,480 Speaker 5: does not happen every day. And then around ten am 372 00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:48,320 Speaker 5: the fallout had started to arrive. And these are accounts 373 00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:50,800 Speaker 5: from ronglap at All, which is the closest to Bikini. 374 00:22:51,359 --> 00:22:54,320 Speaker 5: The fallout had started to arrive and they were not 375 00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:57,480 Speaker 5: sure what was going on. There was men out fishing. 376 00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:03,520 Speaker 5: There was also stories from these witnesses that prior to 377 00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:08,679 Speaker 5: this test, the military had gone to and they had 378 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:12,760 Speaker 5: movie nights, and they would show the community of movies 379 00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:13,680 Speaker 5: where it's snowing. 380 00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:17,480 Speaker 1: Tomorrow, we'll hear more about the consequences of the Bravo 381 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:20,400 Speaker 1: shop for the people who, despite never having any quarrel 382 00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:23,479 Speaker 1: with the USA, with the recipient of the largest nuclear 383 00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:51,760 Speaker 1: bomb it's ever decimated. It Could Happen here as a 384 00:23:51,760 --> 00:23:54,640 Speaker 1: production of cool Zone Media. For more podcasts from cool 385 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:57,560 Speaker 1: Zone Media, visit our website cool zonemedia dot com, or 386 00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:00,280 Speaker 1: check us out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 387 00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:03,280 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to podcasts. You can find sources for 388 00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:06,560 Speaker 1: It Could Happen Here, updated monthly at coolzonemedia dot com 389 00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:08,560 Speaker 1: slash sources. Thanks for listening.