1 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:19,360 Speaker 1: About twenty years ago, maybe thirty, a circus fitted to Majoro, 2 00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:23,079 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. They came to Majoro, as 4 00:00:26,920 --> 00:00:30,840 Speaker 1: almost everything that isn't breadfruit, pandanas or fish does on 5 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:35,360 Speaker 1: a boat. After performing, they couldn't find a boat to 6 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:38,280 Speaker 1: take them to the next destination, and so the resident 7 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:41,000 Speaker 1: of this tiny island, which at times is no wider 8 00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:44,479 Speaker 1: than the single road which travels its whole length, decided 9 00:00:44,479 --> 00:00:46,400 Speaker 1: that they'd have to share the food that they themselves 10 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:50,960 Speaker 1: had imported a great cost, and they set about gathering apples, bananas, 11 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:53,239 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 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:57,880 Speaker 1: island that barely has enough room for its own people, 14 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:02,480 Speaker 1: let alone the largest land animal on earth. The people 15 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:05,640 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 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:12,480 Speaker 1: same way they do strangers, by saying yo quai. The 18 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:16,280 Speaker 1: word has several meanings, but I'll let David Kaboo explain them. 19 00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:18,679 Speaker 1: He's the President of the Republic of the Marshal Islands, 20 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:20,039 Speaker 1: so he seems like he'd be a good source. 21 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:26,560 Speaker 2: I would say the word yupid ye, greeting word yaguey. 22 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:32,160 Speaker 2: There's a lot of several meanings, and you can say 23 00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 2: when you meet someone first time, you say yagohey. When 24 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:38,839 Speaker 2: you greet someone, and when you also say goodbye, instead 25 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:43,320 Speaker 2: of saying goodbye, you also say yupe, So you can 26 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:50,520 Speaker 2: use that also, like during the weekend there was a 27 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:53,800 Speaker 2: tournament fishing tournament, and if you were fishing and you 28 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:57,480 Speaker 2: got it, you have a big fish on the land 29 00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:02,040 Speaker 2: and you really m hm, You're about to land the fish, 30 00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:04,680 Speaker 2: but the lands snap. So what do you say? 31 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:04,920 Speaker 3: Say? 32 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:09,000 Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, yeah, way, hello to the fish. But you 33 00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:11,440 Speaker 2: just say yeah but because you lost the pit catch. 34 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:14,880 Speaker 2: So it can be said way like when you lose 35 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:19,440 Speaker 2: someone or someone passed away. You've missed that prison, yup 36 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:21,480 Speaker 2: way so and so he was here but no one 37 00:02:21,480 --> 00:02:24,280 Speaker 2: could hear, so we do said yep way. So it 38 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 2: has several meanings. But the deeper meaning of yuppoy is 39 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:34,160 Speaker 2: you are beautiful like the rainbow. Yeah means rainbow and ways, 40 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:37,800 Speaker 2: so we combine the two words. You are a rainbow 41 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:39,880 Speaker 2: and you are beautiful as a rainbow. 42 00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:43,360 Speaker 1: On the map, the Marshall Islands look like the little 43 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:46,000 Speaker 1: dots that appear in my photos of the beach at Margiro. 44 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:49,400 Speaker 1: But unlike there's little specks of dust that manage to 45 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:53,000 Speaker 1: sneak their way onto my camera center, Marshall Islands belong here. 46 00:02:53,919 --> 00:02:57,440 Speaker 1: Here is a pretty vague turn. The twenty nine coral 47 00:02:57,480 --> 00:03:00,600 Speaker 1: atolls and five islands that allow fifty four one thousand 48 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:03,040 Speaker 1: Marshalies to live on one hundred and eighty two square 49 00:03:03,080 --> 00:03:06,560 Speaker 1: kilometers of land span an oceanic territory of two hundred 50 00:03:06,639 --> 00:03:10,320 Speaker 1: thousand kilometers. It's like you took a small American town 51 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:12,880 Speaker 1: and scattered it across an area more than a half 52 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:16,520 Speaker 1: times the size of Alaska. Even though the Rami is 53 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:20,080 Speaker 1: ninety eight percent water, every inch of land is precious 54 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:23,880 Speaker 1: to the marshal Eisee, whose matrilineal society ensures that land 55 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:26,960 Speaker 1: passes from mother to daughter and ties families to the 56 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:29,280 Speaker 1: remote islands that make up the low lying atolls of 57 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:32,680 Speaker 1: the Republic. It was on one of the bigger chunks 58 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:34,800 Speaker 1: of land that I recorded the music you heard a 59 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:39,080 Speaker 1: minute ago. Marjorro is an atoll that's a coral ring 60 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:42,960 Speaker 1: that encircles the lagoon and Its biggest island is about 61 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:46,160 Speaker 1: thirty miles long, but often less than one hundred yards wide. 62 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:49,320 Speaker 1: There's one road that runs the length of it and 63 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:52,520 Speaker 1: sometimes also spans the width of it. It's also home 64 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:56,400 Speaker 1: to about half the Ramis population. The highest point on 65 00:03:56,440 --> 00:03:59,480 Speaker 1: the atoll lies just three meters above sea level. If 66 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:01,120 Speaker 1: you want to go high that than you are only 67 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:05,280 Speaker 1: options are houses or palm trees. From the top of 68 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:08,200 Speaker 1: the fifth floor of the NAPA Autoparts Store, which also 69 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:12,200 Speaker 1: houses the UNDP and the Marshal Arwanns Olympic Committee, you 70 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:17,279 Speaker 1: can see the whole island. For Marshallese people, these tiny 71 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:19,920 Speaker 1: pieces of paradise that barely poke their heads out from 72 00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:23,039 Speaker 1: the top of the ocean are everything. Their land and 73 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:26,360 Speaker 1: their ties to it defined them. Without their place, they 74 00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:30,960 Speaker 1: can't be themselves. Even though many thousands of Marshallese live 75 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:33,840 Speaker 1: in the diasper of the United States, they're still important. 76 00:04:33,839 --> 00:04:37,160 Speaker 1: Handicrafts made from little shells and the outer islands and 77 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:40,839 Speaker 1: coconut husks. Many of them come back to the islands 78 00:04:40,839 --> 00:04:46,400 Speaker 1: to retire, but slowly the ocean is taking those islands back. 79 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:50,600 Speaker 1: Rising sea levels and more extreme tidal surges have placed 80 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:54,720 Speaker 1: this tiny Pacific nation on the front lines of climate change. 81 00:04:54,839 --> 00:04:57,080 Speaker 1: There isn't an exact estimate as to how long the 82 00:04:57,080 --> 00:04:59,920 Speaker 1: Marshall Islands have or what they can do to hold 83 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 1: creeping advance of the ocean. They've always existed on just 84 00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:06,240 Speaker 1: a few square kilometers of land among millions of square 85 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:09,560 Speaker 1: kilometers of ocean, and they depend on that ocean for everything. 86 00:05:10,279 --> 00:05:12,880 Speaker 1: But now it's threatening to take everything away from them. 87 00:05:13,279 --> 00:05:16,280 Speaker 1: One day. They fear their islands will become uninhabitable. A 88 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:19,279 Speaker 1: salt water invads of water table and their trees die, 89 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:22,760 Speaker 1: while storms bring more and more frequent floods that sweep 90 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:26,200 Speaker 1: away their homes and their possessions. They don't want to leave, 91 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:30,800 Speaker 1: but they can't stand alone against climate change either. But 92 00:05:31,279 --> 00:05:34,760 Speaker 1: the Marshalis are resilient people. They've weathered many storms to 93 00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:37,520 Speaker 1: get to where they are now. The tiny museum in 94 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:41,320 Speaker 1: Maduro hosts artifacts of several crises that would seem apocalyptic, 95 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:46,440 Speaker 1: a nuclear bomb, the Second World War, but in the 96 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:49,200 Speaker 1: end these did little to cruss the incredible kindness of 97 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:54,039 Speaker 1: the tenacity of the Marshalies. The islands that make up 98 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:57,240 Speaker 1: the Aramai have been inhabited by indigenous people for thousands 99 00:05:57,279 --> 00:06:02,400 Speaker 1: of years. They've been variously ruled by the Spanish, German, Japanese, 100 00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:08,480 Speaker 1: and United States governments before becoming an independent republic. Before 101 00:06:08,520 --> 00:06:10,720 Speaker 1: they were named by a British sailor, the islands had 102 00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:14,480 Speaker 1: their own name. I'll let Jeff a Marshal's renaissance man, 103 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:17,080 Speaker 1: who was at one side driver, the head of the 104 00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:21,599 Speaker 1: World Health Organization's EMT program on the islands, a registered nurse, 105 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:24,760 Speaker 1: and the custod units. An incredible collection of Marshal E's 106 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:27,160 Speaker 1: music explained what they were called before that. 107 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:32,840 Speaker 2: Or before he used to call La la la larie like. 108 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:35,479 Speaker 3: L or l. 109 00:06:37,839 --> 00:06:41,719 Speaker 4: L l O L L luck l A P l 110 00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:41,960 Speaker 4: A P. 111 00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:47,560 Speaker 5: That's before it turned out turns into Marshall. 112 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:51,240 Speaker 2: Because this word Marshall games from. 113 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:55,120 Speaker 5: This kandeh abound these islands. 114 00:06:55,800 --> 00:07:00,760 Speaker 1: Captain Marshall undeniably, the Marshall Islands are not a bad 115 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:03,919 Speaker 1: place to find yourself on a summer afternoon, and in 116 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:06,279 Speaker 1: the time I spent there, I took several trips at 117 00:07:06,279 --> 00:07:10,200 Speaker 1: the smaller islands around mydro Atoll. They look like the 118 00:07:10,200 --> 00:07:13,680 Speaker 1: Platonic ideal of a tropical island, complete with coconut palms, 119 00:07:13,960 --> 00:07:18,280 Speaker 1: vibrant coral reefs, white sand at turquoise water. I love 120 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:21,480 Speaker 1: free diving and dropping down onto a wrecked aircraft and 121 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:24,720 Speaker 1: dozens of brightly colored species of fish in almost infinite 122 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:27,480 Speaker 1: visibility without even needing to put on a wet to 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 --> 00:07:32,640 Speaker 1: get to flying. But I wasn't just here for a 125 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:35,240 Speaker 1: dip in the ocean. I'm actually here to tell you 126 00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:39,600 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 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:44,600 Speaker 1: time and money preparing for its own imagined version of 129 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:48,720 Speaker 1: the crisis. For some, that's the unimaginable destruction of nuclear war. 130 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:51,520 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 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:56,320 Speaker 1: and grow food. And for others, it's a collapse of 133 00:07:56,320 --> 00:07:58,960 Speaker 1: basic services like power and clean water that we take 134 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:03,000 Speaker 1: for granted. These are all storms, so the tiny island 135 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:06,000 Speaker 1: nation has already weathered, and it hasn't done so in 136 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:09,120 Speaker 1: the atomized and individualistic way that so many American preppers 137 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:15,320 Speaker 1: fantasize about online. It's done so as an incredibly strong, optimistic, 138 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:18,560 Speaker 1: and welcoming community there's a lot we can learn from 139 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:21,040 Speaker 1: the people of the Marshall Islands in their story, and 140 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:22,800 Speaker 1: so this week I'll be doing my best to share 141 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:38,960 Speaker 1: the stories that they shared with me. If you're familiar 142 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:41,640 Speaker 1: with the islands, it's likely because of the history of 143 00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:44,720 Speaker 1: one of the other atolls in the group, Bikini Atoll. 144 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:48,280 Speaker 1: The name is the German bastardization of a Marshal lease 145 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:54,160 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 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:01,640 Speaker 1: don't know the island for its coconuts, and those aren't 148 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:05,400 Speaker 1: safe to eat anymore. Anyway. If you've heard of Bikinia Toll, 149 00:09:05,679 --> 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 00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:13,480 Speaker 1: nineteen forty seven, the Marshall Islands were placed in a 152 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:17,599 Speaker 1: Strategic Trust territory by the United Nations. This territory was 153 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:20,520 Speaker 1: administered by the United States, which are supposed to administer 154 00:09:20,559 --> 00:09:22,920 Speaker 1: the islands in the best interest of their inhabitants out 155 00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:26,760 Speaker 1: of international peace and security. But a year before the 156 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:30,079 Speaker 1: trust territory was created, the US began nuclear testing and 157 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:33,440 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 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:40,199 Speaker 1: on Earth, with some islands entirely removed from the map, 160 00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:44,320 Speaker 1: and much of their population left dead, sick, and without 161 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:46,679 Speaker 1: the land that defines them and their ability to thrive 162 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:50,480 Speaker 1: on these tiany islands amidst the endless ocean. As far 163 00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:53,120 Speaker 1: as possible, I want to let the marshal Lease survivors 164 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:57,200 Speaker 1: of the nuclear tests and their families tell their own stories. 165 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:00,760 Speaker 1: They call what happened on Bikini and awaa Atoll the 166 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:04,480 Speaker 1: nuclear legacy of their country. Talking about the nuclear legacy 167 00:10:04,559 --> 00:10:07,520 Speaker 1: is a difficult topic for the Marshallese, especially the time 168 00:10:07,559 --> 00:10:09,640 Speaker 1: when none of them have been paid the compensation they 169 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:13,600 Speaker 1: were allotted, and the US was negotiating a new agreement 170 00:10:13,640 --> 00:10:17,000 Speaker 1: with the Marshalise government. It was very far from settled, 171 00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:19,400 Speaker 1: and the numbers of the US were offering were very 172 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:22,400 Speaker 1: far from sufficient. I was very fortunate to join a 173 00:10:22,440 --> 00:10:24,920 Speaker 1: few other journalists on the tiny island of boken bowten, 174 00:10:25,720 --> 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 --> 00:10:38,199 Speaker 1: the nuclear legacy from descendants of some of the survivors. 178 00:10:38,679 --> 00:10:40,120 Speaker 1: I'll let them introduce themselves. 179 00:10:40,440 --> 00:10:46,680 Speaker 6: My name is Zakabekibion. I'm from the Marshall Allen. I 180 00:10:46,720 --> 00:10:50,160 Speaker 6: am a student at CMI College of the Marshall Allen 181 00:10:50,240 --> 00:10:53,439 Speaker 6: and I am currently the president for the CMI Nuclear Club, 182 00:10:53,840 --> 00:11:01,040 Speaker 6: which we mostly work under National Nuclear Commission with with 183 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:04,479 Speaker 6: our director Mary Souk and now our Commissioner Ariana. 184 00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:12,080 Speaker 4: All right, yeah, once again, my name is Ariana. I 185 00:11:12,120 --> 00:11:15,600 Speaker 4: work as a Commissioner and Nuclear Justice Envoy for the 186 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:20,120 Speaker 4: r m I National Nuclear Commission. Him once again, thank 187 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:23,480 Speaker 4: you very much for having us this afternoon, Yael. 188 00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:27,280 Speaker 7: Welcome to the Marshall Island. My name is Evlin Ralpho. 189 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:31,440 Speaker 7: I'm the director for Education and Public Awareness. Once you 190 00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:34,000 Speaker 7: can welcome, enjoy the rest of your days here. 191 00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:40,000 Speaker 3: My name is Sinceretian Pernet. I work with the National 192 00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:43,880 Speaker 3: Nuclear Commission as an heapman and physical officer. I'm not 193 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:46,480 Speaker 3: sure if it's necessary for me to come, but since 194 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:50,920 Speaker 3: the post that we all go so support the post 195 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:54,280 Speaker 3: go work on the same poet, Welcome to the Partial Islands. 196 00:11:54,920 --> 00:11:57,920 Speaker 7: She's from Mayata, she's from. 197 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:03,640 Speaker 4: Yeah, the three of us are all descendants of nuclear survivors. 198 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:07,600 Speaker 4: They were exposed to fall out. Her mother was exposed 199 00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:11,520 Speaker 4: to fall out. Her mother, Grace's mother was also exposed 200 00:12:11,520 --> 00:12:14,720 Speaker 4: to the radioactive fallout, as well as my great grandfather. 201 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:19,360 Speaker 4: I think that's what really drives us to share this 202 00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:20,040 Speaker 4: with you. 203 00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:23,840 Speaker 1: Almost everyone in the RMI has a family member directly 204 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:26,360 Speaker 1: impacted by the testing and the decades of mistreatment that 205 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:30,360 Speaker 1: came after it. Although we know the name Bikinia Toll, 206 00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:35,240 Speaker 1: the entire republic was impacted by nuclear fallout, including Madro itself, 207 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:38,319 Speaker 1: thanks to the elevised decision to drop bombs on a 208 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:41,720 Speaker 1: day when the populated atolls were downwind at the test site. 209 00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:44,800 Speaker 1: In fact, right next to our hotel and showing the 210 00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:49,199 Speaker 1: same parking lot, there's the US Department of Energy Office AUS. Jeff, 211 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:50,200 Speaker 1: what that was doing there? 212 00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:50,920 Speaker 5: Yeah? 213 00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:54,760 Speaker 1: I saw there's a diary office health office in the 214 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:55,640 Speaker 1: street here. 215 00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:59,199 Speaker 5: The one in the next to the autel, that's the 216 00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:03,480 Speaker 5: office where it through the radiation testing. And there's some 217 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:07,800 Speaker 5: one near the AMI R. Marshall. That's the planet for 218 00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:13,320 Speaker 5: those survivors. Now, the survivors, there's few of them, like 219 00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:14,600 Speaker 5: maybe less than. 220 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:18,040 Speaker 1: Fifty wow the RMI saw fighting in the Second World War. 221 00:13:18,800 --> 00:13:24,960 Speaker 1: It's memorialized in murals. Across Marjorro. In nineteen forty three 222 00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:27,440 Speaker 1: and early nineteen forty four, the USA bombed and then 223 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:31,040 Speaker 1: fought the Imperial Japanese military, who have been occupying the 224 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:35,920 Speaker 1: island since nineteen fourteen. US soldiers and marines, along with 225 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:40,520 Speaker 1: marsha Ley's scouts, landed on Marjorro, Quadulion in anywhere up 226 00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:43,520 Speaker 1: on Higgins boats that were virtually identical to the boat 227 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:46,880 Speaker 1: we took across the lagoon to Bocan Boten. The fighting 228 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:51,160 Speaker 1: was fierce and the scale of the destruction was immets. Overall, 229 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:54,199 Speaker 1: the Americans lost six hundred and eleven men, which suffered 230 00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:58,000 Speaker 1: two three hundred and forty one wounded. Two hundred and 231 00:13:58,040 --> 00:14:02,760 Speaker 1: sixty one were missing. Meanwhile, the Japanese lost over eleven 232 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:08,200 Speaker 1: thousand men and had three hundred and fifty eight captured. Today, 233 00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:11,160 Speaker 1: the Bikinia Toll Lagoon still holds the ghostly remains of 234 00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:16,040 Speaker 1: the ships and plains that fought that battle, alongside the Nagato, 235 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:19,400 Speaker 1: the flagship of the Imperial Japanese Navy, and the ship 236 00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:22,960 Speaker 1: from whose bridge Admiral Yamamoto launched the attack on Pearl Harbor. 237 00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:26,560 Speaker 1: It was a shadow of this war that was evoked 238 00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:29,240 Speaker 1: in nineteen forty six, when one hundred and sixty seven 239 00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:33,760 Speaker 1: a Bikinia Tolls inhabitants were forcibly relocated by the United States. 240 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:37,760 Speaker 1: They initially accepted this settlement quote for the good of 241 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:40,720 Speaker 1: mankind and to end all wars, in the words of 242 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:45,520 Speaker 1: the US commandant at the time. Assisted by US Navy seabees, 243 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:50,960 Speaker 1: they disassembled their church and moved to different atolls. Nine 244 00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:54,280 Speaker 1: of the eleven family heads from Bikini elected to be 245 00:14:54,280 --> 00:14:57,680 Speaker 1: transported one hundred and twenty five miles to Rohngerikatoll, an 246 00:14:57,720 --> 00:14:59,920 Speaker 1: island with about one quarter of the land mass of Bikini. 247 00:15:01,560 --> 00:15:04,280 Speaker 1: Many believed the island to be haunted. By the time 248 00:15:04,280 --> 00:15:06,040 Speaker 1: the Navy left them with a few weeks of water 249 00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:09,880 Speaker 1: and food, they had every reason to be afraid. I'll 250 00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:12,600 Speaker 1: let Ariana explain what that removal process was like. 251 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:15,520 Speaker 4: They had asked the people if they were willing to 252 00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:18,760 Speaker 4: give up their homelands for the good of mankind and 253 00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:22,680 Speaker 4: to end all wars. And because our people are people 254 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:27,560 Speaker 4: of faith in Christianity, they the and they were very afraid. 255 00:15:27,920 --> 00:15:31,840 Speaker 4: They did not want to leave, but because of the 256 00:15:31,880 --> 00:15:36,600 Speaker 4: amount of power that the that the military showed up 257 00:15:36,640 --> 00:15:39,680 Speaker 4: with with their big ships compared to our small canoes, 258 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:43,440 Speaker 4: and the amount of troops that were on that island 259 00:15:44,200 --> 00:15:47,080 Speaker 4: on that morning, it was very hard for them to, 260 00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:51,680 Speaker 4: you know, fight against what was being asked of them. 261 00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:58,000 Speaker 4: And if you have time to look through documentaries of 262 00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:01,640 Speaker 4: the nuclear legacy, you will see a port where the 263 00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:04,760 Speaker 4: commander or commodore, his name was Ben Wyatt. He was 264 00:16:04,800 --> 00:16:07,760 Speaker 4: sitting down and asking the chief at that time, can 265 00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:10,280 Speaker 4: we use this island for the good of mankind? And 266 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:15,640 Speaker 4: in response the people all respond in unison elman, which 267 00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:20,120 Speaker 4: means okay. And from their testimonies, they had to take 268 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:24,880 Speaker 4: that shot over forty times to make sure that, you know, 269 00:16:24,920 --> 00:16:27,040 Speaker 4: they all said emmin at the same time, to get 270 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:30,480 Speaker 4: the best shot they could for you know, maybe for 271 00:16:30,720 --> 00:16:33,720 Speaker 4: reports to the UN. But it was a very frustrating 272 00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:34,480 Speaker 4: time for them. 273 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:39,680 Speaker 1: Following their removal, the testing began. The idea was to 274 00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:43,040 Speaker 1: test nuclear bombs on ships, so the US bought ninety 275 00:16:43,080 --> 00:16:47,360 Speaker 1: five ships fully loaded with weapons and fuel. At this time, 276 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:50,160 Speaker 1: this would have ranked the Navy of Bikini Toll just 277 00:16:50,200 --> 00:16:53,120 Speaker 1: outside the top five biggest fleets in the world, but 278 00:16:53,200 --> 00:17:09,080 Speaker 1: those boats didn't stay afloat for long. Now you might 279 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:12,440 Speaker 1: think that, given the testing was on ships, the atoll's 280 00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:15,000 Speaker 1: navy would be some kind of mid century Mary Celeste, 281 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:20,960 Speaker 1: but you'd be wrong. Three hundred and fifty experimental rats, goats, 282 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:24,760 Speaker 1: and pigs died in the service as its strange nuclear experiment, 283 00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:28,399 Speaker 1: some of them after being subjected to the great indignity 284 00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:32,360 Speaker 1: of being covered in sunscreen, which bizarrely scientists thought might 285 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:36,400 Speaker 1: be useful in alleviating the impact of radiation. It's rather 286 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:39,639 Speaker 1: staggering that this research was being done three years after 287 00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:43,000 Speaker 1: the United States dropped nuclear bombs on whole cities full 288 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:46,680 Speaker 1: of human beings. But as you've maybe already picked up 289 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:50,359 Speaker 1: in this story, the possibility of unintended but entirely predictable 290 00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:52,399 Speaker 1: human suffering does not seem to have been top of 291 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:57,199 Speaker 1: the priority list. The first test of the island somehow misfired. 292 00:17:57,960 --> 00:18:00,600 Speaker 1: The gathered press were disappointed in many of them went home, 293 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:06,400 Speaker 1: but the second code, named Baker didn't. Chemist Glen t. Seborg, 294 00:18:06,960 --> 00:18:10,320 Speaker 1: the longest serving chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, called 295 00:18:10,320 --> 00:18:14,080 Speaker 1: the Baker test the world's first nuclear disaster. It drove 296 00:18:14,119 --> 00:18:16,920 Speaker 1: a two thousand foot wide pillar of water into the air. 297 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:21,359 Speaker 1: It sunk the USS Arkansas and released massive amounts of 298 00:18:21,440 --> 00:18:24,560 Speaker 1: radiation across the islands of the atoll, which at the 299 00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:28,960 Speaker 1: time the residents had been expecting to return to. Just 300 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:32,119 Speaker 1: five days after the first bomb went off, Louis Road, 301 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:35,760 Speaker 1: a French mechanical engineer who was working as manager of 302 00:18:35,800 --> 00:18:39,679 Speaker 1: his mother's lingerie shop in Paris, introduced a new swimsuit 303 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:44,160 Speaker 1: designed named the Bikini after the atoll. It was one 304 00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:49,480 Speaker 1: wright equipped the atom bomb of fashion. The people of 305 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:52,840 Speaker 1: the atoll, however, gained little from the outfit or the testing. 306 00:18:54,080 --> 00:18:57,159 Speaker 1: January of nineteen forty eight, just two years after their removal, 307 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:02,159 Speaker 1: doctor Leonard Mason visited the Bikini Rongrik and was appalled 308 00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:04,480 Speaker 1: to find the people there had almost starved to death. 309 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:09,280 Speaker 1: We were dying, but they didn't listen to us, one 310 00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:12,879 Speaker 1: of them, said to him. Mason, an anthropologist at the 311 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:16,760 Speaker 1: University of WAYI asked that food and water be bought immediately. 312 00:19:18,119 --> 00:19:21,919 Speaker 1: The US built houses for Bikini Atol residents on Ujilangatoll, 313 00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:25,280 Speaker 1: but it decided to use these for the residents of 314 00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:28,320 Speaker 1: Aniwata Katoll, where it was also about to begin conducting 315 00:19:28,359 --> 00:19:33,199 Speaker 1: nuclear experiments. Instead, the Bikini Islanders were placed in tents 316 00:19:33,359 --> 00:19:37,760 Speaker 1: alongside a runway before they eventually chose Kille Island, a 317 00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:41,120 Speaker 1: line of less than one square kilometer, as their next home. 318 00:19:43,680 --> 00:19:49,040 Speaker 1: Also evacuated where Anewatak, Wrongalap, and Wathaw Islanders. They too 319 00:19:49,080 --> 00:19:51,280 Speaker 1: thought this was a temporary arrangement and that they could 320 00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:54,720 Speaker 1: go home in a short period of time. They too 321 00:19:54,760 --> 00:19:58,080 Speaker 1: found out later that this was not the case. Over 322 00:19:58,119 --> 00:20:00,960 Speaker 1: the course of their exile, they've been moved several more times, 323 00:20:00,960 --> 00:20:04,720 Speaker 1: staffed half to death, cheated their compensation, and stripped to 324 00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:09,240 Speaker 1: their ancestral homeland. For the next twelve years, the United 325 00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:13,520 Speaker 1: States would drop increasingly large bombs, culminating in nineteen fifty 326 00:20:13,520 --> 00:20:17,400 Speaker 1: four with the Bravo Shot of Operation Castle, also known 327 00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:20,879 Speaker 1: as Castle Bravo, the biggest nuclear device that we know 328 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:22,520 Speaker 1: of the US ever deploying. 329 00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:26,600 Speaker 4: Within those twelve years, there were sixty seven known devices 330 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:29,119 Speaker 4: that were tested here. There could have been more, but 331 00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:32,400 Speaker 4: all we know of is sixty seven. One of them 332 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:37,560 Speaker 4: was the Castle Bravo shat that yielded fifteen megatons, which, 333 00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:43,480 Speaker 4: when scientists calculated the equivalent of the Bravo shat would 334 00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:47,280 Speaker 4: have required testing the Hiroshima bomb one and a half 335 00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:50,080 Speaker 4: times every single day for twelve years. 336 00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:54,320 Speaker 1: That fifteen megaton Bravo shot yielded more than two point 337 00:20:54,359 --> 00:20:57,760 Speaker 1: five times the estimated six megaton explosion. When it was 338 00:20:57,800 --> 00:21:01,919 Speaker 1: detonated on an artificial island in the Aichinia Toll, the 339 00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:05,919 Speaker 1: device's mushroom cloud reached a height of forty seven thousand feet, 340 00:21:06,119 --> 00:21:09,480 Speaker 1: which is fourteen hundred meters, and a diameter of seven 341 00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:13,399 Speaker 1: miles or eleven kilometers in about one minute. Eventually it 342 00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:16,520 Speaker 1: reached a height of forty kilometers and a diameter of 343 00:21:16,560 --> 00:21:20,640 Speaker 1: one hundred kilometers. This took less than ten minutes, traveled 344 00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:23,879 Speaker 1: more than one hundred meters per second, and covered seven 345 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:27,199 Speaker 1: thousand kilometers of the Pacific Ocean and everything in it 346 00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:31,560 Speaker 1: with nuclear fallout. On the eve of the Bravo shot, 347 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:35,920 Speaker 1: weather reports indicated that the quote conditions were getting less favorable, 348 00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:38,960 Speaker 1: but nonetheless the decision to go ahead with the first 349 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:43,760 Speaker 1: test was taken by to Alvin Sea Graves jointed task 350 00:21:43,840 --> 00:21:47,800 Speaker 1: for seven ships located thirty miles east of Bikini and 351 00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:51,160 Speaker 1: what was thought to be an upwin position began detecting 352 00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:54,000 Speaker 1: high levels of radiation just two hours after the test. 353 00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:58,240 Speaker 1: Very soon after, they began traveling south at full speed 354 00:21:58,240 --> 00:22:02,280 Speaker 1: to avoid the fallout, but directly down window the blast 355 00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:05,400 Speaker 1: and unable to travel wrong. A lap and a Lingena 356 00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:09,760 Speaker 1: Atolls Arianna explained the impact to fall out there, which 357 00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:13,440 Speaker 1: residents were not warned about. American service people there want 358 00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:17,080 Speaker 1: to stay inside, not eat or drink anything, but no 359 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:19,600 Speaker 1: such warning was given to the local residents. 360 00:22:19,960 --> 00:22:23,800 Speaker 4: Some said it looked like the sky was changing colors 361 00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:26,119 Speaker 4: from red to yellow to orange. It was just a 362 00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:29,960 Speaker 4: very very bright morning and then they started hearing like 363 00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:32,679 Speaker 4: thunderous roars a couple of minutes later, and it was 364 00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:35,680 Speaker 4: just like roars after Wars. And it was a very 365 00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:39,919 Speaker 4: frightening time because this was just not something you know, 366 00:22:40,119 --> 00:22:43,800 Speaker 4: does not happen every day. And then around ten am, 367 00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:48,280 Speaker 4: the fallout had started to arrive. And these are accounts 368 00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:50,800 Speaker 4: from ronlap at All, which is the closest to Bikini. 369 00:22:51,359 --> 00:22:54,359 Speaker 4: The fallout had started to arrive and they were not 370 00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:57,600 Speaker 4: sure what was going on. There was men out fishing. 371 00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:03,879 Speaker 4: There was also stories these witnesses that prior to this 372 00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:09,080 Speaker 4: test the military had gone to and they had movie 373 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:13,000 Speaker 4: nights and they would show the community of movies where 374 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:13,680 Speaker 4: it's snowing. 375 00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:17,480 Speaker 1: Tomorrow, we'll hear more about the consequences of the Bravo 376 00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:20,439 Speaker 1: shop for the people who, despite never having any quarrel 377 00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:23,479 Speaker 1: with the USA, with the recipient of the largest nuclear 378 00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:51,760 Speaker 1: bomb it's ever decimated. It Could Happen Here as a 379 00:23:51,760 --> 00:23:54,600 Speaker 1: production of cool Zone Media. For more podcasts from cool 380 00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:57,520 Speaker 1: Zone Media, visit our website cool zonemedia dot com, or 381 00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:00,240 Speaker 1: check us out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 382 00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:03,280 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to podcasts. You can find sources for 383 00:24:03,320 --> 00:24:06,640 Speaker 1: It Could Happen Here, updated monthly at coolzonemedia dot com 384 00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:07,719 Speaker 1: slash sources. 385 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:08,600 Speaker 4: Thanks for listening.