History+Detective-+Bikini+Atoll+ER

=Bikini Atoll= Bang! One big bang - along with many other big bangs - that will change the world forever. The power of the atomic bomb and the United States is now even more well known to the world. The setting of these explosions is at the Marshall Islands in 1946, right after WWII. It seems a curious thing that there would be many explosions right after a war ends, but there was a reason for them: the U.S. wanted to test bombs. The reasons for testing these bombs are a little complex, but what wasn't complex was the thoughts from the Americans of how the bombs might effect the natives, the islands surrounding the bombs, and the American soldiers. At the end of WWII, the Americans captured the Marshall Islands, which consisted of many smaller islands and atolls, from the Japanese. After the war, the Americans found it to be very important that they continue testing atomic bombs and tested the H-Bomb for the first time. In an article written about the Bikini Atoll it says, "Immediately after the war, the United States selected Bikini Atoll as the ideal spot for continuing its bomb tests. The military governor of the Marshall Islnads, Navy Commodore Ben Wyatt, approached the Bikini Community - 167 people - in February 1946, requesting that they leave the island so that Operation Crossroads could redirect atomic energy for the good of mankind and to end all world wars." (Guyer) The atoll that the majority of the testing of the bombs was done on was the Bikini Atoll, but there was also some testing done on the Enewetak Atoll. Between 1946 and 1958 there were 67 nuclear tests performed. As mentioned above, these tests were done in hopes of stopping all world wars; but, they were also done to prove just how powerful the atomic bomb could be by exploding it in water with many ships in the water, and to prepare for the Cold War as the Soviet Union was preparing bombs for the same war. In 1963, the testing of these bombs came to an end as the Soviet Union and the U.S. signed a test ban treaty to stop atmospheric testing. Dretin Jokdru, the traditional leader of the Bikini said, "[Before the Americans and other foreigners came to Bikini,] we lived together in harmony, as if we were one person. .. Being together was the most important thing, taking care of ourselves and our children and making sure that we were leading good lives. During those times it was almost as if the future was unimportant, not like today." (Niedenthal) But this peaceful way of life for the Bikini went away as the Germans began to control them. Eventually though, the Americans stepped in and the Bikini were very greatful for that. After a year or so, the Americans asked the Bikini to move to a different Atoll in order for them to do testing on the Bikini Atoll because it was ideal for their bomb testing. The island was very secluded and offered sufficient space for their work. The Bikini didn't really know how to say no to the Americans, so they moved in hopes of moving back to Bikini Atoll quickly. But the Americans stayed on the Atoll for 12 years; during this time, they didn't keep as good of care of the Bikini as they said they would. The Bikini people began to starve to death and couldn't each much of the island food as much of it had too much radiation from the bombs, and the U.S. didn't send enough food. Even after the testing was over with, the problems weren't necessarily gone. "The United States stopped atmospheric testing in 1958 and signed a test ban treaty with the Soviet Union in 1963. But that did not stop the radioactivity already unleashed from continuing to cause harm. It is all very nice ... by a stroke of the pen ... to absolve our radiologic sins, but somehow I do not believe that overexposures are washed away by edict." (Guyer) The radiation from the bombs harmed both the soldiers, the islands, and the people on the islands. Many suffered from radiation poisoning and died early from it. The United States also didn't do very well on the clean up of the islands. After the testing, some of the Bikini moved back to the islands, only to be greater harmed by the radiation as the U.S. hadn't fully tested it yet. The Bikini said, "How were we supposed to think about this? We are not scientists, we did not go to big schools to get educated. We expected America to tell us the truth about Bikini. These were scientists and the President of the United States that were telling us that Bikini was safe... And they were wrong." To this day, Bikini and the other islands still have too much radiation on them. They still aren't safe to live on, but some people still do. The U.S. owed the Bikini billions of dollars after all of this to cover the costs of everything, which they have failed to pay. But the Bikini have been very grateful for all the money that they have received from the U.S. All in all, the studies from Bikini Atoll may have been beneficial to research on bombs and the efforts towards getting rid of the use of them, but they have caused many problems to people, and precious land. The harm done to so many people was the biggest price to pay for the bomb testing, and that price was not worth paying.

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