2009.05.01: May 1, 2009: Headlines: COS - Micronesia: COS - Samoa: Safety: PCOL Exclusive: Samoa RPCV Michael L. Driscoll writes: Have French Atomic Tests in the Pacific put Peace Corps Volunteers at Risk?

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Samoa: Peace Corps Samoa : Peace Corps Samoa: Newest Stories: 2009.05.01: May 1, 2009: Headlines: COS - Micronesia: COS - Samoa: Safety: PCOL Exclusive: Samoa RPCV Michael L. Driscoll writes: Have French Atomic Tests in the Pacific put Peace Corps Volunteers at Risk?

By Admin1 (admin) (151.196.166.175) on Sunday, May 24, 2009 - 1:00 pm: Edit Post

Samoa RPCV Michael L. Driscoll writes: Have French Atomic Tests in the Pacific put Peace Corps Volunteers at Risk?

Samoa RPCV Michael L. Driscoll writes: Have French Atomic Tests in the Pacific put Peace Corps Volunteers at Risk?

In the Summers of 1973-1974, the French did 12 Atomic Tests in French Polynesian atolls, in the atmosphere, at elevations of around 800 to 1200 feet in the air. I served in Western Samoa, from February 19, 1973 until November 14, 1974, as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I went through the 3 months of Peace Corps Training in country, Western Samoa, and upon graduation, was assigned the the Department of Education, and the Teachers Training College, in Apia, Western Samoa, as a Math Instructor. I was in Group 11. As I am writing this today, I am not able to say with certainty, that we were aware of the French doing their Atomic Testing in the French Polynesian Islands, to our West and South. I do know that I had some unexplained skin issues that came to my attention in the Fall, 1974, and when I went to the Peace Corps Nurse, she could not tell me what it was on my stomach, arms, and legs. The appearance was concentric, and just red circles, and while I was in the hot and humid climate of Western Samoa, the condition was that if one were to put a finger on my stomach, which had a redness and exposed blood vessels, about 2" in diameter, the finger would show blood on the end of it.

For 30 years I thought that I had psoriasis; but, in May, 2004, I went to a dermatologist in Spokane, Washington, and he said I had EAC, Erthyma Annulare Centrifugum, and also said that the doctor in 1974 probably didn't know about EAC, as it has some characteristics like psoriasis. I also developed a thyroid condition in 1999, and have been taking a morning thryoid pill since, and will for the rest of my life, take this 75 mg Synthroid pill.

I personally believe it was the French Atomic Tests that were putting me and all of the other Pacific Islanders at risk, as these tests were in the atmosphere. When I was in Western Samoa, the population was about 150,000 Samoans, of which about 3500 caucasions and other nationalities were present on the Islands. I am unaware of anyone serving in the Peace Corps at the time, nor am I aware of any Samoans, who were experiencing skin issues while I was, when I was there in 1973-1974. There are many thousands of Islanders, in a radius of 1000 or more miles from the French Polynesian atolls, that may be having health issues.


Samoa RPCV Michael L. Driscoll writes: Have French Atomic Tests in the Pacific put Peace Corps Volunteers at Risk?

Michael L. Driscoll writes: Did French Atomic Tests put Micronesia PCVs at Risk?

Caption: An atomic bomb is tested at Muruoa Atoll in French Polynesia in 1970.

French Atomic Testing in the Pacific in 1973 and 1974

There were 210 French Atomic/Nuclear Tests during the 36 year period from 1960 to 1996. There were 41 atmospheric nuclear tests were conducted at Mururoa between 1966 and 1974. The first nuclear test at Mururoa was conducted on July 2, 1966. Most of these tests were conducted on the western end of the atoll designated as Dindon. Smaller shots were fired on the northern end of the atoll designated as Denise. Three nuclear devices were detonated on barges, three were air dropped from bombers, and the rest were suspended from helium filled balloons.

In March, 2009 the French Minister of Defence, Herve Morin, told reporters an initial 10 million euros has been earmarked for the program of compensation for the areas where the French did their testing, in the French Polynesian atolls in the Central Pacific, the Sahara, and in Algeria,were there tests were conducted.

An independent commission of doctors will examine existing and future claims, including those concerning "moral or aesthetic" damage, Morin told the news conference. To see more on the French tests and compensation articles, over 2,200, listed on Google, go to the Google search engine, and enter: French Atomic Tests 1960-1996, and press ENTER.

My Peace Corps Service in Western Samoa

I served in Western Samoa, from February 19, 1973 until November 14, 1974, as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I went through the 3 months of Peace Corps Training in country, Western Samoa, and upon graduation, was assigned the the Department of Education, and the Teachers Training College, in Apia, Western Samoa, as a Math Instructor. I was in Group 11.

In the Summers of 1973-1974, the French did 12 Atomic Tests in French Polynesian atolls, in the atmosphere, at elevations of around 800 to 1200 feet in the air. As I am writing this today, I am not able to say with certainty, that we were aware of the French doing their Atomic Testing in the French Polynesian Islands, to our West and South. I do know that I had some unexplained skin issues that came to my attention in the Fall, 1974, and when I went to the Peace Corps Nurse, she could not tell me what it was on my stomach, arms, and legs.

My Medical Condition

The appearance was concentric, and just red circles, and while I was in the hot and humid climate of Western Samoa, the condition was that if one were to put a finger on my stomach, which had a redness and exposed blood vessels, about 2" in diameter, the finger would show blood on the end of it. During my medical check out, I went to Trippler Army Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii, and I asked an Army Lt. Col., Doctor if he could tell me what it was on my stomach and other parts of my body. He took a scraping, and looking into a microscope, he determined that it was psoriasis.

So, for 30 years I thought that I had psoriasis; but, in May, 2004, I went to a dermatologist in Spokane, Washington, and he said I had EAC, Erthyma Annulare Centrifugum, and also said that the doctor in 1974 probably didn't know about EAC, as it has some characteristics like psoriasis. I also developed a thyroid condition in 1999, and have been taking a morning thryoid pill since, and will for the rest of my life, take this 75 mg Synthroid pill.

Background

For a long time I wondered if there was a relationship between my serving in the U.S. Navy, from June, 1960 until April, 1964. I went aboard the USS Yorktown, CVS 10 ship in March, 1962. In Late April, 1962 and early May, 1962 our ship was assigned to be a part of Operation Dominic 1, with the Joint Task Force Eight, and we participated in 2 Open Ocean Atomic Tests in the Pacific Ocean, 370 Nautical Miles off the coast of San Diego, California. The first of the two tests was conducted on May 6, 1962, called Frigate Bird. The Nuclear Submarine USS Ethan Allen, SSBN-608, while submerged, shot a Polaris Missile, with a Nuclear War Head, up from the Pacific Ocean, and went to an altitude of 400 miles, and pointed toward Christmas Island, went South and West, 1020 miles, and exploded at 11,000 feet; at 4 degrees 50 minutes North, and 149 degrees 25 minutes West. Since we were Not in the vacinity of the explosion, our ships were not exposed to any radiation from that detonation.

On May 11, 1962 a second Open Ocean Atomic Test, called Swordfish, took place where 15 US Ships were in the vacinity of the detonation. The USS Agerholm, DD 826, fired an Anti-submarine Rocket, from the water surface toward a raft over 4,000 yards away, and the rocket, with an Atomic warhead went into the water, and exploded at a depth of 650 feet, in the Pacific Waters that were 17,140 feet deep. Within 16 seconds the exploding bubble of water rose 2100 feet in the air, and was 3000 feet in diameter. My ship, the USS Yorktown, was 9,850 yards, [5.6 miles] from surface zero. We had on that day 2,347 men on the ship. I found the Operation Dominic 1 document, with 440 pages, that was written on February 1, 1983, that is now declassified, and that is how I was able to determine the above, and more, information on that test that day. There were 36 Atomic Tests in Operation Dominic 1, in the Pacific Ocean, from April to November, 1962; and there was another 69 Atomic Tests being held at the Nevada Test Site during this same 1962 year, for a total of 105 Atomic Tests.

Conclusions

I personally believe it was the French Atomic Tests that were putting me and all of the other Pacific Islanders at risk, as these tests were in the atmosphere. When I was in Western Samoa, the population was about 150,000 Samoans, of which about 3500 caucasions and other nationalities were present on the Islands. I am unaware of anyone serving in the Peace Corps at the time, nor am I aware of any Samoans, who were experiencing skin issues while I was, when I was there in 1973-1974. There are many thousands of Islanders, in a radius of 1000 or more miles from the French Polynesian atolls, that may be having health issues.

Next Steps

What is missing in the information is the Contact Person to obtain a form to file a claim. If anyone reading this has a clue on how to obtain this form, please leave a message below so that other RPCV's who may have been serving in the areas, listed above, during the French Atomic Tests can be made aware.

Here is my direction on this project. I am trying to determine a number of things: I have no knowledge of any of the PCV's when I was in Western Samoa, now known as Samoa, since 1997 when they changed the name of their country, if they had health issues; nor do I know if any of the Samoans had any health issues. So, if any of the RPCV's from Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, and the other small islands in our South Pacific area had any health issues. I don't know if any of the South Pacific Islanders are aware of the information on the French willing to set aside 10 million euros for health issues manifesting themselves of the 210 atmospheric atomic tests in our area: French Polynesian Islands; nor do I know if any RPCV's in the area of Algeria, or Sahara were affected by the Atomic Tests. I don't know if the French, if any RPCV came to them, the Ministry of Defence, and said: I would like to apply for a claim as I think I was impacted by your atomic tests in such and such a year. I have no idea whether the French would listen or just laugh and pay no more attention.

I have a lot of questions, but first we need to see if any RPCV's can relate to this problem of atomic testing.

If someone reading this has a friend in France, could you ask them to call this telephone number: 011 33 810 007 025 I received this number from the reporter, in France, who wrote an article, his name is:

Marco Chown OVED
journaliste - service anglais

Radio France Internationale
116, avenue du Président-Kennedy
75762 Paris cedex 16
France

If you have any additional information please contact me or post it below. Thank you for your attention.


Michael L. Driscoll
RPCV, Western Samoa, Group 11,
now residing in Spokane, WA
Contact: 800-835-9777 or mldriscoll@adspec-spokane.com



Links to Related Topics (Tags):

Headlines: May, 2009; Peace Corps Micronesia; Directory of Micronesia RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Micronesia RPCVs; Peace Corps Samoa; Directory of Samoa RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Samoa RPCVs; Safety and Security of Volunteers





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