Atomic Veterans talk after 50 Years (video)

[DennisN]

This is one of the most powerful and incredible short movies I have ever seen.
(I got the link to it from a friend today.)

It contains clips of interviews of American soldiers who were exposed to real nuclear detonations.
What they have to say is terrifying, intense and important.

That's all I can say at the moment, so I let the people in the video speak for themselves:

Atomic Veterans Were Silenced for 50 Years. Now, They're Talking.
(from The Atlantic, published on May 27, 2019)

"After more than four decades of forced silence, some of the last surviving atomic soldiers share their unfathomable experiences of the atomic bomb tests in the 1950s.

"The Atomic Soldiers" was directed by Morgan Knibbe. It is a part of The Atlantic Selects, an online showcase of short documentaries from independent creators, curated by The Atlantic. "


An article about it:
http://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/590299/atomic-soldiers/

 

[jedishrfu]

This is very hard to watch. I could feel the sadness in these soldiers eyes. It reminded me that there are so many stories where national security interests trample an individual's health or privacy rights.

Apparently to some, being in the military means you give up all rights of being a human being.

 

[pinball1970]

What did they hope to learn from putting men that close? They already new the destructive power and the effect on the body from Japan.
Horrific.

 

[jedishrfu]

What did they hope to learn from putting men that close? They already new the destructive power and the effect on the body from Japan.
Horrific.

They wanted to see how the troops would hold up in that kind of situation protected by a trench and perhaps later they could engineer better clothing protection.

There was a fictional movie with Mathew Broderick called Project X where he is made into a chimp pilot trainer. Later he discovers that the project is to see how long a chimp can pilot an aircraft when exposed to large doses of radiation To get an curate idea of how long a human will pilot a bomber in a second strike scenario.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_X_(1987_film)
While fictional, it’s believable that some scientists might try to do this and further believable why earlier scientists might use human subjects to further their research in an ends justify the means argument ala losing a few lives here to save many lives there.

There were other terrible science experiments during the world wars in testing the efficacy of gas masks and use of bio agents in warfare on all sides. In one case, Black American soldiers were used to test the dispersal of viral agents using a non lethal but debilitating virus on unsuspecting subjects.

 

[pinball1970]

They wanted to see how the troops would hold up in that kind of situation protected by a trench and perhaps later they could engineer better clothing protection.

There was a fictional movie with Mathew Broderick called Project X where he is made into a chimp pilot trainer. Later he discovers that the project is to see how long a chimp can pilot an aircraft when exposed to large doses of radiation To get an curate idea of how long a human will pilot a bomber in a second strike scenario.

I've seen some footage of troops that have were given LSD then given basic drills to do but this something else.
Exposure to that much radiation and heat undoubtedly shortened their lives and 50 years on they can barely articulate what happened to them.
Very moving and shocking.