Maui Peace Action and the Hiroshima / Nagasaki Remembrance Committee will present the award-winning documentary “Nuclear Savage – the Islands of Secret Project 4.1” about the tragic results of multiple nuclear tests conducted in what was a Pacific paradise, the Marshall Islands. The public is invited to the free showing at the Wailuku Library at 5:30 pm Thursday, April 14.
The shocking film by Adam Horowitz reveals, through declassified film footage and government documents, the human radiation experiments kept top secret by the US government for decades. Many of these were obtained by Tony DeBrum, minister of foreign affairs in the Marshallese government at the time of filming and a child witness to many of the explosions.
In 1954 the hydrogen bomb blast named “Bravo” sent fallout over several islands, especially severely impacting the people of Rongelap who were not evacuated, nor told of the need to, during more than 2 full days of exposure. In 1957 they were told it was safe and moved back to their island where they resided, fished and farmed on one of the most intensely radiated places on earth until finally being rescued by a Greenpeace ship 28 years later. These people, who have suffered high rates of cancer and birth defects, have been intensely studied by US scientists during their lifetimes as have even their bodies, after death.
The government of the Marshall Islands received a settlement of 150 million dollars for the total damage to land the people from the devastation of 67 nuclear bomb tests but is suing for more realistic compensation. The Marshallese people, being part of the Compact of Free Association of the Trust Territories of the Pacific have the right to immigrate to the US and are represented by populations on all the Hawaiian Islands where many have sought medical care related to radiation exposure.
John Dear wrote in the Oct. 30, 2012, National Catholic Reporter, “Nuclear Savage” is one of the most powerful films I have ever seen. I urge everyone who cares about our world to see it. We may feel powerless to do anything, but we need to learn about the evil our nation has done and hear the testimony of the powerless victims of our nuclear savagery.”1
According to the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation which made the film available on Maui, although commissioned by PBS and advertised for broadcast by network affiliates, the film has been abruptly pulled before each scheduled airing and has never been shown on U.S. television. Nuclear Savage has won numerous awards at film festivals around the world and has been shown frequently on Marshall Islands television.2
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1 National Catholic Report, 10/30/12 http://ncronline.org/blogs/road-peace/nuclear-savage-powerful-new-documentary-us-hydrogen-bombs
2Nuclear Age Peace Foundation https://www.wagingpeace.org/nuclear-savage-a-free-film-screening/
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