Writeside Review: The Atomic Duty of Pvt. Bill Bires

Decades of harmful radiation in the Nevada desert.

U.S. government nuclear-weapons testing in, over and under the Nevada desert occurred frequently throughout the 1950s and 1960s, and concerns have periodically been raised about the health consequences for Army personnel and civilians exposed to radiation from the blasts. Yet nothing much has ever been done to address these concerns, or to sustain public attention. Grossly deceptive press releases, noting the strict safety precautions supposedly in effect, were generally issued by the Atomic Energy Commission prior to each test, and public or press inquiries which occasionally arose were deflected with similar assurances. (Inquires have also been stonewalled—in recent years, government information from the tests has been reported as "lost.") Now a veteran from that era, an Army private who served in "Exercise Desert Rock" in the fall of 1951, has launched a Web site detailing his experiences.

"The Atomic Duty of Pvt. Bill Bires" is comprised of photographs, duty descriptions and other declassified documents, and Bires' own narrative concerning the events at Desert Rock. The site was assembled with the help of one Keith Whittle, who, as a child, witnessed (and never forgot) a nuclear explosion while on vacation with his family in the desert. Whittle, too, has put up a Nevada Proving Ground-related site; both it and the Bires site have been covered in a recent Wired story.

The Bires site makes one thing immediately clear: these tests were not safe. Along with a number of more prosaic duties, Bires' unit—the 231st Engineers Combat Battalion, out of Ft. Lewis, Washington—was responsible for clearing and "restoring" the detonation area after each nuclear blast. These men were sometimes sent to Ground Zero within hours of the explosion, wearing nothing more than Army regulation gear. Small wonder that Bires has developed serious health problems, or that most of the men from his unit are now dead.

Yet we question how much impact either site will ultimately have. The plight of the "atomic veterans" does carry some added resonance today, due to the similarity of their situation with that of the Gulf War veterans who have fallen ill and now charge a government coverup (information has been "lost" in this instance, as well). But 1951 (1957, in the case of Whittle's site) was a long time ago. Apart from coverage on a couple of "liberal" Web sites, can Bires or Whittle seriously expect to engage or sustain public attention?

Well, you and other "Netizens" will ultimately decide. Neither of these sites is particularly striking in its presentation or design, and this will not be helpful in attracting a broad audience. But "The Atomic Duty of Pvt. Bill Bires" does achieve a certain cumulative power simply by virtue of its content, and (as Wired points out) through its juxtaposition of the surrealistic bomb photos with Bires' flat narrative. We hope it's enough to make some kind of difference.

(Reviewed March 11, 1997)

Photo: "Easy shot" detonation, Nevada Proving Ground, Nov. 5, 1951 (Defense Special Weapons Agency).
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