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‘,Dr. Still and I met with Col. Howell to discuss the status of his efforts ““,in folloving up the 28 airmen exposed to 7S cads whole body clc13e on “’Rongerilc following the Harc!l 1, 1954 detonation on Bilcini. He cold us ~;’;tions carried out an them. #bouk ten mm had more or less dropped out ‘-’had at S05$2 the siade l*claimslfon the Veterans Adminiscracion and the .. VA, the’rcfore%had Ecdical and other records on them; the records ware not neceseasily current. toward tilese men but felt that there SXISL be a balance between sechg ‘that they got g~oper medical supcrvi~ion as against converting them into and indicated that he woulti li’koco vi-sitBrookhavea wi>en it became then se-e that b and Dr. Conard became better acquainted by telephone. ‘Rae idea of this was to withdraw IBM to the si’deli.ne:3,leaving the principals to work together. I have sent Col. Howell & copy of”ay letter$to Dr. Conard, dated Jau=y 12, 1’371,describing the understandings 1 iitiiiai~ived at with i3ASAand the VA, giving special attention to the ethical consideracion~ chat ni~ht apply to Conardts examination of these people. Before leaving, Dr. Still and I asked if he had any plans for the larger number of aircrafc pilots who flew thiOUgtl clouds of fallout collectfn~ aer~al ~amples. Kc indicated that be had considered this but had not taken ic up because, (a) the doses were small; G) a pilot who got any kind of a olgnificant dose was gi’Jen othez duties; and {c) these were quite a large number of pilots who had been .zssignzd co other missions. On the whole his :-csponse to the pilot cwposures added up to a n~gativz.
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Marshall Island Incident on Rongerik were exposed to radiation subsequent a weather detachment unit detonation on Bikini. The best estimate of total gamma Rongerik was 78 roentgens. Following the exposure, the dose in air on men were hospitalized for an approximate eight-week period for observation and subsequently were released to duty. Since these men incurred their exposure while in service, it is more appropriate for the Air Force Surgeon General, with the assistance of the Veterans Administration, to maintain contact and follow these individuals than for the Atomic Energy Commission to do so. The Air Force Surgeon General is aware of the exposures received by the men and is aware that there may be late sequelae and has initiated an appropriate program for following these individuals.