EPISODE · Jun 1, 2026 · 59 MIN
Atomic Veterans: Delay, Deny, until they Die
from SNAFUBAR · host College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt
Welcome back to SNAFUBAR, the show about American military history and our country's national myths. Today’s episode is from our “Canary in the Coalmine series,” only today we won’t be talking about birds, but about the Atomic Era in the United States. We’ll be focusing on the Nevada Test Site and the servicemen that worked at this facility. World War II was over, but the Cold War was just getting started, and in turn, the arms race. Between 1946 to 1962, the United States conducted hundreds of nuclear detonation tests. Four hundred thousand servicemen served and worked at these facilities, sometimes at ground zero of the testing sites, with limited protective equipment. At the time, nuclear testing was projected as an endeavor necessary for keeping democracy and liberty alive across the free world. Servicemen who participated in nuclear testing during this atomic age were an instrumental part of this. However, after their service, veterans exposed to harmful levels of radiation faced many obstacles securing health benefits from the VA, an issue that persists today among the military community for a variety of different health related issues. SNAFUBAR is hosted by Sara Hart, Chair of the Applied Humanties department at Cal Poly Humboldt, and Jeff Crane who is an Environmental Historian and Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt.Research and writing for the show is done by Liam Salcuni, lecturer with the history department at Cal Poly Humboldt, and Roman Sotomayor. SNAFUBAR is produced by Abigail Smithson and brought to you by the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt.Works Cited: ACHRE Report: Chapter 10: Human Research at the Bomb TestsAndrew Bacevich, Ballpark Liturgy: America’s New Civic Religion: Cheap Grace at FenwayAtomic Veterans Were Silenced for 50 Years. Now, They're Talking.Clyde Haberman, Veterans of Atomic Test Blasts: No Warning, and Late Amends, 2016Edward Abbey Desert Solitaire Jesus Hits Like the Atom BombDepartment of Defense: Atomic Veterans Commemorative Service Medal.History of the Nevada Test Site and Nuclear Testing BackgroundHidden History: America’s Atomic VeteransJesus Hits Like An Atom Bomb National Association of Atomic Veterans: NewsletterNational Association of Atomic Veterans, Minnesota’s Atomic Veterans Day, 2021Nuclear Tourism: When Atomic Tests Were a Tourist Attraction in Las Vegas, 1950s - Rare Historical PhotosNew York State Department of Health, Radiation and HealthOperation Buster Jangle, 1951Operation Plumbbob, 1957Operation UPSHOT-KNOTHOLE, 1953Pamela Engle, America Came To A Standstill During The O.J. Verdict — Here's Everything That Stopped, 2014.Shot Hood Nuclear Test, Plumbbob series, 1957Smedley Butler, War is a Racket, 1935Tales from the Atomic Age - Pigs in Uniform | Museum of Radiation and RadioactivityThese Atomic Bomb Tests Used U.S. Troops as Guinea PigsThe Atomic Soldiers: U.S. Veterans, Used as Guinea Pigs, Break the Silence - The Atlantic"The Clan of One-Breasted Women" by Terry Tempest Williams, 1991
What this episode covers
Welcome back to SNAFUBAR, the show about American military history and our country's national myths. Today’s episode is from our “Canary in the Coalmine series,” only today we won’t be talking about birds, but about the Atomic Era in the United States. We’ll be focusing on the Nevada Test Site and the servicemen that worked at this facility. World War II was over, but the Cold War was just getting started, and in turn, the arms race. Between 1946 to 1962, the United States conducted hundreds of nuclear detonation tests. Four hundred thousand servicemen served and worked at these facilities, sometimes at ground zero of the testing sites, with limited protective equipment. At the time, nuclear testing was projected as an endeavor necessary for keeping democracy and liberty alive across the free world. Servicemen who participated in nuclear testing during this atomic age were an instrumental part of this. However, after their service, veterans exposed to harmful levels of radiation faced many obstacles securing health benefits from the VA, an issue that persists today among the military community for a variety of different health related issues. SNAFUBAR is hosted by Sara Hart, Chair of the Applied Humanties department at Cal Poly Humboldt, and Jeff Crane who is an Environmental Historian and Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt.Research and writing for the show is done by Liam Salcuni, lecturer with the history department at Cal Poly Humboldt, and Roman Sotomayor. SNAFUBAR is produced by Abigail Smithson and brought to you by the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt.Works Cited: ACHRE Report: Chapter 10: Human Research at the Bomb TestsAndrew Bacevich, Ballpark Liturgy: America’s New Civic Religion: Cheap Grace at FenwayAtomic Veterans Were Silenced for 50 Years. Now, They're Talking.Clyde Haberman, Veterans of Atomic Test Blasts: No Warning, and Late Amends, 2016Edward Abbey Desert Solitaire Jesus Hits Like the Atom BombDepartment of Defense: Atomic Veterans Commemorative Service Medal.History of the Nevada Test Site and Nuclear Testing BackgroundHidden History: America’s Atomic VeteransJesus Hits Like An Atom Bomb National Association of Atomic Veterans: NewsletterNational Association of Atomic Veterans, Minnesota’s Atomic Veterans Day, 2021Nuclear Tourism: When Atomic Tests Were a Tourist Attraction in Las Vegas, 1950s - Rare Historical PhotosNew York State Department of Health, Radiation and HealthOperation Buster Jangle, 1951Operation Plumbbob, 1957Operation UPSHOT-KNOTHOLE, 1953Pamela Engle, America Came To A Standstill During The O.J. Verdict — Here's Everything That Stopped, 2014.Shot Hood Nuclear Test, Plumbbob series, 1957Smedley Butler, War is a Racket, 1935Tales from the Atomic Age - Pigs in Uniform | Museum of Radiation and RadioactivityThese Atomic Bomb Tests Used U.S. Troops as Guinea PigsThe Atomic Soldiers: U.S. Veterans, Used as Guinea Pigs, Break the Silence - The Atlantic"The Clan of One-Breasted Women" by Terry Tempest Williams, 1991
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Atomic Veterans: Delay, Deny, until they Die
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