ATOMIC VETERANS
JIM MC GOVERN
For the last 10 years, I’ve been fighting for proper recognition for a special group of soldiers known as atomic veterans. These veterans participated in hundreds of atmospheric nuclear weapons tests and were placed in extremely dangerous areas. They were constantly exposed to radiation in performance of their duties.
Sworn to secrecy, they could not even speak of their service to their doctors as many saw their health deteriorate. To date, 80% of atomic veterans have passed away—yet the Pentagon has never formally honored them with the recognition they deserve.
Last month, we finally made progress. Atomic veterans will soon be able to receive a commemorative service medal to honor their sacrifices and bravery.
Take a look at how we got here:
In 2014, I met with Joe Mondello, a constituent and atomic veteran, and after hearing his story I filed the Atomic Veterans Service Medal Act with my good friend, the late Walter Jones, a Republican from North Carolina.
In 2017,I reintroduced the bill with Republican Tom Emmer of Minnesota. We successfully secured passage through the House of Representatives defense authorization process numerous times, but the service medals were repeatedly blocked in the United States Senate.
In 2020,I successfully secured a feasibility report through the National Defense Authorization Act and $4 million for the creation and distribution of the service medal through the appropriations process and wrote to President Biden urging him to quickly recognize atomic veterans.
Now, thanks to our advocacy and work, the Department of Defense just informed us that a commemorative service medal is in the works.
So what happens next? The Secretary of Defense has 180 days after enactment to determine eligibility requirements for the medal and the Armed Services Committee will get it 60 days before for comment. I’ll be writing a letter to the Secretary of Defense to make sure all cohorts of radiation-exposed veterans are eligible and will push for a ceremony to honor the atomic vets when the medal is created.
It has been a long, uphill climb to get this done, and there were moments where I wasn’t sure that it was going to happen. I’m glad that our persistence paid off, grateful to the Biden administration for helping us get this done, and proud that we did it with bipartisan support along the way.
Yours in Service,
