A bill designating July 16th as “Atomic Veterans Day” in Minnesota is headed to the governor’s desk after a unanimous vote in the Minnesota House today following similar action in the Senate. Lake Shore Representative John Poston says, “More than one million U-S veterans from all service branches were first-hand participants in nuclear weapons test detonations from July 16th, 1945 until November 23rd, 1992.” Many servicemembers exposed to radiation have experienced severe health problems and genetic mutations have appeared in their children.
A “atomic veteran” is defined as a person who in military service participated in above ground nuclear tests between 1945 and 1962, including those who were part of the U-S occupation of Hiroshima or Nagasaki after the atomic bombs were dropped, plus those held as P-O-Ws in that area.