Reader comments
A fallout over eligibility

I understand that they are checking on the cases of cancer in Utah but what about us that lived in Southern Nevada and could see the cloud and had to wear dark glasses to watch it and go behind a hill when it went off. I was born and am still living in Henderson, NV and I contracted breast cancer at 48 and noone in my family has had breast cancer. Why can't I put in for compensation. I was born in 1956 and back then and while I grew up this area and Las Vegas were far apart which meant that there was not a lot between us and the test site. I believe that the wind blew towards Henderson also and maybe that is why I got cancer when no one in my family has had it. I think this should be looked into also. Thanks for listening.

My dad worked at the test sites in the late 50's and he didnt get anything either. You would think he would get something. He is now dead from cancer. Gone at 60.

I have been fighting thyroid cancer for five years now. I lived in Salt Lake County during the testing in 1962. I was 3 1/2 years old and a big milk drinker. I am convinced this is how I got my cancer. I sure wish more counties would be added to the government compensation program. I now live in Pennsylvania and the money would at least make my four thyroid surgeries (so far) seem a bit easier to accept.

I lived in Pocatello,Idaho,(Bannock County)from 1954 to 1958. I was ages 7-11. This is a short drive to Utah, and has the same problem of not being included in RECA. A year ago, at age 59, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, one of the primary cancers caused by radiation exposure. I have had surgery and I-131 treatment. My Endocrinologist says I am cured, but I am partly waiting for the other shoe to drop. I am shocked that the idyllic childhood I had in Idaho has turned into a cancer nightmate because of the proximity to the atomic testing blasts in the 1950s.

I am doing a research paper for college on Downwinders. If any of you people want to get back to me with any info you have that would be great. This is a very serious issue, and that is why I have chose to write about it. Contact me if you have any suggestions, or direction I should go with it.

My father was a Chemist in the Army at Dugway proving grounds in the 50's. He moved to Las Vegas in 1957 and went to work for TIMET. He was never sick a day in his life until in his late 50's he contracted tongue cancer. He never smoked or used any form of tobacco. Toole county is not one of the counties eligible for compensation. Come on you don't have to be a genius to figure out that Dugway was manufacturing the chemicals used at the test site. I was born here in Henderson in 1960 and have joked in the past that I probably glowed in the dark from the radiation. Now it has hit home. I am just waiting for the shoe to fall on me next.

Senators from Idaho and Montana are trying to pass legislation to amend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to include all of Idaho and Montana. Why in the world isn't anyone from Utah part of this group to include the rest of Utah. There is no history of cancer in my family but two out of four brothers got a cancer found mainly in Chinese men from mainland China. Needless to say there is no Asian heritage in my family. Come on Utah, let's get with the program.

From ~1951-1954 (in my third through first half of fifth grades), my family lived in Fallon, Nevada, seat of Churchill County. We spent time in Las Vegas and traveling throughout the State during those years. Then 1954-1955 our family lived in Denver, Colorado, before living in Hawaii for the next three years.

In 1993, my mother was diagnosed with a B-cell non-Hodgkins lymphoma (NHL). In 2004 I was diagnosed with a rare NHL blood cancer (Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia); in 2007 I was diagnosed with bladder cancer; this Spring two "somethings" that we are monitoring were imaged on my thyroid; this Friday I am going to have excisional biopsies of two breast lumps. It's difficult for me to believe that just because I did not reside in the listed RECA counties that I was not effected by all the fallout! So much cancer in one little body! I hope that justice for people like me will soon be meted out! Thank you!

My father was a US Marine and was at the Neveda test site in the early 50s. Mom and Dad grew up together, and Mom said he was never the same when he came home from the service. He lacked the energy, always seemed to be tired. Dad died at 60 from heart problems, he also suffered from kidney stones, diabetes, low blood platelets, high blood pressure etc etc, most of which did not show up in his known family history and all of which have been passed onto his 3 children in one form or another. I can't help but wonder if any or this is related to him being nuked.