[From the Iron Mountain-Kingsford Daily News, Jan. 20, 1994] GOVERNMENT KNEW RISKS OF A-BOMB TESTS, SAYS WAUCEDAH MAN

(By Denise Manderfield)

WAUCEDAH-Bob Bies tells a fascinating story, a story that spans 46 years, has touched thousands of lives, a story that changed modern history.

Bies was present in 1946 at Operation Crossroads when the U.S. conducted two atomic bomb tests in the Bikini Islands.

In 1946, Bies was a 17-year-old U.S. Navy mail clerk and bodyguard, a Minnesotan who gladly donned a uniform to protect his country.

In 1994, Bies is a 65-year-old retired hydraulic engineer dying of cancer. The Waucedah Township resident say his cancer-and the cancer that has struck four of his nine children-is a direct result of his desire to do the right thing for his country.

Now, he claims, the government he fought to protect in World War II has betrayed him by keeping a 47-year-old secret-that it knew beforehand the devastating effects the radiation released in those two atomic bomb blasts would cause.

Bies will address the public Friday at 1:30 p.m. at the Dickinson County Senior Center in the Crystal Lake building.

At that time he will show a videotape called "Radio Bikini," which he says is highly confidential, give a short address and answer questions.

Bies said that before he dies he wants to "tell the world everything I can" about the government's knowledge of the atomic blasts' deadly effects. He said he has acquired secret documents that several key U.S. senators are interested in, including Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts.

He said one document written by the admiral commanding the fleet of ships stationed at the bomb blasts warned that radioactivity was slow-killing and those present would be affected.

"That appeared soon after the test-in print-but was soon recalled," Bies said. He has acquired the documents and videotape through an underground network of people interest in the aftermath of the 1946 tests, he said.

He predicted that "heads would roll and people would be gainfully unemployed" in the U.S. energy and defense departments after he releases his information.

He also said former Presidents Reagan and Bush knowingly kept government evidence about the bomb blasts under wraps.

Bies is hoping to receive national and international network exposure of his claims.

His first step is the Friday speech at the senior citizens' center.

There he says he will detail the two atomic tests he witnessed: the first on July 1, 1946 at the Bay of Bikini in the Marshall Islands and the second on July 24, 1946, which was conducted under the ocean near the Marshall Islands.

"The Bay of Bikini is about five days sailing from Pearl Harbor," he said. "There were in excess of 42,000 people there from the Navy, and scientists, including Albert Einstein. There were in excess of 100 warships and in excess of 18 tons of film for the event."

The warships were present, he said to "find out what naval warfare could be expected if there was a nuclear war."

He says that of the 42,000 people there, only 1,000 have survived. Many died of old age, but many also have died of cancer as a direct result of being present at the blasts, Bies contends.

He credits Secretary of Energy Hazel O'Leary for blowing the lid on the government's attempt to cover up the effects of radiation exposure on unsuspecting civilians and military personnel. And he says that is why he is now going public with his story and what he says is evidence about a government cover-up.

That and because he is dying.

"(The doctors) said there isn't anything they can do for me. They told me to go home and live every day to its fullest."

He recently returned from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., where his stomach and small intestine were removed. He said he has malignant melanomas on his face.

He lost a daughter at the age of 28 to cancer and two of his sons, both under the age of 32, have cancer. His only other daughter also has cancer and is pregnant with her second child. He has a grandson in Racine, Wis., who was born with three kneecaps and is facing the prospect of losing his leg.

Cancer is in his family, he says, because of the mutating genes he unwittingly passed along after Operation Crossroads 461⁄2 years ago.

[From the Flint Journal, Jan. 6, 1994]

DAD AS NUCLEAR GUINEA PIG HAUNTS SON

(By James L. Smith)

A Burton man was 6 months old when his father lost his leg in the aftermath of a secret government experiment with plutonium.

William T. Allen, 46, only learned last month that his father, Elmer, was one of 18 people subjected to involuntary plutonium injections during the 1940s.

Elmer Allen's case was one of the specific radiation cases cited by U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Hazel R. O'Leary when she released formerly secret government documents outlining the medical experiments.

When doctors amputated Elmer Allen's leg in 1946, they took more than a limb; they took his dignity and eventually his life, said William Allen, a 24-year AC Rochester employee, who works at the Burton plant.

On June 30, 1991, Elmer Allen died in Texas at 80, never knowing that his government had used him for its deadly tests. He was the last of the 18 to die.

Elmer Allen's story headlined the first segment of the NBC primtime news magazine "Now," which aired Wednesday.

"It is sad to watch and see what my father lived through and what I had to live through with my father's pain and not knowing until now what contributed to his (death)," William Allen said. "They took away his dignity. He couldn't provide for his family and he was saddened by that."

In 1946, Elmer Allen was 36, and worked as a Pullman porter. Elmer met Fredna on the train and they fell in love and married.

A healthy man, Elmer Allen injured his leg when he fell while working. As a black man, he was at the mercy of others, but finally got into the University of California Hospital in San Francisco for treatment of the painful leg injury, his son said. Doctors were in and out of his room. At one point, they explained they were going to do a "procedure" on him.

"He knew there was something they were up to, but didn't know what," said William Allen.

After Elmer Allen's death, only the persistence of a newspaper reporter in New Mexico finally discovered that when tumors and cancer forced the amputation of the leg, that the limb was turned over to scientists for study.

Still, no one told Elmer Allen that he had been unwittingly chosen to be a plutonium "guinea pig," William Allen said.

For years, he tried to help his father as he struggled with seizures and an inability to hold onto a series of job, William Allen said.

In the 1980s, the government contacted Allen's doctors and informed them of the 1946 experimental procedure and asked them to inform them when Elmer Allen died so the government could perform an autopsy.

But still no one, not the government-and perhaps more disturbing, not his doctors-told him of the radiation experiment.

William Allen said he and his father maintained a close relationship and that he visited him in Texas often, especially in his last years.

The secret experiments were especially hurtful to Fredna Allen, who was with her husband at the hospital in 1946, but was never told of the tests either.

"The hurt comes because she was cheated out of a good life," William Allen said. A schoolteacher in Texas, Fredna Allen always taught her students about high standards and doing something for their country.

Nothing can replace his father's life or the lost years, but William Allen wants

answers.

Allen wants all the records the government has on his father's case and he wants his father's leg back or to know what became of it.

Allen described as "sick" a scientist interviewed on the program who defended the experiments and said she had become "close" to the patients by holding their organs.

Although 15 of the 18 victims were white, Allen said from his perspective, the government took advantage of his father because he was black.

There is talk of compensation for the victims, but Allen said he doesn't know what that means. He prefers to hold the current administration to its promise to uncover the facts of the radiation testing.

Many people are surprised to learn that his father was a civilian, because most people associate the experiments with the military.

When Secretary O'Leary talked to his sister, she said they would deal with Elmer Allen's case first.

"I believe that the first case they will deal with is ours," William Allen said. "This is the first day of saying who I am and where I am. We must keep this story alive. My dad lived a rough life all these years and no one said nothing."

PREPARED STATEMENT OF DR. HAROLD SMITH

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, it is an honor for me to appear before you today on behalf of the Department of Defense. I am accompanied by Major General Kenneth Hagemann, Director of the Defense Nuclear Agency, who will testify about the Nuclear Test Personnel Review; Col. John Fraser Glenn of the Department's Human Subject Research Review Board, who can provide you with expert testimony on how the Department of Defense, the military services, and all DoD agencies currently conduct experiments involving human subjects and the human protections under which those experiments are allowed to be conducted. With the permission of the committee, their statements will follow mine.

At the outset of my remarks, let me compliment you and this committee for the continued and persistent interest you have demonstrated over the years on the broad issues of participation by humans in experimentation and protection of human subjects, including informed consent. You have been in the forefront of those concerns and have made a real contribution to elevating our national consciousness to the need for more accountability for all sponsors of experiments in which humans participated. Indeed, you and your colleague Senator Sasser have been firm in your longstanding commitment to government that is open and accountable to the people it serves. You are to be commended for all of your efforts in that regard. This hearing is yet another stage in this committee's effort to open up a part of government which has, for too long, remained closed to the American people. We applaud your persistence and share your dedication to these principles.

The Department of Defense shares with its partners in the Human Radiation Interagency Working Group a commitment to a comprehensive search of its records and the release of information it discovers. DoD has been a full partner in the Interagency Working Group and has been active in all discussions of the group since its inception. Secretary of Defense Les Aspin has appointed personnel from the highest levels of the department to each of the subcommittees organized by the Interagency Working Group. Each appointee serves in a dual capacity. Each is deeply involved in the work of his or her inter-agency subcommittee and is also an integral part of the Department's effort.

I cannot emphasize enough the high priority placed upon this project by Secretary Aspin. As appointments were made to the Interagency Working Group, he also established within the Department a working group which I direct under the guidance of the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition. Our task is to coordinate the Department's research and retrieval effort. In constituting that group, the Secretary charged it to "move quickly and thoroughly on this matter-it should be given high priority." At every opportunity, he has reemphasized the seriousness of our task and the need to cooperate in this important undertaking.

Our effort is being driven by five principles. First, we want it to be thorough. Every agency will take every possible action to insure that its search is comprehensive and omits nothing. Secondly, it will be done as quickly as possible. Records of human radiation experiments will be collected and catalogued as soon as possible. Thirdly, all due care will be exercised to preserve the records. Fourth, the integrity of the process must be preserved to insure that it retains its credibility in the long term. Finally, the process must result in an open accounting of the Department's past action in human radiation experiments.

To achieve those goals, Secretary Aspin initially directed all military services and other DoD agency heads to retain all documents relating to human ionizing radiation experiments. Furthermore, he directed them to instruct persons responsible for routine document disposal to preserve any such records which they may discover. When the Inter-Agency Working Group issued its formal directive outlining the scope of the search, DoD convened an "all hands" meeting to insure that all DoĎ agencies fully understood the tasks to be undertaken. Secretary Aspin and Undersecretary John Deutch attended that meeting to provide specific instructions to all DoD agencies on the exact execution of the tasks at hand.

It is important to understand that this is a discovery process requiring some time before a full report can be provided to the Congress and the people of this country. We have all read or heard media reports of these types of experiments. They all will he part of our overall search. In the interim, we want to make it clear and emphasize to you that we are fully committed to this effort. We are acting expeditiously to find and catalogue records. We will collect those records and review them. We

will release them as comprehensively and as soon as possible, recognizing that we must proceed in a way that protects the privacy of citizens who may have been participants, wittingly or unwittingly, in those experiments. Let me give you some specifics.

We have attempted to organize our effort to meet both short and long term objectives. The Department is establishing a command center, headed by a Rear Admiral, to be the collection point and clearinghouse for records discovered in this project. As one might imagine, this retrieval process will require an extensive search. With facilities located all over the country and the world, we cannot be certain where we might find records of experiments. This is not a situation where we can go to the dark cellars or attics of the department or its agencies, find a box labelled "Human Radiation Experiments", dust it off, and release the documents inside. It is going be much more difficult and labor intensive as each of the many agencies within the department search their files and their archives. The Department will not be deterred by the complexity or the difficulty of this project.

We are committed to that search. The command center was established based upon the experience of the Department in the Nuclear Test Personnel Review. It provides a central focal point to which agencies will refer records they may discover. We felt we needed a place for these records to be catalogued, and reviewed. That will be the purpose of the command center. Overseeing the work of center will be a steering group composed of DoD personnel who are also involved with the work of the Inter-Agency Working Group. We think this represents a serious commitment of resources to this project and an organization that can efficiently and effectively oversee it.

As you know, the Department of Health and Human Services issued in 1974 the definitive federal policy regarding controls to be exercised in government sponsored experiment in which humans are involved. Investigators in these experiments use rigorous protocols to insure that individual consent is truly informed, that Institution Review Boards are independent and assertive, and that all scientific and medical research standards are met. My Department of Defense colleague on this panel, Colonel Glenn, is here to address protocol issues from the perspective of those within the Department who oversee research projects and those who execute those projects.

Finally, questions have arisen about government's ethical responsibility to those citizens who may have participated in human radiation experiments. Principally, those questions have focused on possible compensation and/or medical follow-up treatment. At this early stage in the process, this is an issue that requires review and discussion among a number of agencies as well as requiring the involvement of the Congress. We will certainly participate in those discussions.

Mr. Chairman, we think we have in place a process that will produce answers to the many questions being asked by you, your colleagues in the Congress, and the American people. We are committed to making that process work and work well to achieve two primary objectives: 1) provide the American people with full disclosure of the Department's role in human radiation experiments it may have sponsored; and 2) by doing so, help restore the confidence of the American people in its government. If our review determines that American citizens were treated wrongfully by their government, we believe the American people are owed a full accounting and, where justified, an attempt to right any wrong done to individuals.

There are those who may argue about the mindset of the times or how the ethics of scientific research have progressed since the early days of the Cold War. They do not speak for the Department of Defense. We want to learn all we can about the department's role in human radiation experiments that took place and share that information with the people whom we serve.

PREPARED STATEMENT OF MAJ. GEN. KENNETH L. HAGEMANN

Good morning, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate having this opportunity to appear before the committee. We at the Defense Nuclear Agency are committed to gathering and reviewing any and all data or information related to ionizing radiation research on human subjects.

My statement will concentrate on DNA's management of the Nuclear Test Personnel Review-or "NTPR"-program. This is a program initiated in the late 1970s to identify and assist veterans and selected DoD civilians who participated in the U.S. atmospheric nuclear testing program. In 1988, the NTPR program was expanded to also cover DoD personnel who participated in the post-war occupation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. The program provides individuals with participation data and exposure levels to assist them in applying for health care or compensation from the

Departments of Veterans Affairs and Labor. These departments are responsible for assessing health effects and determining whether an individual is eligible for health care or compensation.

As of 1 January 1994, we had identified 205,472 individuals who participated in the U.S. atmospheric nuclear testing program. Another 195,753 DoD personnel associated with the post-war occupation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had also been identified. Over the past five years, as a result of individuals contacting us, we have added about 2,000 new program participants annually.

We have learned that doses to most individuals were quite low. In fact, about 25 per cent received no measurable dose. Less than one per cent of the participantsabout 1600 individuals-received doses in excess of today's Federal guidance for occupational exposure, which is 5 rem per year. The average exposure to NTPR program participants was less than 1 rem.

Reaching out to these individuals and informing them of their potential exposure has proven challenging. We have had to rely on an outreach program to encourage them to contact us. Our outreach efforts include articles in veterans' magazines, media releases, and presentations at veterans' groups and conventions. A key component of our outreach program has been a toll-free helpline. For the benefit of those individuals watching today's hearing, the toll-free number to contact the NTPR program is 1-800-462-3683.

As of today, we have established contact with approximately 70,000 individuals. Phone calls to the NTPR helpline accounted for the vast majority of contacts.

In conclusion, the NTPR program has proven highly effective in meeting the needs of its participants. DNA remains fully committed to its original philosophy of honesty, candidness, and thoroughness in its management of this program. Again, Mr. Chairman, I appreciate having the opportunity to be here today. I would be pleased to answer questions from the committee members.

PREPARED STATEMENT OF COL. JOHN FRAZIER GLENN

I am pleased to appear before you to discuss the Army's current policy and procedures for protection of human subjects of research. One of my current duties is as Acting Chairperson of the Army Surgeon General's Human Research Review Board, or HSRRB. The HSRRB is an Institutional Review Board, or IRB, with responsibilities for first level human participation review of protocols for those Army organizations which do not have a local IRB, and a second level review board for all Army research protocols involving more than minimum risk to the volunteer subjects, other than routine clinical investigations conducted in Army hospitals. My background is that of a neuroscientist, with a Ph.D. in Biology Psychology from Duke University. I have also served in a variety of administrative and staff positions in research and development during my career. It was during my most recent previous assignment as Deputy Commander of the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine at Natick, Massachusetts that first became personally immersed in the social, ethical, and legal issues surrounding participation of humans volunteers as subjects of research. As a member of the Quality Assurance Committee and Chairman of the Scientific Review Committee, I worked closely with the Chairman and Members of the Natick Human Use Review Committee to assure that experimental procedures were both scientifically and ethically sound, as well as in the development of local policy and resolution of specific issues involving participation by human subjects in research.

The HSRRB of the U.S. Army operates under the authority of Army Regulation 70-25, which was first issued in 1962 and has been revised four times, the most recent in 1990. The sixteen member Board, like any typical IRB, is composed of a mixture of health care providers, scientists, religious leaders, legal scholars, community representatives, and ethicists. As Acting Chair, it is my responsibility to assure that every protocol reviewed by the Board is thoroughly discussed and evaluated to determine if the risks inherent in the proposed procedures are adequately balanced by the potential benefits of the research, and that the description of risks, benefits, and other conditions of the study will be clearly understood by potential volunteers based on the wording of the informed consent form. The focus of the Board is on the risks and benefits from the perspective of the human volunteer, and not the scientific details or merit of the individual study. Although local scientific review panels are responsible for determining the adequacy of the scientific design, the Board does consider these factors to the extent they impact the risks and benefits accruing to the volunteer subjects.

The Army Medical Department's concern with participation by human volunteers in research predates the 1947 Nuremberg Code, Maj. (Dr.) Walter Reed having ob