Majuro, MH

Flags were flown at half-mast across the Marshall Islands on March 1st, 2024 as the nation commemorated the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Bikini Atoll by the US military in 1954.

The bomb, code-named “Bravo” is considered the most powerful thermonuclear weapon ever detonated on the face of the Earth. The strength and destruction of the Bravo bomb was 1000 times stronger than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II.

The Marshallese government had since declared March 1st a national holiday — Nuclear Victims Remembrance Day. 

The celebration this year took place at the Staff Sergeant Solomon Sam Sports Center at the College of Marshall Islands in Majuro. VIPs from the US, diplomatic partners, and visiting Japanese joined locals in the walkathon that officially kickstarted the ceremony. Hundreds participated in the ceremony.

Sitting in the middle of the crowd, wearing a fragrant lei on her head and white dress, was Mina Titus. Mina was 5 years old living in Rongelap Atoll, her homeland, 124 miles southeast of Bikini Atoll, when Bravo detonated.

The force of the blast shook her home. She remembered waking up and seeing a blinding flash across her island.  She remembers what looked like “snow flakes” engulfing her house. The flakes were everywhere: on her skin, her water, her food, everything. 

At a young age, Mina did not understand what was unfolding in front of her. Her parents and village elders were also confused. She kept asking her parents what was happening without answers. 

Enter the strange men. Mina remembered strange men in uniforms arriving on a vessel. The visitors wore safety equipment and masks. She would later describe the visitors as like the space man she later saw on TV. 

Mina recalled feeling ashamed. It’s a memory she wants to forget but has scarred her life for as far back as she can remember. The US military gathered the people together and stripped them off their clothes before hosing them off with water.

“We were all naked. Men, women, kids, all naked in the same place as they washed our bodies before having us wear strange clothes.”

The days that followed as Mina and her people were transported to Kwajalein Atoll were among the darkest days for young Mina. Everyone was in pain. People were vomiting. Children were crying. The effects of the contamination kicked in. The adults were not able to take care of the children because they, too, were in pain.

Mina cried and cried. The pain and itchiness all over her body made it difficult to sleep.

“It was a horrible voyage.”

Few years later, Mina and her family were relocated multiple times between Kwajalein and Majuro. Yet, during every relocation, Mina and her family met discrimination from her fellow Marshallese.

“People would call us names. Sometimes they call us “ri bomb” which translates to “people of the bomb.” Parents would tell their children not to come close to us because they thought we were contaminated and would infect their children.”

Mina’s parents, siblings and cousins later died of complications related to the nuclear tests. She knew this because she herself has undergone medical examinations throughout the years by the US Department of Energy. 

The US has since monitored Mina and those affected by the fallout of the Bravo testing.

Fast-forward to today, Mina is happy to have met and married the love of her life, Jokla Titus. The couple have a few children and grand children both in the Marshall Islands and in the US.

Their strong faith in God is what kept Mina and her family positive throughout the years. Even when Mina’s first child died due to health complications and after that Mina had two miscarriages. Up close, you can see a visible scar on her throat — a reminder of multiple thyroid surgeries. Her medicine closet is a glossary of medicines given to her by the US Department of Energy.

Mina kept a positive composure as VIPs made speeches and as the band played music on that festive ceremony at the college. She shared innocent smiles to multiple photographers. She shook people’s hands.

“It’s time to go back to the house.”

Those who knew Mina understood what she meant. She wanted to say “home” but she could not. Majuro is not her home. Her home is Rongelap Atoll. She wants to go home.