A memory with a half-life

Re “Nuclear site now a tourist hot spot,” Column One, Aug. 13

There is a dimension to this story that was ignored. What has happened to the employees of the plants and the soldiers who were stationed there?

I was in the Army, 101st Antiaircraft Battalion, and stationed at Hanford from March 1953 to November 1954. Our battery was less than a mile from one of the smoke-belching plants. In front of our site was equipment to monitor radiation. However, when I asked the inspectors about the level of radiation, I never received an answer.

I have tried, without success, to locate my friends who served in our unit. I wonder how many of them have suffered from exposure to radiation.

One can find a great deal of information about the survivors of the tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. However, there seems to be little concern for those of us subjected to radiation in our own country.

John Upton

Laguna Woods