Selling the Bomb
The root of the curse that plagued the atomic veterans had in fact been resisted as early as the 1946 Bikini
detonations. Though their voices were overwhelmed by the emotions of the nascent Cold War, numerous top-level
American scientists had argued strenuously against nuclear bomb testing. Some pleaded, with tragic foresight, that
the testing would be biologically dangerous. Others warned that it was unnecessary and would make more difficult
the job of controlling atomic energy worldwide.44 The Federation of Atomic Scientists also expressed fear that in the
midst of a vast ocean, the nuclear explosions would seem relatively puny, creating an unrealistic image of their
power—which would be used to devastate cities rather than isolated battleships or remote atolls.
Before sending mushroom clouds up over the Bikini atolls, Operation Crossroads was the subject of several
months of intensive media buildup.45 U.S. military and civilian commanders carefully and successfully set the tone
for press coverage of nuclear displays—thus defining the formative notions of atomic weapons for most citizens.
Motivations for U.S. atomic tests were increasingly depicted as benign, circumscribed, and well-meaning.
Newsweek first headlined its advance coverage of Operation Crossroads scenarios "ATOMIC BOMB:
GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH."46 By the time the week of Crossroads’ first test blast arrived, Newsweek headed
its preview coverage "SIGNIFICANCE: THE GOOD THAT MAY COME FROM THE TESTS AT BIKINI."47
Washington bureau chief Ernest K. Lindley urged Newsweek’s readers to keep in mind that the atomic explosions
were for scientific and military research, not for planetary saber-rattling: "None of these tests is planned as a
spectacle; none is intended to show the world what a powerful weapon the atom bomb is. None is intended for
diplomatic or political effect."48
With mass media uncritically relaying the military’s line, the public image of Operation Crossroads became one
of self-defense and even humanitarianism. "The Bikini tests are set up to measure the effects of atomic explosions,
not only on ships but on a wide variety of equipment and military ground weapons and on life itself," Newsweek
declared on the eve of the first Crossroads blast. "The tests on animals, at varying distances from the explosion
should be especially valuable, through their contribution to medical knowledge."49 United States News informed
readers that "only the coming tests can give the final answer to the main question of how today’s modern warship can
stand up in combat in an age of atomic warfare."50
The humanistic theme was reiterated. "One of the answers being sought in the tests will be to see whether more
sensitive or more exact devices may be needed to indicate quickly enough the need for special medical treatment of
atom bomb victims," reported Science News Letter, adding: "Whether the radiation injury from atom bombs will
cause sterility in the victims or cause defects in such children as they might have will also be studied. While it will
take many years before such genetic effects could be determined from following atom bomb survivors in Japan,
laboratory animals and insects, such as drosophila, can provide the answers much faster."51
And, a later issue of the periodical went on—with unknowing irony—"Cancer research may get some help from
the atomic bomb explosions at Bikini."52
Missing from the press billing of Operation Crossroads were any serious suggestions that subjects of the atomic
test experiments included human beings.53 United States News dubbed the blast target ships the "guinea-pig fleet,"
but devoted scant attention to the forty-two thousand human beings in uniform nearby.54
44. Uhl and Ensign, GI Guinea Pigs, p. 37.
45. Originally announced for early May 1946, Operation Crossroads was delayed for a few weeks. The postponement enabled President Truman’s emissary
Bernard Baruch to proclaim U.S. support for worldwide nuclear controls, in his speech to the fledgling United Nations, before the U.S. proceeded with atomic
bomb tests; "it was felt," noted historian Robert Jungk, "that they would be a discordant accompaniment to the forthcoming presentation of the American
plan for international control to the United Nations Organization" (Robert Jungk, Brighter Than a Thousand Suns [New York: Harcourt Brace 1958], p. 240.)
Other motives were involved, however. "The real reason for the delay was closer to home" than global tensions, Newsweek reported. "Operation Crossroads
would have drawn 120 senators and representatives, a record-breaking number for Congressional junkets, away from Washington for six weeks and thus
endangered the Administration’s legislative program." At stake were proposals for extension of the peacetime draft, military appropriations, and measures to
boost development of atomic energy. (Newsweek, April 1, 1946, pp. 21-22.)
46. Newsweek, February 4, 1946, p. 30.
47. Newsweek, July 1, 1946, p. 21.
48. Ibid.
49. Ibid.
50. United States News, February 1, 1946, p. 27.
51. Science News Letter, May 11, 1946, p. 294.
52. Science News Letter, July 6, 1946, p. 4.
53. Some apprehensions about the Bikini atomic blasts were publicized. Fears of cracked ocean floors, vaporized seas, and gigantic oceanwide tidal waves—
plausibly destined to be disproved—received more general press attention than the issue of long-term radiation effects. See, for example, Newsweek, July 1,
1946, p. 20.
54. United States News, February 1, 1946, p. 26.