[ RadSafe ] Pilot of Enola Gay Had No Regrets for Hiroshima

[stewart farber]

Hi all,

I want to thank John Jacobus for the link he provided in his recent email below [ http://www.rerf.or.jp/radefx/late_e/cancrisk.html ] to the Radiation Effects Research Foundation [RERF], the successor to the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commisssion [ABCC] established  in 1947 by the National Academy of Sciences, and funded by the Atomic Energy Commission. 

The link to the RERF and its ongoing work provides a wealth of reports and summary information about the long-term health effects of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

This subject about Tibbets and "The Bomb" is all the more appropriate to consider given the approach of Veterans Day and remembering our debt to their role in preserving freedom during WWII and throughout our country's history.

Regarding my earlier note to the group, the NPR Ombudsman and I have been exchanging emails and it is looking quite promising that NPR will correct the major error in their report on the recent death of Paul Tibbets, pilot of the Enola Gay erroneous  stating that there were "tens of thousands" of long-term deaths from radioactive fallout [sic]" vs. the less than 400 long-term non-leukemic cancer deaths from 1950 to 1990 from instantaneous whole body exposure which have been documented as occuring by the RERF among the surviving population. 

The NPR Ombudsman emails to me state they have a firm policy to "correct significant errors of fact on air, on line and in transcripts" and are reviewing my initial Comment to them, and an Addendum which I sent with detailed technical data.  Hopefully, they will live up to their stated goal. It will be interesting to see what they do on the subject of radiation risk assessment..

For those that want it, I have a self-transcribed copy of the NPR on-air Remembrance Report "Pilot of Enola Gay Had No Regrets for Hiroshima" which ran on  Nov. 2 which can be listened to at: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15858203&sc=emaf


Regards,
Stewart Farber, MS Public Health
Farber Medical Solutions, LLC
[203] 441-8433 [Office]
[203] 522-2817 [Cell]
email: radproject at sbcglobal.net
==================================
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Jacobus" <crispy_bird at yahoo.com>


> Stewart,
> Try this site
> http://www.rerf.or.jp/radefx/late_e/cancrisk.html
> 
> --- stewart farber <radproject at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> 
>> National Public Radio on its All Things Considered
>> show on Nov. 1st, ran a segment about the death of
>> Paul Tibbets, pilot of the Enola Gay. See below for
>> link:
>> 
>>
 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15858203&sc=emaf
>> 
>> Tibbets was 92 and never wavered in his belief that
>> the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was
>> necessary to quickly end the war and save lives. He
>> said he had no regrets and dismissed as "hogwash"
>> any suggestion that the attack was morally wrong.
>> 
>> Of note on the subject of radiation risks, the NPR
>> report by Melissa Block and Robert Siegel stated
>> incorrectly that "tens of thousands of Japanese died
>> from long-term effects of radioactive fallout".
>> 
>> I wrote NPR's "All Things Considered" a response
>> using their feedback mechanism, citing  data from
>> the ABCC that excess cancer deaths in the 60,000
>> people followed long-term by the Atomic Bomb
>> Casualty Commission documented about a 5% increase
>> in cancer mortality, and about a 1% increase in
>> total mortality -- a total of about 500 deaths
>> through 1990. Their suggestion of "tens of
>> thousands" of radiation related deaths long-term
>> after the initial deaths due to blast, shock, and
>> radiation exposure was an exaggeration and simply
>> wrong.
>> 
>> Does anyone have more current summary cancer
>> mortality data on the ABCC studies of the survivors
>> of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from 1990 to present? 
>> Thanks for any feedback on this point that people
>> can offer me since my references are a bit dated.
>> 
>> Stewart Farber, MS Public Health
>> Consulting Scientist
>> Farber Medical Solutions, LLC
>> Bridgeport, CT 06604
>> [203] 441-8433 [office]
>> email: radproject at sbcglobal.net
>> website: http://www.farber-medical.com