DIRECTOR - PETER STERN
DUR: 30 MINS

SYNOPSIS

Hot Potatoes - An Atomic Tale is a documentary film told from the personal perspective of Jerry Sears, a U.S Navy veteran, also known as Atomic Vets.
In 1958 Jerry was on picket duty, securing the parameter area of the atomic bomb test series in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. By his 18th birthday, Jerry had witnessed, at close range, over 20 atomic bomb tests.

Jerry was a mess cook in the galley on the ship and was stationed in the “spud locker” which was on the main deck. This is where Jerry peeled all the potatoes, salads and veggies that made up the three meals a day. Whilst on duty, Jerry happened to get a hold of a geiger counter and he used it on the ships supply of potatoes stored out in the open on the main deck and the geiger counter showed that they were contaminated with radiation from the bomb tests. Jerry wanted to throw the entire stock of radiated “hot” potatoes over board but the Chief Petty Officer ordered Jerry to wash them down, peel everyone of the potatoes for the three meals a day and include them in the cook sequence and put them out on the food line, which Jerry was forced to obey.

After the atomic test series was completed, a large radioactive waste disposal site, the Runit Dome in Enewetak Atoll, was created to bury the radioactive waste from Marshall Islands testing and also from the Nevada test site. There has been no maintenance of the site since it was built and the concrete is deteriorating and presently leaking radioactive waste into the Pacific Ocean.  Officials in the Marshall Islands have lobbied for help, but the U.S government has declined, insisting that it has honoured all its obligations and that the jurisdiction of the dome and its radioactive contents lies with the Marshall Islands.

For the next 37 years Jerry and his fellow servicemen, silenced by the official secrets act, were sworn to secrecy and were unable to tell their stories of what they experienced as young sailors in and around the Marshall Islands. 

The experience weighed heavily on both Jerry’s mind and his physical body.  Being an Atomic Vet, one of the main cancers that resulted from radiation contamination was cancer of the kidneys. 

The Department of Veteran Affairs prevents the vast majority of Atomic Veterans from obtaining benefits for their radiation-induced diseases. As a result many atomic veterans are unable to receive necessary medical treatment or to provide for their basic needs. 

Some 60 years after the bomb tests, Jerry in 2018, finally told his atomic tale on camera, describing the devastation that the atomic tests perpetrated on the peoples and lands of the Marshall Islands as well as the United States servicemen who were on duty.

HOT POTATOES - AN ATOMIC TALE

DUR: 30 MINS