Attention Alabama Members and Supporters of the National Association of Atomic Veterans:
On January 6, 2024, I accepted an invitation to become the Alabama State Commander of the National Association of Atomic Veterans.
My name is Girard Frank Bolton, III. and am a Lifetime Member of NAAV.
I served in the U.S. Army from 1976-1980 and was a 14-month (two TDY tour) participant of the Enewetak Atoll Atomic Cleanup Mission in 1977, 1978 and 1979. Defense Nuclear Agency documents report 8,033 people participated in the three-year mission.
In 2012, I reconnected with two Atomic Cleanup Mission participants on Facebook and became a founding member of the Enewetak Atoll Atomic Cleanup Project Vets Facebook Group. As of this date, our group has grown to over 1,300 members who were mission participants, family members and/or supporters.
In 2014, I created the AtomicCleanupVets.com website so we could increase our public exposure so other mission participants could find and reconnect with us. As of this date, our Survivors Roster has grown to nearly 1,000 mission participants and have confirmed the names of some of the Fallen Cleanup Veterans who have passed away.
In 2016, with the assistance of NAAV, American Legion, federal legislators, and other supporters, we began our quest to change our radiation status from “occupational” to “at risk” exposure to ionizing radiation. These efforts lead to the creation of the Mark Takai Atomic Veterans Healthcare Parity Act of 2017.
In 2022, the PACT Act was passed into law. This law included the Mark Takai Atomic Veterans Parity Act of 2022 which recognized military Enewetak Mission participants as Atomic Veterans.
In 2023, I was invited to the Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s Atomic Veterans Commemorative Award Ceremony in Virginia along with 20 other Atomic Veterans from the Atomic Test Era and the Atomic Cleanup Mission Era to receive the medal from Congressman Joe McGovern and DTRA Director Rebecca Hersman.
In 2024, I feel honored to actively represent and support Alabama members as well as all national members of NAAV as its Alabama State Commander.
Respectfully yours, Girard Frank Bolton, III.
NAAV-AL.org is the Alabama website for the National Association of Atomic Veterans
NAAV.com is the National website for the National Association of Atomic Veterans