Military Radiation Exposure: Servicemembers and Veterans Seek Recognition, Care
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Recently Kevin Price, Host of the nationally syndicated Price of Business Show, interviewed Wendy Bjork and Congressman Mark Takano.
The Wendy Bjork Commentaries
On a recent Price of Business show, hosts Kevin Price and Wendy Bjork interviewed Congressman Mark Takano for a powerful and timely conversation about military Nuclear Weapons Technicians and the long-overdue recognition and care still needed for veterans exposed to ionizing radiation during classified weapons maintenance.
This episode comes as radiation exposure among servicemembers, veterans, families, and impacted communities receives renewed Congressional attention. On May 26, 2026, a congressional roundtable was held at the National Atomic Testing Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada, on behalf of Congressman Mark Takano. The discussion focused on radiation exposure among servicemembers and veterans, including impacts connected to the NTTR, K2, Downwinders, the Pacific Islands, familial and generational effects, and Nuclear Weapons Technicians across the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force.
For Wendy, this issue is deeply personal. Her father, James, served in the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Independence CVA 62 from 1961 to 1965 in the W Division as a Nuclear Weapons Technician. His duties included serving in the Special Weapons Unit and maintaining MK 28 nuclear weapons stored in two areas of the ship. Each weapon represented an immense destructive force, estimated at approximately one million tons of TNT equivalent. Today, James is living with advanced Parkinson’s disease and is unable to walk or live independently. Wendy now speaks not only as a daughter but also as a voice for her father and the thousands of veterans and families still waiting for acknowledgment.
During the interview, Kevin, Wendy, and Congressman Takano discussed what silently occurred during the Cold War, when tens of thousands of Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps personnel maintained, repaired, transported, and stored live nuclear weapons around the world. Their work was classified, conducted under strict secrecy, and often hidden even from their own families and doctors. Many carried those secrets to their graves.
The conversation highlights the sobering reality that live nuclear weapons continuously emit ionizing radiation. Ionizing radiation can damage DNA, causing mutations, disease, and cell death. During routine maintenance, component replacement, transport, and storage, technicians worked hands-on and in close proximity to these weapons, often on a daily basis. Many were assured they were safe. Yet they were not given informed consent, their exposures were rarely measured or recorded, and protective programs were either absent, limited, or withheld.
Today, many Nuclear Weapons Technicians still do not know the truth about their exposures. The Department of Defense often cannot accurately reconstruct their radiation doses because the necessary records do not exist. Yet dose estimates are still used in VA claims and frequently conclude that exposures were “safe.” As a result, many of these veterans are not recognized under federal law as radiation-exposed veterans, leaving them without the care, accountability, and recognition they deserve.
The Las Vegas congressional roundtable represents an important step toward bringing these hidden histories into public view. It also reinforces the urgent need for Congressional action recognizing occupational radiation exposure among Nuclear Weapons Technicians and related military specialties.
Wendy Bjork is an international bestselling co-author, keynote speaker, nationally syndicated columnist, and founder of HeartsOfWellness.com. Drawing on more than three decades of living with Multiple Sclerosis, she guides women toward holistic, grounded paths of healing and resilience. In this conversation, she also advocates for her father, James, and for the families whose lives have been shaped by exposures they were never allowed to understand.
This episode is more than a conversation about the past. It is a call to listen, speak, and act. Silence may have protected national security, but it also harmed the people who carried it. Now, their stories must be carried into the light.
Listeners are encouraged to contact their Congressional representatives and ask them to support legislation that acknowledges nuclear exposure, accountability, and care for Cold War-era Nuclear Weapons Technicians and other radiation-exposed veterans.
Learn more about The Sound of Silence Project at TSOSProject.com.
Wendy Bjork is the founder of Hearts of Wellness, a platform dedicated to guiding women navigating Multiple Sclerosis toward radiant, rooted, resilient living. She is an international bestselling co-author, nationally syndicated columnist, and inspirational speaker who teaches from 35 years of lived experience with MS. Her signature framework, the Four Roots of Luminous Living, centers on Clarity, Vibrancy, Harmony, and Connection as the foundation for sustainable healing and empowered daily life.
Wendy’s work includes programs, workbooks, guided experiences, keynote speaking, and a book currently in progress. She is a featured voice on the Price of Business network and a passionate advocate for women who are ready to move beyond survival mode.
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