[World Council of Churches] Remembrance Day, observed on March 1, is a national holiday in the Marshall Islands that honors victims and survivors of nuclear testing done in the area in the 1950s.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the largest U.S. nuclear test detonation, Castle Bravo, which took place over Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. As one Marshallese resident noted, “It’s not the middle of nowhere to those who call it home.”

When Castle Bravo was detonated over Bikini Atoll, the immediate radioactive fallout spread to Rongelap and Utrik atolls and beyond. “The impacts of that test, and the 66 others which were carried out above ground and underwater in Bikini and Enewetak atolls between 1946 and 1958, left a legacy of devastating environmental and health consequences across the Marshall Islands,” said Jennifer Philpot-Nissen, World Council of Churches program executive for human rights and disarmament.

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