Noise #138: Military Musicians and Atomic Veterans
How U.S. service members became silent nuclear test subjects.
In 2012, I wrote an article for the National Endowment for the Arts about American military bands, and the vital diplomatic roles they play at home and abroad.
I had no clue that military musicians also occupied a darker, little-known place in American history: as early human test subjects for the effects of nuclear radiation.
In today’s New York Times, Ariel Kaminer shares the remarkable story of her late uncle, an Army bandleader who studied with members of the Berlin Philharmonic, played for heads of state and Ed Sullivan alike—and found himself performing “Shake, Rattle and Roll” to accompany nuclear explosions at Yucca Flat testing grounds in Nevada.
Kaminer’s uncle was one of many “Atomic Veterans” who were intentionally exposed to radiation by their own government, then forbidden from telling anyone for decades. The bandleader, and an unknown amount of other Atomic Veterans, ultimately died from the exposure.
I recorded Noise #138 while coming down from Kaminer’s chilling, bizarre, and stunningly memorable story. My piece occupies a classic swing aesthetic, in honor of the music so many military musicians play, master, and love.
Then within that structure of exploration and nostalgia, Noise #138 quietly explodes.
Wishing you peace,
Michael
(Noise #138 by Michael Gallant. Copyright 2024 Gallant Music LLC. All Rights Reserved. )