[CPEO-MEF] RADIATION, GLOBAL, VETERANS: "Arizona veteran says Palomares [Spain] nuclear response exposed him to radiation, fights for VA benefits"

[Lenny Siegel <Lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Arizona veteran says Palomares nuclear response exposed him to radiation, fights for VA benefits
About 1,600 U.S. military personnel took part in the cleanup operation, which ran from January to the spring of 1966

By Craig McKee
ABC15 TV News (AZ)
January 12, 2026

An Arizona Navy veteran who helped support the U.S. military response to a 1966 nuclear accident in Spain believes he unknowingly ingested radioactive contamination during the operation and is now fighting for disability benefits decades later.

Bob Garvey was serving in the Navy when his ship was diverted to the Mediterranean after a U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber collided with a refueling aircraft over southern Spain near the village of Palomares. The crash scattered wreckage and four hydrogen bombs across land and sea. Two of the weapons ruptured on impact, releasing plutonium dust that contaminated nearby farmland, including tomato fields.

“There’s been a crash, bomber crash, and we’re going to this little town in Spain,” Garvey recalled of being rerouted to the area.

About 1,600 U.S. military personnel took part in the cleanup operation, which ran from January to the spring of 1966. Air Force and Army units focused on recovering the weapons and removing contaminated soil, while Navy ships supported operations offshore.


…

For the entire story, see
https://www.abc15.com/news/local-news/arizona-veteran-says-palomares-nuclear-response-exposed-him-to-radiation-fights-for-va-benefits

—

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
A project of the Pacific Studies Center
LSiegel@cpeo.org
P.O. Box 998, Mountain View, CA 94042
Voice/Fax: 650-961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org
Author: DISTURBING THE WAR: The Inside Story of the Movement to Get Stanford University out of Southeast Asia - 1965–1975 (See http://a3mreunion.org)




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