https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/4axvyj/america-says-thanks-for-letting-us-nuke-you-heres-a-medal-to-atomic-veterans > Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, the Pentagon detonated dozens of nuclear bombs in the American Southwest and in the Pacific Ocean. It had “Atomic Soldiers” witness, work on, or monitor the explosions to see what would happen if they were exposed to radiation—in total, hundreds of thousands of civilians and soldiers were exposed to nuclear bomb blasts. Now, almost 60 years after America’s last open air nuclear test, the Pentagon is honoring the soldiers with a medal. > The soldiers who were exposed to radiation during the course of nuclear testing or cleanup are called Atomic Veterans. The Secretary of Defense announced the medals in a press release that noted the service and sacrifice of the atomic soldiers. “The Atomic Veterans Commemorative Service Medal recognizes that the service and sacrifice of the Atomic Veterans directly contributed to our Nation's continued freedom and prosperity during the period following World War II, and was pivotal to our Nation's defense during the Cold War era.”