The lives and health of Marshall Islanders in the South Pacific were disrupted in a unique fashion when the U.S. used their outer islands for extensive nuclear testing after WWII. But the dislocation set in motion by globalization and the presence of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Base may be taking an even greater toll on their health. Their traditional way of life destroyed, many Marshallese, desperate for jobs at the base, crowd the nearby island of Ebeye, where tuberculosis and other diseases are fed by poverty and squalid conditions. Today, many Marshallese, seeking a better life, have ended up in the unlikely place of Springdale, Arkansas. But they bring a legacy of poverty and powerlessness with them.
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