Billy Shivers’ service to his country landed him on an island in the Pacific Ocean under a sky of malignancy.

The 87-year-old Air Force veteran, who was born in Angelina County and now lives in Longview, was one of about 400,000 U.S. service members who took part in atmospheric nuclear tests from the mid-1940s to the early 1960s.

As a mechanic in 1962 on Christmas Island, Shivers told us in a recent story that his role during Operation Dominic was to service planes involved in the tests — namely B-52s that dropped nuclear bombs off the island’s coast.

There’s no proof Shivers’ diagnosis of colon cancer more than 30 years ago is directly related to his time on the island — days spent working on planes that had flown through mushroom clouds and watching atomic explosions from a distance.

Military records show Shivers was exposed to less radiation than the minimum amount a human encounters on a daily basis.

He disputes those records.

“They don’t want to tell you you’re in danger,” Shivers said about not being warned before Operation Dominic about possible health risks. “They want to use you up and throw you away.”

His words cut — and they should.

Our nation failed Shivers and other “atomic veterans” during and after their service. And although efforts have been made in the past 35 years or so to make amends, more should be done.

The government concealed information about health risks involved with nuclear testing and then, for decades, denied assistance and compensation to atomic veterans diagnosed with cancer.

“Even since nuclear testing began, it has been very difficult to get a useful accounting of the effects of human exposure to the radiation particle fallout from these tests,” the National Association of Atomic Veterans says on its website. “This was largely motivated partly by military secrecy, partly by a desire to allay public fears (i.e. public relations reasons), and partly by a fear of possible legal actions by actual (or potential) radiation exposed victims.”

And this from the Atomic Heritage Foundation’s website:

“For years, (atomic) veterans tried to seek assistance and compensation from the Veterans Administration. However, the VA has denied some of these claims for assistance because the U.S. government has asserted that the veterans were not exposed to unsafe levels of radiation.”

As much as our country professes admiration for service members and their sacrifices, money and public image won out over integrity and compassion for atomic veterans — especially those diagnosed with cancer.

Finally, in 1988, Congress passed a bill that compensated atomic vets — but only if they had specific types of cancer. And two years later, the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act also provided a $75,000 lump-sum payment.

Beyond financial amends, a law passed in December 2021 created an Atomic Veterans Commemorative Service Medal for service members who were “instrumental in the development of our nation’s atomic and nuclear weapons programs.” In addition, July 16 is now designated National Atomic Veterans Day.

Keith Kiefer, president of the National Association of Atomic Veterans, said in an article on Military.com that the struggle to assist service members who took part in nuclear testing has been “a much tougher battle than it should have been.”

Indeed, it’s a battle these veterans never should have had to fight.

Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz and Rep. Nathaniel Moran: It’s not too late for Congress to approve legislation that would improve health care and disability benefits for our atomic vets and their survivors.

And it’s not too late to clean this shameful stain on our nation’s history.