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It's Easter and the so-called "nuclear veterans" are hopefully nearing the end of their protracted wait to discover whether or not their no win, no fee compensation claim against the Ministry of Defence has been successful.
And as I wait with them to hear whether the powers that be decide to do the right thing and compensate them financially for the debilitating health impairment that many have suffered after witnessing cold war thermonuclear and atomic testing, I read with interest about the plight of American veterans in the same boat, so to speak.
Members of the US armed forces who were present during cold war testing not only lived with similar health scars of the bomb blasts, but many suffered depression and anxiety as a direct result of the secrecy they were sworn to.
It was only when the Clinton administration began declassifying information in 1994 that veterans were able to safely tell their stories without fear of incriminating themselves.
One such veteran has recently come forward to tell his story after being refused compensation by the US Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), the body that awards compensation to US army vets.
The 73-year-old ex-navy man spent two decades haunted by nightmares linked to the nuclear testing he witnessed. When his wife would ask him what was wrong he always answered, "In the Navy, I was in the water with sharks."
The reality was that he and his colleagues were exposed to huge blasts of radiation during his Marshall Islands service in the Pacific. He says of the protection they were offered, "All we had were goggles.
"There was no protection. No ditches, no bunkers. Not even a tree to hide behind."
The Navy veteran now suffers from prostate cancer, bone cancer, diabetes, heart disease and gall bladder problems. However, the VA has said it believes the level of radiation he was exposed to was not great enough to account for his illnesses.
The atomic veteran says that he and fellow naval servicemen wore crude devices, akin to badges, that were supposed to measure the radiation they were exposed to, but he says that during his six months at the station the badge was never checked. He also says that the radiation was unavoidable and unregulated as it was in the dusty air they breathed, the food they ate, in the water they drank and the in ground on which they walked.
Backing the cancer sufferer's claims are two respected doctors who have written to the VA supporting his claim.
The veteran's health began to suffer when he reached his late 40s and began to experience heart problems. He was later diagnosed with cancer. His eldest son, conceived before his South Pacific posting, is healthy, but his three children conceived after the exposure to radiation all have health problems including thyroid cancer and multiple sclerosis.
While some 20,793 atomic veterans have been awarded compensation by the VA, the managing director and national commander of the National Association of Atomic Veterans commented that only one in five applications for compensation has been granted.
It is also believed that many survivors have never applied for compensation, not realising that government security regarding the secrecy of the missions has been lifted.
So, this man fights on, for some financial recompense that can never erase the suffering he has endured as a result of his military service, and the British veterans who are awaiting the fate of their no win, no fee compensation claim, endure an uncertain Easter. So far, not one British military personnel member has received compensation for ill health suffered as a result of Ministry of Defence nuclear testing. Shame on the Government and hurrah for the personal injury solicitors fighting their case.
