October 27, 2007 - A Nebraska veteran says the government owes him for dangerous duty. It's related to a top secret mission in the 1950s that has led to a long-running dispute.

Seventy-nine-year-old Gerald Bacon is an Army veteran who squints with his one good eye. He lost the other to cancer caused, he believes, by witnessing eight atomic bomb tests.
 
Bacon says, "You could hear this rumble coming, like a storm. When it hit it throwed us back like this. And we're 18 miles back"

Bacon says he watched the atomic bomb tests wearing only protective dark goggles. Then he was ordered to take Geiger counter readings closer to the scene wearing only a protective mask.

He says the "Geiger counter would show radiation and we'd turn around and get out of there fast."

But Bacon says he couldn't run from the long-term impact of radiation exposure, suffering from 14 illnesses including several forms of cancer.

"I think we were used as guinea pigs," he says.

But Bacon's claim for a monthly service-connected disability check has been denied 14 times.

Gerald's wife, Mary Bacon says, "We keep getting letters we need more information and I send back saying we sent you all the information we have."

After years of claims and denials the Board of Veterans Appeals just notified Bacon that his medical evidence will be reviewed and his case will be moved up because he's over 70. But with a backlog of 800,000 appeals it still could take two years for a decision.

Mary says, "I think they're just waiting for all these guys to die off and it'll just go away."

Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson says he'll look into why Gerald Bacon's claim has been denied. The senator says he will also do what he can to get the veteran's appeal decided as quickly as possible.