Pagan island today. This bay in the south is one of Micronesia's most beautiful and dramatic landscapes.
The Hawaiian island of Kaho'olawe island today. Sailor's Hat bomb crater, where the U.S. Navy detonated 500 tons of dynamite three times to simulate a nuclear weapons blast.
Pagan island today. A Japanese monument on a black sand beach.
Vieques island today. Removal of ordnance and toxic contaminants reached the $180 million mark in 2013 and is expected to continue to 2025. No one, however, is addressing the ocean damage. Studies found 34% of residents with toxic levels of mercury, 55% contaminated with lead, and 69% with arsenic.
Pagan island today. Fresh local mangos. Food is abundant on Pagan with fruit trees, feral goats, pigs and cattle, birds, crabs and ocean fish and shellfish.
Vieques island today. Piles of rusting ordnance litters the surface of the island after sixty years of bombing practice.
Pagan island today. Healthy stands of coconut palms remain from an earier era when the islanders harvested and sold copra.
Kaho'olawe island today. Severe erosion from 60 years of bombing has left a rusty landscape without topsoil.