“I Am A Downwinder, A Survivor of Nuclear War”: Mary Dickson on board Peace Boat

Mary Dickson, a downwinder and thyroid cancer survivor and award-winning writer and playwright from Salt Lake City in the United States, joined Peace Boat as a Guest Educator on its 120th Global Voyage. A ‘downwinder’ is someone who has lived downwind from a nuclear test site, meaning they have been exposed to radioactive fallout. While onboard, Mary shared her experiences through lectures, a panel discussion, and a Q&A session, and emphasized the long-lasting damages caused by nuclear testing.

Growing up in Utah, Mary was unknowingly exposed to radiation throughout her childhood, and in her youth she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and underwent organ removal and radiation treatment. She was even deprived of the opportunity to have children, yet continued to speak out while living with constant fear of recurrence. Among her many activities as an advocate is the publication and nation-wide staging of “Exposed”, an award-winning play that received critical acclaim for combining her own experience as a downwinder with powerful documentation. 

Mary explains her childhood under fallout at a lecture by showing photos 

Utah is located not far from the Nevada Test Site, where the US government conducted 928 atmospheric and underground nuclear tests between 1951 and 1992. The radiation from the tests spread far and wide across the United States, robbing innocent citizens of their health, livelihoods, and lives. Many children also suffered the consequences, as shown in the documentary film “Silent Fallout” (2023), directed by Ito Hideaki and featuring Mary among the survivors of nuclear testing, which was also screened on the ship. 

Mary shows a map indicating how fallout from the Nevada nuclear tests spread across the United States

Mary herself has lost friends, neighbors, classmates, and family members including her own sister to radiation-related illnesses. She has a folder full of obituaries of deceased loved ones. “I have been sliced, radiated, and scooped out,” she said. “I have buried and mourned the dead, comforted and advocated for the living, and worried with each pain, ache, and lump that I am getting sick again, that cancer might return as it has to many of my family and friends. I survived. Too many others did not.” 

Mary after the lecture with, from left to right, her niece, Kazakh youth activist and Guest Educator Alisher Khassengaliyev, Hibakusha from Nagasaki Kuramori Terumi, and volunteer interpreters

The Cold War was a limited nuclear war, says Mary, inflicted on politically marginalized communities. For victims of nuclear testing like Mary, these nuclear tests themselves were a silent nuclear war that the US government waged against its own citizens without consent, in the name of national defense. 

A panel discusses how to pass on the memories of atomic bomb experiences, from left to right: Guest Educators Alisher Khassengeliyev, Mary Dickson, Sue DiCicco Smith, and Anthony Drago 

Finally, Mary delivered a lecture titled “The Power of Testimonies” in which she highlighted the strength of human testimonies to move the hearts of policy makers and thus influence governments to compensate and support the victims. The audience onboard was moved and impacted by Mary’s strong words. 

“Many of my loved ones have passed away. I survived to carry on their message and pass on the torch of nuclear abolition to the world.” - Mary Dickson  

Pictured are Mary, her niece, Alisher Khassengeliyev, Kuramori Terumi and Peace Boat staff