. >> reporter: people in tularosa aren't counting on getting a check from the government any time soon. >> there's not enough money in this whole wide world to compensate the people in tularosa, we could fill a lake with the tears and the prayers. >> reporter: at the white sands missile range, an obelisk marks the spot where the bomb stood. the ranch house where it was assembled is two miles away. tiny pieces of green glass litter the ground, melted sand that's still slightly radioactive. the national cancer institute is embarking on an assessment of what people ate and how they

this one with traditional new mexican luminarias is in a baseball field in the village of tularosa. these are victims of a different kind of loss. >> there's just-- just too much cancer here. so many tears. >> reporter: gloria herrera knows about cancer from her friends, her neighbors and her husband, henry, who's had three different kinds. the herraras blame the disease on a day etched in henry's memory. he was 11 years old. >> kaboom, that thing exploded and i mean it was a big explosion. it wasn't like these regular ones we'd be hearing. >> reporter: in july 1945, scientists worked in secret on the world's first atomic bomb in a part of new mexico's desert called jornada del muerto or journey of death. they hoisted a 19 kiloton device called the gadget on top of a 100 foot tower. at 5:29 in the morning on july 16th, a tremendous flash came first, and then a mushroom cloud stretched seven miles high. it was the same size and power as the plutonium bomb that would be dropped 24 days later on the japanese city of nagasaki killing tens of thousands. july is the rainy season in new me

i heard to a woman born in tularosa in 1940. she told me that on the street where she lived at least ten people have had cancer. that's just one block. many families from the tularosa basin know this loss and pain. nornora faults, 71 years old is the only sibling of five who doesn't have cancer. her sister, helen was diagnosed with kidney cancer 17 years ago. helen's daughter had multiple illnesses and chronic pain and died at the age of 62. there are so many stories far too many stories like this. as gloria said, the tularosa community has shed enough tears to fill a lake. mr. president, it was my privilege to meet with these survivors. their stories are courageous and troubling. but most troubling of all is the people who were not there, who were not able to speak, who have passed away over the last seven decades. we all speak for them now and we will keep on speaking until justice is done. the tularosa basin downwinders consortium is doing critical work organizing the community making sure people listen and understand what ha