“I thought it was the whole world coming down”
The story of Irene Kowatch.
By Joshua Wheeler (Text) and Reto Sterchi (Photo), 16.10.2021
Die Republik ist ein digitales Magazin für Politik, Wirtschaft, Gesellschaft und Kultur – finanziert von seinen Leserinnen. Es ist komplett werbefrei und unabhängig. Lösen Sie jetzt ein Abo oder eine Mitgliedschaft!
Irene is Henry Herrera’s younger sister. She was 8 years old when the bomb went off. She doesn’t remember seeing the blast like Henry did. She was probably asleep. But she remembers waking up to shaking and things falling down. “I thought it was the whole world coming down,” she says.
Irene and Henry were 2 of 8 children in the family at the time of the Trinity test. 4 of the children eventually developed cancer. Irene also lost her husband after bouts with skin cancer, prostate cancer, and lymphoma. Though he was not raised in Tularosa, he was in the military there and she worries his frequent work near the Trinity Site contributed to his death.