At 86, Hank Bolden finally earned his degree from the Hartt School at the University of Hartford after serving in the Army in an all-Black unit that was purposely exposed to radiation from a nuclear atomic bomb blast. “They wanted to see how live soldiers would stand up to radiation,” said Bolden. 

His outfit was comprised of 800 men. President Harry Truman abolished all-Black units in 1954 and 1955, but Bolden said racism persisted nonetheless. 

On February 18, 1955, Bolden’s troops were ordered to the Nevada Desert Test Site where the Army conducted tests with soldiers and animals.

Without explanation, Bolden and other Black men were ordered to march miles into the desert and get into a trench. Looking at the other young men surrounding him, he realized they all had two things in common: They were all Black, and none of them had any idea what was coming next.

“They tell you to cover your eyes,†he recalled. “We were dressed in fatigues and were just 2.8 miles from ground zero of the atomic bomb drop.”

After a countdown blared through a loudspeaker, there was a brief moment of unsettling silence. Then, it came– a Mark 6 nuclear bomb dropped from a B-36 airplane flying 4,000 feet in the air. Blinding light. Intense heat. A deafening sound as a monstrous mushroom cloud billowed before them, 21,500 feet high.

“You could see bone in you from the exposure. You could see your skeleton,†he said.

Bolden and the other men were ordered never to tell anyone what they experienced. The government estimated that between 400,000 and 550,000 service members participated in nuclear tests held between 1946 and 1992. The tests were part of an effort that was known as Operation Teapot.

Bolden suffered from cancer as a result of radiation exposure, but many of the other soldiers died of cancer, never knowing that they might have been helped by the government to secure needed medical care.

President Bill Clinton established the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation and issued a formal apology to the atomic bomb veterans on October 13, 1995.

Many atomic veterans had no idea the order to keep secret what they had experienced had been lifted and died of cancer. But Bolden discovered this news by reading the Internet. 

On Sunday, May 14, 2023, the now 86-year-old’s goal was achieved and celebrated at the XL Center in Hartford.

“Henry Bolden, summa cum laude,†a voice boomed as applause filled the air. In a cap and gown, Bolden smiled as he walked onstage to accept his Bachelor of Music diploma with honors. His children, grandchildren, and wife of over 63 years, Cynthia, cheered proudly.