A half-century ago physicists missed a major public service opportunity, costing the human race widespread chronic illness and many deaths!

Radar$-$pulsed microwave (MW) radiation$-$helped the Allies win World War II but health concerns soon arose. Alerted to a syndrome resembling {\it mild radiation poisoning},$^1$ a worried M.D. surveyed radar-exposed workers, finding a high incidence of internal bleeding, 2 leukemia cases in 600 radar operators, 2 brain tumor cases in a 5-man MW research team and many complaints of headache. He sent his report$^2$ to the Pentagon in 1953. Alarmed Navy officers convened a meeting$^3$ [mostly of electrical engineers (EEs)] to identify a safe level of MW exposure for servicemen. Biophysicist Herman Schwan attended, playing a major role in establishing 10 mW/cm$^2$ as a {\it thermally safe} MW exposure limit. The IEEE became sole sponsor of ANSI C95 [an early health standard for radiofrequency (RF) exposure] with {\it negative long-term consequences for human health!} I review RF health standards development since 1953, comparing what physicists might have done, had {\it they}$-$not EEs$-$had this responsibility! [See also my technical abstract.] $^1$ N.H. Steneck, {\bf The Microwave Debate}, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1984; p. 33. $^2$ J.T. McLaughlin, {\bf A Study of Possible Health Hazards from Exposure to Microwave Radiation} (Hughes Aircraft, Culver City CA, Feb. 9, 1953). $^3$ {\bf Biological Effects of Microwaves}, meeting minutes (Navy Dept. Conference, Naval Medical Research Institute, Bethesda MD, Apr. 29, 1953).