Oak Ridge Journal excerpts for January 29, 1944

Excerpts from the Oak Ridge Journal, 75 years ago this week 

January 29, 1944

ABOUT WINTER ILLNESSES

This is the time of the year when measles, mumps, chicken-pox and other contagious diseases are common. Many parts of the country are having considerable numbers of these diseases.

The situation at Oak Ridge is not alarming, and every precaustion is being taken to prevent the spread of contagious diseases. Only a very small number of the more serious diseases have occurred. There is no “epidemic”.

AT THE CENTER THEATRE

Saturday 29, 1944, January

“AMERICAN EMPIRE”

R. Dix -Preston Foster

WEDNESDAY ONLY 7 & 9 PM

SPECIAL BOND PREMIERE

“GUADALCANAL DIARY”

Preston Foster - Lloyd Nolan

IMPORTANT-ADMISSION BY BOND ONLY!

Get Your’s Early at the Bank and Ask for Ticket to Premiere!

Thursday-Friday 2, 3 Feb.

“HIT THE ICE”

Abbott and Costello

THIS WEEK IN OAK RIDGE

SATURDAY, Jan 29th:

8:30 PM President’s Birthday Ball

High School Gym

TUESDAY, Feb. 1st:

7:00 PM Instrumentalists - Cafeteria

7:30 PM Civil Air Patrol-High School

8:00 PM Concert Band Rehearsal in 

North Wing of Cafeteria

WEDNESDAYm Feb. 2nd:

5 & 6 PM  Dance Classes  (See Monday)

7:30 PM Badminton-High School Gym

8:00 PM Square Dance-Old Rec. Hall

8:00 PM Gun Club Room 163 High School

A MESSAGE FROM OUR TOWN MANAGER

We, of Oak Ridge, are greatly concerned about local problems affecting our personal comforts and welfare. We achieve results in attaining our objectives in direct proportion to the amount of effort we put forth. This is the application of the fundamental law of compensation.

Those whose responsibility it is to finance this war have asked everyone in the United States to lend their country enough money to continue the War to ultimate Victory. A loan with interest paid in two forms - money, and future security - by a debtor with prestige, character, stability, and a record of unbroken promises…

P. E. O’Meara

Captain, Corps of Engineers,

Town Manager

CHURCH SERVICES

PLACE: CHAPEL ON THE HILL

Friday 28 Jan.

8:00 PM Jewish Services

Sunday 30 Jan.

7:30 AM  Catholic Holy Mass

11:00 AM  The United Church

2:00 PM Lutheran Services

5:00 PM Vespers - Episcopal

6:30 PM United Youth Fellowship

8:00 PM United Church Services

BAPTIST SERVICES

PLACE: THE HIGH SCHOOL

Sunday, 30 January

9:45 AM-10:45 AM Sunday School

11:00 AM - 12:00 Church Services

6:30 PM Training Union

ART EXHIBIT

     Citizens of Oak Ridge are invited to an exhibition of modern colored lithographs by three well-known artists and examples of Mexican, Peruvian and East Indian Handweaving at the New Recreation Hall on Sunday, 30 January from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. There is no admission charge…

GIRLS BASKETBALL LEAGUE

    There will be a meeting for the purpose of forming a basketball league, Wednesday, 2 Feb. ’44 at 7:30

    All girls interested in this league, send your team manager to this meeting, after meeting, at the High School Rm. 164.

LET’S HAVE A PARTY:

The Women of Oak Ridge are entertaining themselves

at

A VALENTINE TEA

Place: New Recreation Building

Time: Monday, Feb. 14th, 3 to 4 or 4 to 5 pm

Pool the children and come in shifts. Ten cents each pays our way.

THE ONE THING TO WIN THIS WAR

This  one thing is simply to deliver an honest day’s work wherever we are called to serve.

Honest work will WIN this war

Loafing will LOSE it.

The showdown will be whether Hitler

can DRIVE his men harder to work

than we are WILLING to work.

There is no to drive US  —- we

must drive ourselves.

Let’s grasp time the by the forelock

instead of by the fatlock.

BALLROOM DANCING

   The announcement last week about the Folk dancing at the High School Auditorium being followed by ballroom dancing for everyone  turned out to be impracticable because the Folk Dancing classes were so enjoyable that it lasted way into the evening.

However plans are under way to hold ballroom classes free of charge…

TOWN MEETING BIG SUCCESS

Town Meeting last Monday night was characterized by the largest attendance and the most spirited discussion to date. Information was provided on the Oak Ridge Recreation and Welfare Association, on certain legal and political aspects of citizenship in this community and on the correct methods of heating private homes….A committee of five persons was appointed…to establish a Town Library…

NOTICE

The Record Group will hold their next meeting on Friday, 4 Feb. 191 Outer Drive. All members and anyone interested in record music are urged to be present. 8 P.M.

NEW STORE TO OPEN

     The new Men’s Store on Tennessee Avenue will open on or about February 1st.

DO YOU KNOW ———-

Careless talk costs lives! That’s not a slogan ———- that’s a fact! There may be enemy agents and Axis sympathizers here collecting pieces of information revealed by scraps of conversation ——— putting those pieces together, ———- and perhaps informing saboteurs how to cripple war production. Some bit of information which you yourself think unimportant may be the key which will enable an agent to get the complete picture he’s looking for———that spy is waiting for you to let it slip….

Oak Ridge Journal for January 22, 1944

Excerpts from The Oak Ridge Journal 75 years ago this week January 22, 1944

A MESSAGE FROM OUR TOWN MANAGER

The Roane-Anderson now operates all those facilities previously directly operated by the U. S. Engineer Department. Those facilities include the cafeterias, dormitories, efficiency apartment, laundry and maintenance of all houses, operation of bus system, negotiation and management of Concessionaire contracts. In their capacity as operators they are agents of the Government, and their activities and policy governing such activities are directed by the District Engineer through the Town Management Division. Their compensation is fixed, and not dependent upon the financial return from the rentals of buildings or services rendered
In establishing policies involving the public, consideration has to be given to the democratic principle of majority rule. In those cases where seemingly arbitrary and inequitable decisions have been made, those affected should bear in mind that the object was to do the most good for the greatest number, with the facilities available…

P. E. O’MEARA

Captain, Corps of Engineers,

Town Manager

AT THE CENTER THEATRE

Saturday, 22 January

HE’S MY GUY

Foran - Davis

Sunday, 23 January

CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN

Ankers - Carradine

Wednesday, 26 January

MY KINGDOM FOR A COOK

Charles Coburn

RED CROSS WORKERS WANTED

A large quota of Surgical Dressings has been received by the Oak Ridge Unit American Red Cross and workers are urgently needed.

Work Rooms will be open from 12:30 to 4:30 PM daily in the Cedar Hill School, Michigan Ave at Outer Drive beginning Monday, 16 January 1944. Workers are urged to wear wash dresses and bring a head covering.

THIS WEEK IN OAK RIDGE

MONDAY, Jan. 24th:

5:00 PM Children’s Dance-Elmgrove Gym

6:00PM Ladies Dance Class - “ “

6:45 PM Basket Ball-High School Gym

7:15 PM Basket Ball-Robertsville Gym

BUY MORE BONDS ——YOUR INVESTMENT

IN FUTURE PEACE AND SECURITY

TOWN MEETING

The next Town Meeting will be held Monday night, January 24th, at 8 PM in the High School Auditorium. The Planning Committee has arranged for a number of topics of major interest to town citizens to be discussed. Representatives of the U.S.D.E. Legal Department and of the Welfare and Recreation Association will be present to give information on questions which have been asked by a number of town residents with relation to legal and political rights of community members and to community recreation. In addition, the Planning Committee will present a list of suggested topics for future Town Meetings, which will be discussed by those present…

FOURTH WAR BOND DRIVE

On Tuesday, 16 January, the nation wide Fourth War Bond Drive opened. It is reports from the officer of Capt. James S. Harmon, Acting War Bond Officer and Lt. COl. Vanden Bulch, who is handling cash purchases of bonds, that Oak Ridge is well on its way to meeting its quota, both through the pay reservation plan and in cash purchases.

All civilian and military personnel are urged to bring their own investments in bonds up to 10% of salary — more if at all possible. Forms for making Class A Pay Reservations may be obtained from your Section War Bond Representative…

CHURCH SERVICES

PLACE: ELMGROVE, PINE VALLEY & ROBERTSVILLE SCHOOLS

Sunday 23 January

9:30 AM Sunday School - all ages United Church

MAGAZINE COLLECTION

House residents please leave used magazines on covered porch as the Boy Scouts plan the collection on Saturday, 29 January.

WHAT DID YOU DO TODAY

What did you do today, my friend,

From morning until dark?

How many times did you complain

“The rationing is too tight”?

When are you going to start to do

All of the things you say?

A soldier would like to know, my friend,

What did you to today?

We met the enemy today

And took the town by storm.

Happy reading it will make

For you tomorrow morn.

You’ll read with satisfaction

The brief communique

We fought, but are you fighting?

What did you do today?

My gunner died in my arms today;

I feel his warm blood yet-

Your neighbor’s dying boy gave out

A scream I can’t forget

On my right a tank was hit,

A flash and then a fire;

The stench of burning flesh

Still rises from the pyre.

What did you do today, my-friend,

To help us with the task?

Did you work harder and longer for less,

Or is that too much to ask?

What right have I to ask you this?

You probably will say.

Maybe now you’ll understand;

You see, I died today.

Copied from the Minneapolis Alert.

Lieut. Dean Shatlain, Tank Commander, wrote this poem on a battlefield in Africa. He had amputated his own foot  with a jack knife and thought he was dying when he wrote this poem. He was rescued by Americans and is now in a hospital in England. 

LOST FOUND FOR SALE WANTED

LOST:

GIRARD - PERRESCAUX WATCH, platinum case. Lost between Center Theatre and Dormitory W-2. Reward Dormitory W-2, Room 208.

SOMEONE TO REPAIR ALARM CLOCK which should keep much better time than it does. Call Ext. 1163

PAGING SADIE HAWKINS

Will the person who sends suggestions to the Town Manager, signed “Sadie Hawkins”, please Call Ext. 1204 for an appointment.

NEW BEAUTY SHOP

Watch for opening of new Beauty Parlor, New York Avenue at Utah.

GROCERY STORES

Suburban Grocery Stores will open soon on Tenn. Ave. at Tacoma, also New York Ave. at Utah.

NEW BARBER SHOP

On New York Ave at Utah, a modern 4-chair Barber Shop opens for business on 22 Jan. Hours 8 am to 7 pm.

CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET?

How good an American are you? Good enough to buy Bonds… to give your blood…….. to work in a war plant……… good enough to keep a secret? No matter how you answer the first three, if you can’t keep military and production secrets,—-you’re working for the enemy, because careless talk costs lives….the lives of our fighting men!……Naturally, none of us would knowingly tell the enemy anything that might cause a ship to be sunk, or a battle lost ——-no spy expects you to do that. But it’s all the little scraps of information ———production schedules, the location of some military unit ——put them all together, as enemy agents do, and the whole secret is disclosed, and the damage is done. The way we can prevent that, is to prevent our enemies from getting the little facts he needs —— by refusing to tell any kind of unpublished war secret to anyone. When military or production information is entrusted to you, keep it When you hear something that could possible help the enemy, remind the person who tells  it to you, that he’s risking the lives of soldiers and sailors needlessly. Don’t be a link in the chain of Axis agents ——-KEEP YOUR SECRETS —————SECRET!

Oak Ridge Journal for January 15, 1944

Oak Ridge Journal   75 years ago this week

January 15, 1944

A MESSAGE FROM OUR TOWN MANAGER

Some recent developments and future plans - - -

A local unit of the War Price and Rationing Administration has organized and will be located in Town Hall about 20 January - negotiation are complete for opening a jewelry  .5-10¢-$1.00 and up, and Miller’s Department Store (in buildings now under construction just east of the Community Store) - grocery store, beauty parlor and barber shop on New York Avenue - grocery store and beauty parlor on East Tennessee Avenue - filling stations at the intersections of East Village Road and Route 61, and West Gateway and Route 61 - garage and repair station near the intersection of East Village Road and Route 61 - a general Information Bulletin of the Townsite is ready for distribution - a central file of all residents’ addresses is nearing completion - a community employment bureau for Townsite people and employers will start operation within a week - the Recreation and Welfare Association present charter calls for an election of officers on 1 February - a 24-hour nursery school will be opened in 60 days - organized baseball, soft ball, tennis, etc., leagues are being planned - a skating rink will be opened, if we can locate skates and get a building - plans for providing more non-commercial recreation activities are being formulated - all signed Suggestions to the Town Manager are being answered.

P. E.  O’MEARA,

Captain, Corps of Engineers,

       Town Manager

AT THE CENTER THEATRE

Saturday, 15 January

TWO SENORITAS FROM CHICAGO

Joan Davis —- Jinx Falkenburg

Thursday & Friday, 20 & 21 Jan.

WE’VE NEVER BEEN LICKED

R. Quine —- Nosh Berry, Jr.

         M. O’Driscoll

Saturday, 22 January

HE’S MY GUY —- Dick Foran

        Joan Davis

THIS WEEK IN OAK RIDGE

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 19th:

5 & 6 PM Dance Classes (See Monday)

7:30 PM Badminton - High School Gym

8:00 PM Square Dance - Old Rec. Hall

FRIDAY, Jan. 21st:

7:45 PM Little Theatre Night -

High School Auditorium

CIVIL AIR PATROL SQUADRON 

Resumes Regular Tuesday Meetings

At 7:45 P.M. Tuesday last the Oak Ridge Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol met for its second regular Tuesday meeting in 1944. Meetings will now be regualrly at the High School. The drill and instruction program were resumed, and it is hoped that many members will be able to complete the basic program by early summer. All members who want to get into active C.A.P, work should make it a point to attend theTuesday meetings of the squadron  regularly. As time  goes on there will be calls for active C. A. P. members to do special duty such as courier service. Bear in mind no one must serve duty if it interferes with regular work. This is a splendid opportunity for all who want to get aeronautical experience and at the same time to pinch-hit for Uncle Sam on emergency and other special occasions…

CHURCH SERVICES

PLACE: CHAPEL ON THE HILL

Friday, 14 Jan. 8:00 PM Jewish Services

            Saturday, 15 Jan.

7:30 PM Catholic Confessions

Sunday, 16 Jan.

7:30 AM Catholic Holy Mass

11:00 AM The United Church

2:00 PM Lutheran Services

5:00 PM Vespers - Episcopal

6:30 OM United Church Services

_____________________________________

BAPTIST SERVICES

PLACE:      THE HIGH SCHOOL

                  SUNDAY, 16 JANUARY:

9:45 AM - 10:45 AM  SUNDAY SCHOOL

11:00 AM - 12:00 CHURCH SERVICES

6:30 PM TRAINING UNION

____________________________________

PLACE:   TOWNSITE CENTER THEATRE

SUNDAY, 16 JANUARY:

11:00 AM Catholic Holy Mass

________________________________

PLACE:   PINE VALLEY SCHOOL AUDITORIUM

11:    AM Sunday Bible Study & Communion 

7:30 PM Wed.  -Midweek Bible Class

BUY WAR BONDS

FOURTH DRIVE

COMING STARTING

ATTENTION DORMITORY RESIDENTS

There is a special FIRE and THEFT Insurance Policy available to dormitory residents and others living in Oak Ridge. This policy insures your personal effects for FIRE and THEFT not only in your dormitory room but outside as well, at a special rate allowed only to those living in Oak Ridge, so take advantage of the opportunity to insure your belongings by dropping into the Office at the Old Rec. Hall — Office #1, first door on your left, or phone 637-J for further information. This special insurance costs only $10.00 for $500 worth of protection for the year.

SHOPPER’S COLUMN

This is one year when none of us “D-Fence” workers in Oak Ridge have to hunt around for New-Year’s resolutions. We’ve all made the most of important ones - to ourselves: - To conserve, buy bonds, avoid hoarding, and to make Oak Ridge a finer place to live. To plunge into the swim toward Victory as though wild beasts were after us(and they are).

We resolve to live, to keep our health, to do our work; to grow and gain and give. We resolve never to look behind - but to move forward with whatever strength we have, and to find that it is more than enough.

BEAUTY: - (Girls another leap year is upon us)

We must admit that beauty has always played an important role the lives of women. Or goal, therefore, is to combine a perfect figure, a beautiful face, a fascinating personality, a youthful appearance and a real deep seated happiness…….and we should never lose sight of this idea. We have been told that buying and using such-and-such a preparation will bring us beauty; again we are advised to undergo a series of treatments, or are urged to invest in some gadget that will solve all of our problems and bring us charm and loveliness. First, all such advice is woefully incomplete. It implies that doing one thing will make us beautiful. Secondly, most of it promises to do the job for us without any real effort on our part. Whatever our ages, we can acquire loveliness, charm, and personality, just as we can acquire the ability to operate a typewriter, play the piano, etc…

THE STRING ORCHESTRA of the Instrumentalists held its first official meeting on the 28th of December, at time works by Bach were read. The next meeting, Thursday, January 6th at 109 Marion Road rehearsals get under way and members were well satisfied with the progress they made. New members are cordially invited to join, especially needed are violinists, violists and cellists.

COMMUNITY CONERT BAND of the instrumentalists is settling down to serious rehearsals in preparation for presentations already booked. New members are still being welcomed…

BASKET BALL LEAGUE

Basketball enthusiasts of Oak Ridge are pleased with the fine beginning made with league games on last Monday night. Scores below:

Checkers vs Globe-Trotters 26-23

Gremlins vs Operators 20-19

Vols vs Soks 35-14

Sphinx vs Woodchoppers 25-17

SHALL WE DANCE

 DANCE CLASSES: Those who have been enjoying the dance classes at the Elmgrove Gym every Monday and Wednesday nites are learning a few special dances to be presented at programs under way to be enjoyed by Oak Ridge-ites…Some Military tap routines are now being worked out in cooperation with the Victory program now in full sway here in our own lil dogpatch. Maybe we can’t dance our way to Victory, but keeping up that ole morale was never a bad idea.

SEWING MACHINE SERVICE

Sewing Machines and service, parts or machines etc. have been made available for the convenience of Oak Ridge residents. Go to 104 Maiden Lane, Oak Ridge, Tenn. or write Box 66, Oak Ridge. Parts and supplies for all makes and kinds of sewing machines. The gentleman in charge is planning to make available also, machines for use of dormitory residents, a sort of community sewing room…

  WANTED

Girl, at least 14 years old, or woman, who would like to earn a little cash, to stay with wife when husband is on night shift. Private bed, no work, no meals furnished. Call at 107 Fulton Ln. write Bx 668

Girl singer or two for Oak Ridge Orchestra-See Bandleader at Friday rehearsal Cafeteria or Sat. Dance.

---

Oak Ridge Journal January 8, 1944

Oak Ridge Journal   75 years ago this week

January 8, 1944

A MESSAGE FROM OUR TOWN MANAGER

Since the beginning of a New Year is usually the time for making resolutions, suppose that for 1944 Oak Ridge resolved to - -

go throughout the year without a fatal traffic accident - build traditions worthy of its people - be active in community affairs - become acquainted - work more, and shirk less - be tolerant - build an active Parent-Teachers Association - take advantage of its opportunities to become an ideal community in which to live - gossip less - visit more - organize more small groups for recreational, educational and spiritual benefits - volunteer when needed - contribute when called upon - keep every house and grounds clean and orderly - be less critical of neighbor, and more critical of self - cooperate more - complain, when justified, where it will do the most good -

“GET THE JOB DONE” - AND WIN THE WAR

Just suppose Oak Ridge resolved to accomplish all of these things - - would not 1944 be a most successful, prosperous and happy New Year?

P. E. O’Meara

Captain, Corp of Engineers

Town Manager

AT THE CENTER THEATRE

Sunday, Jan 9th.

“YOUNGEST PROFESSION”

Edw. ARNOLD, Lana Turner

Thursday-Friday, Jan. 13-14

“PRINCESS O’ROURKE”

Olivia DeHavilland

Robt. Cummings

Charles Coburn

THIS WEEK’S ACTIVITIES

SATURDAY, 8 January

8:00 PM Aircrew Cadet Concert and

Glee Club - High School Auditorium

9:30 PM - Dance - Information at

New Recreation Hall - Buy Ticket

FRIDAY, 14 January & Sat.. 15 Jan.

8:00pm “Arsenic & Old Lace” - High

School

SNOOP SCOOP Suspects Sabotage!…

Finds sugar in package labeled arsenic. Ho Hum!

In a secret interview your roving reporter got this statement from Snoop Scoop sweating with relief upon discovery of the real truth; that was not arsenic in those little sugar sacks to townsite cafeteria last Monday.Seems Little Theatre was advertising it’s forthcoming production “Arsenic and Old Lace.” 

COAL DELIVERY

It is requested that orders for coal delivery be placed thirty-six hours in advance.

SPECIAL NOTICES

NEW DRUG STORE: On New York Ave. new drug store has been recently opened.

SHORTAGE OF KEYS:  There is a great shortage of key blanks. There must be a great number of old keys in Oak Ridge, which could be reground and used as new keys. All residents are requested to contribute any old keys to the box placed near the Post Office.
S.O.S. — Will the Captain who borrowed the floor Waxer from the Guest House contact the clerk there or return the waxer to the Guest House.

Ornithological Club Note: On Wednesday, 12 January 1944, Dr. Henry Meyer, Assistant Professor of Zoology, University of Tennessee, will be a guest speaker of the Oak Ridge Ornithological Club. The meeting will be held in the High School at 8:00 PM Dr. Meyer’s subject will be - “Bird Behavior”.

ANNOUNCING

Community Church Services at East Village Chapel, each Sunday and Wednesday nights at 7:30, Subject of Sunday night, January 9: “Will Hitler Conquer Europe?” You and your family are cordially invited to hear the message. No collections. Reverend Allen T. Bidwell, 106 Anna Rd.

ATTENTION CITIZENS!!! TOWN MEETING

History was made in Oak Ridge last Monday night, December 27, when a large number of citizens met in the first real Town Meeting of this community at the High School Auditorium. The meeting aroused such enthusiasm that it was voted unanimously to hold Town Meetings in the future on the second and fourth Monday nights of every month; the next meeting being Monday, January 10, at 8:00 PM in the High School Auditorium.

Town Meetings will provide, as pointed out by the Planning Committee elected at a previous organization meeting, an opportunity for citizens of this community (1) to air their complaints and grievances (as one citizen expressed it, to exercise that inalienable American right to ‘gripe’), (2) to receive first hand information on, and explanation of, town matters from representative of Town Management, (3) to discuss and devise means for developing community loyalty, unity and welfare.

MOVIE MATINEES FOR SHIFT WORKERS

Effective Monday, Dec. 10th matinees performances of the current movies at the Center Theatre will be instituted…One showing of the complete program will enable the patrons at the Center and still enable them to get out of the Center in time to be at work on time.

LOST - FOUND - FOR SALE - WANTED 

WANTED: School girl to assist with light house work evenings and Saturdays. Good pay. Call at 101 W. Malta Rd., Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

PUPPIES: Little boys and girls of our community. There are puppies for free at 103 W. Magnolia Ave. First one there can have 4, the next three get one each.

LOST DOG: Slightly Collie, brown with white spot on nose, fat. Answers to “Pal”, very friendly. Reward offered, 184 Outer Drive or call Et. 1000.

---

Oak Ridge Journal January 1, 1944

Oak Ridge Journal

January 1, 1944

At the movies

JOHNNIE COME LATELY - James Cagney

NORTHERN PURSUIT - Errol Flynn

Monday, January 3rd.

5 pm Children’s Dance at the Elm Grove Gym

Wednesday, January 5th.

6 pm Ladies Dance Class at the Elm Grove Gym

8 pm Square Dance at the Old Rec. Hall

Schedule for Chapel on the Hill for Sunday, January 2nd.

7.30 am Catholic Holy Mass

11.00 am The United Church

2.00 pm Lutheran Services

5.00 pm Vespers - Episcopal

6.30 pm United Youth Fellowship

8.00 pm United Church Services

SNOOP SCOOP WONDERS

…if lots of us here in Our Town didn’t have the war brought home to us last week when two Army boys injured in action last summer in Italy made their informal tour of our project. We’re lucky not to be exposed to machine gun nests as we settle down to earth with a parachute. Guess that sort of pluck obligates us to work on this project with all possible speed and efficiency and a minimum of slip-shod work and arguments. We can save an “awful” lot of soldiers legs from being shot at by enemy machine guns while our soldiers make parachute landings.

IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM MILLERS

Millers are happy to announce that the construction of their new home is well under way. We purchased all new and modern fixtures and these fixtures are now ready for installation on the completion of the building. Miller’s new home will be light and airy for pleasant shopping. The new fixtures are of light oak finish and showcases are equipped with flourescent lighting.

HOUSEKEEPER needed by mother who will be in the hospital with new baby early in January. Must have someone to care for 4 & 5 1/2 year old children. 142 Kentucky Ave. P.O. Box 831.

Another Hero of World War II Dies

Joachim Ronneberg, a Norwegian commando who helped cripple a Nazi occupied heavy-water facility in Norway, died in late October. He and his fellow commandos were stranded in the mountains of Norway because of equipment failures. Radio contact with the outside world was spotty and was unwise because transmissions could be intercepted by the Germans.

The challenges were immense, but the commandos persevered and reached the plant in Telemark.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45938874

There is a great documentary about the raid on YouTube. It is a three part series. I could only find part one and two in complete videos. Part three can be watched in ten minutes chunks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gExqx4PXXG8&t=4s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gExqx4PXXG8&t=7s

The Sorrows of August

   I always get cranky this time of year. The first week of August. It really begins in early July when I notice on the Internet announcements for “peace vigils” around the world for August 6th and 9th. Memorial services worldwide will be held too. Hundreds of services, maybe thousands, will be observed for the tragic events of August 1945.

    A ceremony will be held in Oak Ridge. In the past it was held early morning on August 6th in front of the entrance to Y-12. At 8:15am a bell is rung and prayers are offered for the dead of Hiroshima. Symbolism is important and powerful, when done right.

    In Oak Ridge, during World War II, the bomb actually was detonated at 7:15pm on August 5th. If you want to honor the dead, it would be nice to get the time right.

    The big daddy of memorial services is the one held in Hiroshima on August 6th of each year. Even the ceremony in Nagasaki, just three days later seems to pale in comparison. Being second at anything is a pitiful distinction.

    I looked at Google news citations in August of 2015, the 70th anniversary of the bombings. On August 6th there were 10.2 million citations for Hiroshima. On August 9th there were 4.8 million news mentions of Nagasaki. On August 15th, the day Japan surrendered, I googled the phrase “Japan surrenders.” There were 21,000 references. The news media doesn’t think peace is sexy.

    The ceremony in Hiroshima is a masterful effort by the Japanese to focus on the United States’ actions and by doing so, deflect attention from the 5-12 million people slaughtered by the Japanese in their brutal, nationalistic attempt to control all of east Asia. Their campaign to be the victims of war has worked almost perfectly.

    There are five things I want to see happen to reverse this Japanese victim centric marketing campaign. None of these things will ever happen, but a guy can dream.

    First, Japan should discontinue their memorial services at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but they will never do that. Short of that, they should move the services to December 7th of each year. Not gonna happen.

    Second, the Japanese could impose a news blackout on the services. They say they want to honor and respect their war dead. Plastering the event all over the international news media markets is exploitive. Their current media frenzy desecrates the very lives they claim to honor.

    Third, the Japanese should stop sending invitations to 154 of the 193 world’s countries  to send representatives to the Hiroshima ceremony. When you invite 81% the entire neighborhood to your memorial service it no longer is a ceremony of respect for your war dead, it has become a pity party.

    Fourth, the Japanese should support the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. They have not and they are hypocrites for not doing so. Why haven’t they? They are petrified of North Korea obtaining deliverable nuclear weapons and they want the protection of the U.S. nuclear umbrella. It takes a special kind of moxie to condemn, by implication, the U.S. actions on August 6th and 9th and then demand our country’s nuclear protection from Japan’s neighbors the other 363 days of the year.

    Finally, Japan’s Emperor Akihito needs to go to Nanking, China on December 13th of this year to attend the memorial service there for the 300,000 Chinese slaughtered during the Japanese siege of that city in late December of 1937. Akihito’s father, Emperor Hirohito, approved the slaughter.

    Think about it for a moment. The United States bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Over the next 73 years, about 275,000 people died because of the blast affects and from the long term affects of radiation exposures.

    The Rape of Nanking, as it is known, killed 300,000 Chinese in seven weeks. The Japanese accomplished in 43 days what the United States couldn’t achieve in 73 years. The Japanese have never taken responsibility for Nanking. Their response? It really wasn’t that bad. The Chinese, according to the Japanese, have inflated the fatalities at Nanking for their own propaganda purposes. Japan should know. They are experts about exploiting their own war dead.

    Yes. I am biased on this subject. Over 600,000 workers nationwide built and operated The Manhattan Project. Those workers have been ignored by the United States and each August, the world community, led by the Japanese, condemn our actions from 1945. 

    Japan has, over the last 73 years, dominated world opinion on the bombings. The narrative needs to change, but Japan will fiercely defend their victim status to the world. 

Running from History

     I roamed around The Secret City Festival on Friday June 8th. It was a wonderful, great event with activities for kids and then, at night, there were two shows for nostalgic baby-boomers wanting to relive their youth. What’s not to love? It was wonderful. The festival organizers should be praised. 

     They provided a family friendly event which, besides the ORNL activities, was devoid of any kind of meaningful content about the history of Oak Ridge.

     Attendees curious about history could stroll around the memory walk on the east end of Bissell Park and soak up a little history of the Secret City. If they were still curious and wanted more history, they could walk, almost a half mile, to the west end of the park, in 90 degree heat, cross the turnpike and see the exhibits at the Wildcat Den. They could soak up more history there, while standing in their sweat soaked shirts because of the major hike from the main festival site.

     The festival organizers perfectly reflect the larger culture. Indulgent play events centered around children and then 40 year old bands for the baby boomers are what festival visitors want. History? We don’t need no stinking history!

     Roaming the festival grounds everything was generic. The festival could’ve been in Powell or Farragut or Lenoir City. “Secret City Festival?” Not really. It should be renamed “The North Farragut Festival” or “Just Another Festival” for all that it promotes Oak Ridge. 

     I am a relic, a dinosaur; somebody who believes history can teach us how to conduct our lives today. A silly sentiment that looks naive.

      The history of Oak Ridge is getting pummeled. Here are just a few examples.

     1.)    City council sells AMSE to a real estate developer who blackmailed the city council over the Main Street project. The developer’s message: no AMSE sale, no Main Street project.
    

     A June 14th display of the new AMSE layout at the high school, showed that the Manhattan Project history will occupy 570 square feet of the exhibit space. The public bathrooms take up about the same sized space. DOE doesn’t care about the legacy of Oak Ridge.

     2.)    The national park service abandoned AMSE for the Children’s Museum to host their visitor’s information desk.

     3.)    Because of limitations of space, most of the ORHPA exhibits which in the past were in the civic center for the Secret City, were moved off the main festival site to the Wildcat Den, almost half mile away. 

     4.)    The festival board dropped the World War II re-enactment from the Secret City Festival. The re-enactments were hugely popular with the public, drawing massive crowds, but they have been contentious among some locals who believed they glorified war.

     5.)    Both WBIR and The Knoxville News-Sentinel ran stories about photographer Ed Westcott being nominated for the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Local reaction on social media or news media outlets? Almost total silence. 

     6.)    According to a WATE report, local groups, along with DOE contractors, quickly raised $700,000 for building a new pavilion for The Friendship Bell. The bell is a type of public atonement for the bombing of Hiroshima which, based on donations, the community strongly supports.

     7.)    Here is a quote from a WBIR report about the 2018 Secret City Festival.

      “While the origins of this city were ground-breaking, the legacy of the last 75 years could be how the people have remained proud of the past without being stuck in it.” (emphasis is mine)
    

     Pure speculation on my part, but I doubt the reporter created the quote on their own: a civic leader fed it to them, wanting to make a derogatory comment about local history buffs and take a swipe at military reenactors.

     8.)    A news report from the online edition for May 15, 2018 of Newsweek:

     The report says a group of Japanese nationalists have demanded the National Park Service label Hiroshima and Nagasaki as war crimes in its Manhattan Project exhibits. Here is the reply from the park service.

     “What we want to do is to make sure that we provide multiple and broad perspectives and not draw firm conclusions, but to leave those conclusions to our visitors, giving them the sovereignty of thought,” Manhattan Project National Historical Park Superintendent Kris Kirby said, according to the South China Morning Post.

     Obviously, Kirby didn’t reject the idea, which was amazing to me. 

     In the spirit of Kirby’s comment, I offer a suggestion. There is a museum at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial next to Omaha Beach in France. Over 9,000 Americans are buried there. I would urge the museum there to expand their exhibits to include the perspectives of Germans during the war, for a balanced narrative presentation.

     These are just a few examples of the assault on the legacy of Oak Ridge. It’s obvious that civic leaders want to run away from the Oak Ridge story as fast as they can. 

     Civic leaders look forward, not backwards. Fools wallow in the past, visionaries always look toward the future.

     Across the country, communities are chasing after millennials to relocate to their cities. They are the hot new demographic. Millennials love propulsion sports. Visionaries believe Oak Ridge is perfectly positioned for the millennials. Civic leaders believe Oak Ridge can row and kayak its way to prosperity.

     I am stuck in the past. Millennials mean nothing to me. What happened here during World War II is one of the great inspirational stories of American history. Nobody cares.

     If I was a visionary I guess I would understand.  

Facebook and Hiroshima

On a bit of a lark, I posted the previous blog entry here on Facebook. Didn't think about much. I posted it on the largest of Oak Ridger groups. It seemed like the right location. It was about Hiroshima, but Oak Ridge is always linked to that place. As I have written before, Hiroshima is the legacy which Oak Ridge cannot embrace, but which it can't escape either. It is a hell of a fix.

My postings, most often, disappear without comment from anyone. This particular posting was different. Within minutes there were comments. Most of them were critical. I assumed this was a short lived event. Folks would get it off their chests and move on. Stupid me, I thought I should defend my post from accusations without basis and from flat-out factual errors. Evidently, this is some breech of Facebook etiquette. It is expected that regardless of the inflamed nature of the response that I should thank them for commenting and move on. I didn't know.

The back and forth went on for hours. It went on after I signed off for the night. Before it was over I was called a hater of the Japanese, a bigot and a racist. This went against the rules of the group, but the moderators were silent.

The offended group demanded that the moderators take down the post. They claimed the posting was "political" and thus, violated the rules of the group. This was total bologna, but the offended wanted to silence my voice. 

They didn't get the chance. About 28 hours after I posted the Hiroshima op/ed I took it down. It wasn't because of the protests, but this controversy wouldn't end. It seemed the easiest thing to do.  I didn't want to put the moderators in an awkward position. 

The posting was allowed under the rules and it was relevant because any action by the Japanese which taints the reputation of Oak Ridge workers should be exposed and discussed. The efforts of a tiny group of critics to crush a voice which offends them I thought was most disturbing.

Welcome to Facebook and Hiroshima.

The Japanese: Masters of Marketing

    Every May citizens in Hiroshima go through a ritual. A powerful, symbolic ritual that reveals one  perspective of the Japanese toward Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

    Wednesday, May 16th was the day this year. At the cenotaph in the Hiroshima Peace Park volunteers open a tomb beneath the cenotaph. 

    It houses 114 books which list the victims of Hiroshima of Nagasaki. Each May, the books are removed and inspected. Stored in an underground tomb, in a tropical/swamp environment where mold and fungus are constant enemies, the books are inspected page by page for signs of damage. The books list 308,725 names. 

    The Masters of Marketing never miss a marketing opportunity. The Japanese know, today, exactly the number of victims of the bombings. A criteria was established decades ago: exposure based on distance from the epicenter within a specific time frame after each bombing.

    The books could have been filled very long ago, but that would have squandered a wonderful annual marketing opportunity of victimhood. The Japanese leverage the bombings with the international community to divert attention from their own massive atrocities during World War II. Adding names to the books is one part of the campaign.

Japan Times

    Names are added to the books just once each year. The dead from August 6th. of the previous year to August 5th. of the current year are added. It takes time. They begin the inscribing in mid-May. This year over 5,500 names will be added. It’s quite an annual listing of the carnage. It plays well with the international media. It’s a very strong visual: the cenotaph, the 114 books laid out for inspection, the city employees adding the names of the newly dead, the prayers for the living and the dead.

    What happens when all the victims have been added to the books? The annual ritual will be over. They will move the books from their outside grave (graves…get it) to the interior of the museum. The worries of the dampness of the crypt will be a thing of the past. The books, with over 300,000 names in them can be displayed for all the world to see.

     With the turning of the calendar, this ceremony of remembrance will fade from the world’s consciousness. But maybe not. This powerful, symbolic ritual, could be continued.

    I would guess the Japanese will expand the definition of victims to include the children of victims. The annual ritual could go on for another hundred years. It would be foolish to pass up decades of a marketing opportunity for the victims of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Japan Intimidates National Park Service

A group called The Society for the Dissemination of Historical Facts in Japan, is insisting that the United States National Park Service call the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as "war crimes" at the recently established Manhattan Project National Historic Parks.

Let me be clear, the society is a fringe group within Japan, but their demands got widespread coverage in Japan. The United States edition of Newsweek covered the story.

There are many issues swirling around the bombings. The United States National Park Service needs to make a decision about how to construct a narrative that reflects the American perspective. It appears the park service believes it should include the Japanese experience into the national park experience in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

According to The South China Morning News:

The facilities are being expanded and “interpretative themes” are being developed, said Kris Kirby, superintendent of the park.

Kirby confirmed that her department had received expressions of concern that the parks would be “a celebration of the bombs”.

“These facilities are not going to be a celebration but a respectful commemoration of history”, she said.

“There are many opinions to be taken into account, this is a controversial issue and so we are going to proceed very carefully”.

“What we want to do is to make sure that we provide multiple and broad perspectives and not draw firm conclusions, but to leave those conclusions to our visitors, giving them sovereignty of thought.”

And that is a serious concern to Hiromichi Moteki, acting head of the Society for the Dissemination of Historical Fact in Japan and a former high school history teacher.

Moteki has previously described the plan for a national park to mark the attacks as “very strange” and insists that they be remembered as war crimes.

“I think there will be problems as they move forward with the project because the officially held view in the US government, as well as the opinion commonly held by American people, is that these were righteous actions,” he said.

Reasonable people can disagree, but the Unites States National Park Service is under no obligation morally or historically to offer the Japanese perspective.

Congressman Fleischmann's Secret

    In late 2016 I contacted local civic leaders with an idea. Oak Ridge photographer Ed Westcott must be nominated for The Presidential Medal of Freedom. It is our country’s highest civilian honor. The last photographer to win the award was Ansel Adams in 1980, over 37 years ago.

    Westcott has earned the award. From 1943 to the end of World War II, he took over 15,000 photographs in Oak Ridge. He created, with determination and discipline, the most important photographic archive of 20th. century American history. When the war ended in August of 1945, Westcott was just 23 years old.

    Local experts agreed. A group of East Tennessee civic leaders and politicians would organize and forward the nomination to the White House. Westcott has lived in Congressman Fleischmann’s district for many years.. His support was essential.

    As soon as the Big Dogs got involved, everything went dark. I would email folks asking about progress. On the very rare occasion someone replied, I was assured that things were moving along. The tone was always slightly paternal.  These important matters needed to be left to the titans of government, business and industry. I agreed. This was a job for Big Dogs.

    The task was top secret. Letters of endorsement were solicited from various VIP’s. The nomination itself was written by communication experts.

    Finally, in the fall of 2017, I was assured by email that the nomination was submitted to The White House. Again, no chatter on the Internet, no comments in the media. Hush hush. Experts said it was now out of their hands. All that could be done, had been done. We needed to sit back and let the nomination Gods do their magic. 

        The news blackout about the Westcott nomination submission to the president is understandable and lamentable at the same time.

    Understandable because of politician’s aversion to even a sniff of failure. Politicians hate failure whether actual, or even worse, perceived. An Italian politician  once wrote victory has a hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan. 

    It would be better to let the Westcott file collect dust on someone’s desk in the West Wing, than be a fierce vocal advocate for a losing cause. Publicity was too risky for civic leaders if the outcome was in question. Westcott might be an orphan.

    I scoured the Internet searching for any reference to the Westcott nomination. Nothing was found. Looked over Fleischmann’s press releases. Nothing found there either. Politicians issue press releases and have press conferences about the smallest of grant money going to a worthy cause or to announce Awareness Day or Week or Month for dozens of different illnesses or for social issues of the day.

    Westcott’s nomination didn’t get a press release. Fleischmann’s Oak Ridge office was emailed requesting comment. None was received.     

    The decision to have a news blackout was lamentable because public support for the nomination would make the president’s decision easier. Most politicians like popular decisions.

    Coverage on Fox News about the amazing Westcott story and his nomination would be a good thing. The president might see the story. It is rumored he watches quite a bit of cable news. The experts decided it was best to fly under the radar.

    Part of the mystery and silence around the Westcott nomination is the selection process for the Medal of Freedom inside the White House. Established by President Kennedy, the award started out under a rigid bureaucratic process. Committees met. Nominations were considered. Nominees were discarded. Recommendations were forwarded to the Oval Office.

    Over the years, presidents expanded their powers and streamlined the system. By Reagan it had become a type of patronage system where cultural or political influence held more sway than true merit.
    Along the way, the selection process became shrouded in secrecy. Committees disappeared to be replaced by staff members fighting about nominations over beers on a late Friday afternoon. Or so it appears. Nobody really knows for sure. 

    The president can convey the award to anyone at anytime. Living or dead, American citizen or not. There are no limits on the number of medals he can award. 

    At times, only a few hours separated the announcement of the award and the award ceremony. Sometimes there was no announcement at all. Yes, occasionally it appeared to be an impulsive act. 

    I hope the president is very impulsive about the Westcott nomination. He has earned this award, but the clock ticks. All the while civic leaders keep their lips sealed.

    It will be difficult to predict which gets buried faster: Ed Westcott’s nomination for the Medal of Freedom or Ed himself.

Oak Ridge Must Define Its Legacy

     It was with great interest I read the two part article in “Historically Speaking” by Sue Frederick about Lydia Simpson’t visit to Oak Ridge in August.

     While I did attend Simpson’s presentation at the August meeting of ORHPA, I witnessed a very different dynamic than the one described in Frederick’s piece. My observations were not the sudden revelation from a single meeting, but rather a long slow awareness born of 18 years of listening to Oak Ridgers talk about their legacy.

      Audience members had questions They were frustrated. What can we do to get this story out there? Is there grant money to help us market the community? What advice would you, Simpson, give our community?

     Much of the frustration comes from outside groups framing the Oak Ridge story for their own ends. I see a community which for over 50 years allowed the Japanese, along with other nations, to define Oak Ridge. In marketing, it’s called branding. To the world, Oak Ridge is the birthplace of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. 

     This Japanese branding campaign, which was expertly done, has had a cumulative, corrosive affect on the psyche of the town. When the outside world condemns you, it allows doubt to creep into your thinking about your self-worth. 

     Nobody locally is to blame for this trauma to the city’s civic pride. Beginning in the 1960’s, protestors came to town each August to condemn the arms race in general and the bombing of Hiroshima specifically. The locals chose the path of least resistance: they ignored the protestors. 

     This made total sense. There was no upside to confrontation. Better to just go about your business. The protestors, once they got their coverage on the local news, would always go away. 

     Silence worked, but over 50 years, it took a toll on the community. Every August would come international coverage of the memorial services in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and, along with it, condemnation of the United States. Japan never wasted a branding opportunity.

The nation, in response to the scorn of the world, did exactly what Oak Ridge did locally; they ignored it. Silence was the best policy. There were unintended consequences of this silence

    The national policy of silence meant Oak Ridge was abandoned by the nation it had served, decades before, during a time of crisis. When criticism was hurled at the Secret City, it needed the support of the nation. The nation turned its back. Oak Ridge’s pride took yet another beating.

     This pummeling of the United States by Japan strikes me in many ways as very odd. Particularly if you know just a little bit about world history after World War II.

     After the Japanese surrender, the U.S. occupied Japan for seven years. Our country helped rebuild their government, dismantle their military, reinvigorate their educational institutions and oversaw the resurrection of their industrial base.

     Over 30 years, Japan went from a defeated, destroyed militaristic culture to the second largest economy in the world. Along the way to prosperity Japan decimated the U.S. consumer electronics industry and its automotive sector too. Japan’s rebuilding is perhaps the most inspiring story of 20th century world history. What they did, with America’s help, was amazing and unprecedented.

      Yet every August, Japan wags its finger at America over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The memorial services allow the Japanese to remind the world of the atrocities committed by the United States on the innocent civilians of Japan. Every single year the memorial services are held. Japan never passes on a branding opportunity.

     The Japanese refuse to admit their own atrocities during the war. Some 3-10 million people died at the hands of the Japanese. Japan claims the numbers are grossly exaggerated and politically motivated. They wish to forget their own horrors of war.

     What has all this have to do with heritage tourism? Everything. Who will define the Oak Ridge story? The Japanese or Oak Ridge? Right now, the Japanese own the issue and drive the agenda on the world stage.

    There are dozens of stories to tell about Oak Ridge during World War II. Hiroshima is one of the many narrative threads, but by no means, the only one. Japan wants only one story told and they have been wildly successful at telling that one story, but Oak Ridge must decide its legacy, not Japan.

     The 75th anniversary of the ending of World War II approaches quickly. Only 29 months. This is a shorter time than the history of Oak Ridge from condemnation of the farmland to the surrender of Japan.

     Oak Ridge must seize the opportunity and define its own legacy. There must be a full-throated  affirmation of Oak Ridge’s role in helping end World War II. The community must proclaim a united message of civic pride. It might go something like this:

      “The Oak Ridge community was essential to the successful construction of the atomic weapon used at Hiroshima. Our community was asked to do essential war work under impossible conditions. We did everything asked of us and more. Our work brought a swift end to World War II.

     Hiroshima is part of our legacy. We did it. We own it. We will not apologize. We will not offer atonement for sins we did not commit.  We refuse to have any other group decide the history of our community.”

     If Oak Ridge citizens do not vigorously defend their legacy in the nation’s history, why should they think that anybody else will do it for them?

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

Recorded at the Wiltern Theatre August 6th 1985

I try to stay focused on my blog at ignoredheroes.com about Oak Ridge during World War II. Sometimes I stray. I added my two cents about the kerfuffle over Confederate monuments, but even then it did have an Oak Ridge connection. The Manhattan Project workers have been cast out of our nation’s history and it seems the Confederacy is now heading for the same fate. Oak Ridge and southerners are being ostracized and I offered a sympathetic ear to an entire region of the country being kicked to the curb by a condescending finger-wagging majority.

 My entry today is about the untimely death of Tom Petty and it is personal. His song, The Waiting has been my personal theme song for over 15 years. The waiting is always the hardest part.

But there is even an Oak Ridge connection for me and Petty’s song. I’ve spent much of the last 15 years trying to get the Oak Ridge story out on the national stage. I have failed constantly. I know it is the greatest untold epic story of American history, but the national media refuses to even to take a cursory look at the story. There is a national taboo against this amazing story. Absolutely nothing positive can be said about The Manhattan Project. It is forbidden. 

There has been a local taboo in Oak Ridge too. The leadership in town ignores the World War II legacy. It pays lip-service to the story when they must, but actions speak louder. Local institutions lined up to finance a new venue for the Japanese Peace Bell, a local act of contrition, while at the same time they sold The American Museum of Science and Energy to a private developer who will take a wrecking ball to it as quickly as it can. Actions speak louder.

The leadership finds heritage tourism as being very backwards looking and just plain backwards too. To thrive, Oak Ridge must be forward looking, innovative, progressive and on the cutting edge of technology. To honor the city’s role in ending World War II is to wallow in the distant past. 

The locals think I am Don Quixote: a dreamer chasing 70 year old windmills. Perhaps they are right. It is frustrating. When the locals shake their heads in dismay at my efforts, I lose almost all hope.   

 Petty’s The Waiting, got me through many of those hard days. It took Petty many years before he attracted a large audience to his music. He kept his shoulder to the grindstone and kept pushing. If he had doubts, I have never heard them expressed in interviews. He let his music do the talking, never losing faith in his talent.

I think to myself, If Petty could keep fighting…I can too.”

A Miracle from 1942

      In September of 1942, Colonel Kenneth Nichols, 2nd in command of The Manhattan Project, was tasked by General Groves to find a source of uranium for The Manhattan Project. Nichols, based on scientific reports, headed to New York to meet with Edgar Sengier.

    Sengier, a Belgian geologist, owned a uranium mine in Shinkolobwe, Congo. When they met, Nichols asked if the Congo mine could supply uranium ore for the project’s use. 

     His response might be the most stunning answer of World War II. 

    “You can have the ore now. It is in New York, a thousand tons of it. I was waiting for your visit.”

     The back story. The Shinkolobwe mine is a geological freak of nature. Much of the ore in the world has 1.5% uranium in it. Experts claim that fraction of ore is a solid number for enrichment. The Congo mine’s ore was 65% uranium. An astonishing number.

    Beginning in 1940, Sengier began receiving letters, phone calls and personal visits from physicists. He was told his ore could be used for the most destructive weapon the world had ever seen. Hitler must never get the Congo ore. So, Sengier, without help and without compensation, shipped 1,200 tons of uranium ore to New York City, to keep it out of German hands. He shipped the ore in November of 1940. Colonel Nichols walked into his office in September of 1942.

      It was an amazing act of foresight and courage. He is perhaps, the most unknown, most ignored hero of World War II.

Edgar Sengier is on the left. 

The Most Important Decision of 1942

There were shortages of material during World War II. How did Oak Ridge get the supplies it needed?

On the job for just two days… 75 years ago on September 19th…

    Lieutenant Colonel Groves with letter in hand, (he wouldn’t be formally promoted to Brigadier General for another four days)  goes to meet with the head of the War Production Board Donald Nelson. Groves requested, almost demanded, a AAA rating for The Manhattan Project, which meant it would get the highest priority for any and all materials during the war. The prepared letter Groves had in hand, was from Nelson to Groves approving the AAA rating. All Nelson had to do was sign it. 

    Nelson turned down his request. Groves, not missing a beat, said he would have to go to FDR and recommend The Manhattan Project be abandoned because The War Production Board was unwilling to support Groves’ request. 

   This brash, young Lieutenant Colonel, just two days on the job, left Nelson’s office with the letter signed.

   Oh, by the way…that same day, Groves approved the condemnation of 58,000 acres of land 20 miles outside Knoxville for the building of the largest scientific, industrial project in the history of mankind. Many consider this “the birthday” of Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

A reassignment which saved the world

Lieutenant Colonel Leslie Grives, working for the Army Corp of Engineers, had just completed The Pentagon, the largest office building in the world. Groves had his sights on Europe. He knew he would need to get into the middle of World War II if his burning ambition for advancement was going to be fully realized.

His superiors had other ideas. On September 17, 1942, 75 years ago today, he was told he was being reassignment. He would stay stateside to run a top secret scientific/industrial project. He knew the general objectives of the project. The project was under the Army Corp, and Groves was involved to provide expertise about a project which would be larger and more complex than the building of The Pentagon.  Privately, he thought the project was a boondoggle which, if it failed, would have him testifying before Congressional Committees for decades after the war.

But he was a soldier. He accepted his new job with a grim determination to make it a success. Less than a month earlier, the project had been renamed: The Manhattan Engineering District.

It would be difficult to impossible to imagine any other American who could've brought The Manhattan Project to a successful conclusion. He was blunt. He worked constantly. He rubbed everyone the wrong way, but he got the job done.

A Quiet Conclusion to Slaughter

General Douglas MacArthur makes comments during the signing ceremony of the Japanese on Sunday, September 2, 1945.

Watching the film 72 years later, it appears very anti-climatic. A delegation of Japanese officials board the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Both the Japanese and the Allied leaders are subdued. A couple of men in the Japanese delegation were dressed in morning suits of a definite British flavor. Tails and top hats were the order of the day. Almost all the Allied representatives wore regular issue military uniforms. British representatives of the navy were in shorts.

The ceremony is brief, just 23 minutes by official records.. General MacArthur gives a short speech. Papers are signed and the Japanese delegation leaves.

Occupation of Japan would end less than seven years later in 1952. Just 15 years after the end of occupation, Japan would become the second largest economy in the world. It was a trend of growth unrivaled in the 20th. century. Japan would eventually decimate both the American consumer electronics industry and the U.S. automotive industry.

Never before in the history of war had a former enemy helped another nation recover politically, culturally and economically from the ravages of their own making.

Nine days in August, 72 years ago

Many of the facts from this posting were pulled from David McCullough’s biography of President Truman. It is one of the great presidential biographies ever written.    

The country knew it must be coming, but it knew not when. Hiroshima had been attacked on August 6th, followed by Nagasaki on the 9th. Crowds were a constant around the White House for days. When, at night, it was obvious no announcement would be coming, the crowds disappeared into the sticky, hot Washington night. Hopes were high.

The terms of surrender outlined in the Potsdam communique were clear. Japan was publicly silent, but back channels were in play. Japan wanted a deal, but not the Potsdam deal. The Emperor must remain. A compromise was offered. The Emperor could remain, “subject to the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces.” It was enough, but the waiting seemed like torture.

Friday the 10th. Truman has talks with advisors. A Cabinet meeting in the afternoon. Truman announces at the Cabinet meeting he ordered the military to suspend their plans for additional use of atomic weapons. Regardless of the stance of Japanese leadership, Truman could not tolerate the slaughter of more Japanese.

The White House heard nothing on Saturday the 11th, or on Sunday the 12th and nothing on Monday the 13th. From the bombing of Nagasaki to the surrender was only six days, but it seemed like eternity. Many in the White House had frayed nerves. Truman seemed calm.

At 4:05 pm on Tuesday August 14th Truman received news of the Japanese acceptance of surrender. He would’ve gotten the news ten minutes earlier, but the courier from the State Department was stopped by a police officer for making an illegal u-turn on Connecticut Avenue. The courier, holding the end of World War II in his hands, was 16 years old.

The White House announced President Truman would have a statement at 7pm. The journalists packed into the Oval Office and sprinted for the phones to file their stories after his brief statement.  The crowds celebrating around outside of the White House that evening was estimated at over 50,000. World War II was over.

In Oak Ridge, it was like the rest of the nation. The celebration started soon after the president’s announcement. But the dancing and revelry were different. 

Oak Ridgers had been at the center of the ending of the war, but most of them only learned the purpose of their work just nine days before, when Truman mentioned Oak Ridge in his address to the nation after the bombing of Hiroshima.The workers in Oak Ridge had been told for three years that they were doing important war work, and now finally, Truman had told the nation that the work in Oak Ridge was indeed important.

Many remembered that the celebration continued until the sun came up on August 15th, the official V-J Day celebration. Many Oak Ridgers, for the first time in years, thought about returning home.

Robert E. Lee and Oak Ridge

    August 6th. looms large in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. A Sunday this year. A small protest group will gather in town and offer prayers, incantations and they will ring bells at 8:16 am.

    Thousands of groups worldwide will meet on the anniversary of Hiroshima. Led by the Japanese, the international community will memorialize the dead and, by extension, condemn the United States for its actions. Oak Ridgers accept the 50 years of steady scorn with silence. To object has been futile. They have felt the sharp sting of the back hand of the world, and their own country, for decades. Ostracized from history is the norm for Oak Ridgers.

    It wasn’t always so. From the end of the war until the early 60’s, the United States offered remorseful gratitude about Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Remorse for the massive loss of Japanese life, but also gratitude for quickly ending the deadliest conflict ever seen by mankind.

    In the 1960’s it all changed. A social revolution shattered our institutions and all noble ideas about our history were throw to the curb. The bombings became unjustified and unnecessary. World War II, as a context, disappeared. Being at war with Japan was ignored. The bombings were evil, and therefore, the United States was evil too. The interpretation of events leading up to the bombings went from playing chess to playing tic-tac-toe. The moral matrix of tic-tac-toe is far easier for those who think the bombings were wrong.

    Today the country is embroiled in the same moral reckoning about a different event: The Civil War. Confederate flags and memorials have come down. Southern soldiers are now viewed as traitors by those determined to remove the stain of slavery from the national narrative.

    How far does the country go forward with the moral cleansing of slavery? George Washington was a slave owner. Does his monument come down in D.C?  Do we change the name of the nation’s capital? Jefferson owned slaves too and had six children by one slave. Does his memorial in Washington come down too? Is the University of Virginia leveled in atonement for our national sins? Is the left half of Mt. Rushmore destroyed with mortars , much like when the Taliban destroyed historic religious shrines in Afghanistan?

    With moral cleansing, do we destroy the symbols of western expansion, which required the genocide of 12-17 million indigenous people? Do we tear down the St. Louis Arch? Does the Alamo, a symbol of Hispanic diaspora, come down too? Moral purity is a zero sum game. The implications for our national narrative are massive.

    National cemeteries are the country’s most sacred ground.  Over 400 Confederate soldiers are buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Must those traitor’s corpses be exhumed and burned, in a pyre of national purging?

    My concerns appear extreme to some, but they are the logical extension of taking down Confederate Memorials. Many times in history, the victors of civil wars, in peace time, destroy their former opponents. Attempts at reconciliation get twisted into retribution and revenge.

    Southerners and Manhattan Project workers are now members of The Museum of National Shame. Oak Ridgers have 50 years of membership behind them. The Confederates are newly installed and they are confusedand hurt by the nation’s rejection. Oak Ridgers can offer them support. 

    The Museum of National Shame, as part of their outreach program, will offer 12 step meetings around the nation for southerners needing a shoulder to cry on or a sympathetic group to rant at. The group can be called “From heroes to demons: Victims navigating the emotional rapids of political correctness.”

    The 12 step meetings nationwide will be packed. “Hello. My name is Richard. I live in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and I know and respect southerners.”

    The demons will enthusiastically welcome me, “Hello Richard.”