Causing the death of thousands, saving the lives of millions. That IS the horror of war. Roosevelt was right: "I hate war." But we dare not shrink from it as there are so many that will do us harm, destroy all we are and do. Do that which is horrible to avoid that which is worse.
I always quote Patton to answer these critics: The object of war is NOT for you [expletives deleted], but for THOSE [expletives deleted] to die for THEIR country.
Such a trusting and patriotic generation. The many women and men who tirelessly performed their jobs in secrecy only knew that they were doing their share to help their nation win the war against an enemy that would destroy the freedoms that require constant work to secure.
God continue to bless the Greatest Generation and all who work tirelessly to keep the peace for this great nation. Thank you Tara, for another piece of our history.
Those women were so trusting and willing to do whatever they could to speedily end the war. It’s incredible that they worked on something without knowing what it was or what it would be used for eventually. After the fact it makes sense that they would have mixed emotions. All of them were patriots with great courage and loyalty to their country. This is a new part of our nation’s history to me.
My deceased father-in-law is/was a Marine on his way to the invasion of Japan when the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Difficult decision and it impacted hundreds of thousands - and ultimately millions - of lives. If our enemies had discovered the atomic secret first, America could now be a desolate wasteland. What a weighty decision and how it changed the world.
Those lives and more would have been lost if we had tried to invade Japan to bring an end to the war. It took me a long time and a lot of study to realize that fact. Bless those women for stepping up and helping in the war effort.
At Kenyon College in the mid-60's a Physics professor used to talk in dribs and drabs about working under super secret conditions at "that place in Tennessee" or the one out in the desert. Some of his stories were hilarious like trying to teach Oppenheimer to play basketball/ping-pong, faux sword fighting, and hiding things from each other. He was a Quaker, but explained he was saving lives. A truly wonderful patriot.
Thank you for this. The calutrons (like mass spectrometers) were one of the approaches used for separation. Gas diffusion columns were the other. The Oak Ridge location was sited due to its proximity to so much of the TVA hydroelectric capacity. All of these were at Oak Ridge.
I remember my grandmother telling me this story as a young boy as I was building a model airplane of the Enola Gay. I was always fascinated by all of the airplanes of the WWII.
Thank you bringing up this great memory for me. (1959)
I am of the opinion that if we had to sacrifice as these did today, it could not be done by our current population. Mom and Dad survived the Great Depression and passed their sacrificing ways to my family. We were much softer on our children but their children, our grandchildren, have grown up not knowing how to sacrifice. I am afraid that we are in for a time when they and their children will have to earn with another depression. I so admire those generations which preceeded mine, my grandparents and parents. They won a war and survived some of the most trying economic times our country has ever faced.
Causing the death of thousands, saving the lives of millions. That IS the horror of war. Roosevelt was right: "I hate war." But we dare not shrink from it as there are so many that will do us harm, destroy all we are and do. Do that which is horrible to avoid that which is worse.
My grandmother was one of these unsung heroes and even saved the plant from blowing up one day! Thanks for writing this!
I always quote Patton to answer these critics: The object of war is NOT for you [expletives deleted], but for THOSE [expletives deleted] to die for THEIR country.
In a Nutshell Johnny!!!
Yup
Such a trusting and patriotic generation. The many women and men who tirelessly performed their jobs in secrecy only knew that they were doing their share to help their nation win the war against an enemy that would destroy the freedoms that require constant work to secure.
God continue to bless the Greatest Generation and all who work tirelessly to keep the peace for this great nation. Thank you Tara, for another piece of our history.
Those women were so trusting and willing to do whatever they could to speedily end the war. It’s incredible that they worked on something without knowing what it was or what it would be used for eventually. After the fact it makes sense that they would have mixed emotions. All of them were patriots with great courage and loyalty to their country. This is a new part of our nation’s history to me.
If the war was lost, millions would have died in death camps. Thank you, Ladies for your great work!
My deceased father-in-law is/was a Marine on his way to the invasion of Japan when the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Difficult decision and it impacted hundreds of thousands - and ultimately millions - of lives. If our enemies had discovered the atomic secret first, America could now be a desolate wasteland. What a weighty decision and how it changed the world.
Those lives and more would have been lost if we had tried to invade Japan to bring an end to the war. It took me a long time and a lot of study to realize that fact. Bless those women for stepping up and helping in the war effort.
At Kenyon College in the mid-60's a Physics professor used to talk in dribs and drabs about working under super secret conditions at "that place in Tennessee" or the one out in the desert. Some of his stories were hilarious like trying to teach Oppenheimer to play basketball/ping-pong, faux sword fighting, and hiding things from each other. He was a Quaker, but explained he was saving lives. A truly wonderful patriot.
Thank you for this. The calutrons (like mass spectrometers) were one of the approaches used for separation. Gas diffusion columns were the other. The Oak Ridge location was sited due to its proximity to so much of the TVA hydroelectric capacity. All of these were at Oak Ridge.
https://www.nps.gov/mapr/learn/uranium.htm
The Atomic City Girls was a great read. The sacrifices and the successes of these women working at Oak Ridge is truly an amazing story.
I remember my grandmother telling me this story as a young boy as I was building a model airplane of the Enola Gay. I was always fascinated by all of the airplanes of the WWII.
Thank you bringing up this great memory for me. (1959)
❤️🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
I am of the opinion that if we had to sacrifice as these did today, it could not be done by our current population. Mom and Dad survived the Great Depression and passed their sacrificing ways to my family. We were much softer on our children but their children, our grandchildren, have grown up not knowing how to sacrifice. I am afraid that we are in for a time when they and their children will have to earn with another depression. I so admire those generations which preceeded mine, my grandparents and parents. They won a war and survived some of the most trying economic times our country has ever faced.
Indeed, these young women were a large part of the greatest generation!
Thank you! God bless those women and all that they did!
I wonder if the effort ever returned all the coin silver they "borrowed?"