Weekdays we ate breakfast and lunch together in the student cafeteria and went our own ways for dinner after work.

Saturday night was our time for relaxation. Most of the instrument group met at a designated bar in the loop after work. After a couple of drinks, we dined well at one of Chicago's many fine restaurants, then made the rounds of the bars until almost closing time. It was a time of food rationing and shortages, but the Chicago restaurants always seemed to have a bountiful supply of fine beef. plenty of coffee and sugar for desserts.

During these war years, Chicago was teeming with young men and women in uniform. As I walked along the street, 1 sometimes felt that passersby were staring at me and asking themselves why I wasn't in uniform. On one occasion, while having my hair cut by a young woman, I had the distinct impression that she was looking at me with disdain. She may have had a loved one in the European or Pacific theater, or even have been a war widow. I wanted so much to blurt out. "Hey, I'm doing my part.", but of course, I couldn't say a word.

My assignment at the Met Lab ended on July 2. Although I had missed Dot and my two-year old daughter, Jean, I had the excitement of my work and the three months went by quickly. For Dot. it was a different matter. She was pregnant and caring for Jean and running the household alone. That included many of the chores I usually handled, such as wiping the dishes while she washed, stoking coal into the furnace, shoveling the ashes from the ash pit to a barrel, coping with ration coupons, paying the bills and balancing the checkbook. Fortunately, there were friends to lend a helping hand. Dot and a great many other wartime wives and mothers were unsung heroes. We enjoyed two weeks of vacation before I reported to my next assignment at the Clinton Laboratories Oak Ridge

The plant was under construction by DuPont when I arrived on the site. Bill Overbeck and a few others of his group were already there. We spent our time in Bldg. 717-B, the Instrument Shop, writing manuals and ordering supplies. From the two and a half exciting years that I spent there, I have selected to highlight a few incidents.

November 4, 1943 is a memorable date for X-10 veterans. When I arrived on the plant that morning, word was being passed among those cleared for the information that, "A baby was born last night." The pile had gone critical. About mid-morning, I went up to Bldg. 105, the pile building, to take a look, although there wasn't much to see. At the Control Desk, the indicator of neutron flux was a D'Arsonval galvanometer, which measured the current from an ionization chamber in the center of the pile. The operator gave me a big grin as I peered over his shoulder. I walked over to the side of the pile. There was virtually no sound and certainly nothing to see to indicate the intense nuclear events going on behind the concrete shield. An eerie feeling crept over me and I got goose bumps.

I jump ahead to the spring of 1944. The transfer of Du Ponters to Hanford had begun. About two weeks before my move date, I was summoned to the office of Red Schwertfeger, the Works Engineer to whom Bill Overbeck reported. Red told me that my transfer to Site W had been canceled. My immediate reaction was one of disappointment. Red went on. "Du Pont has offered Bill Overbeck the position of Superintendent of Instruments at Site W. and he has accepted. Effective May 1, you will be the new Superintendent of Instruments here. Congratulations!" I was overwhelmed. Red went on to assure me that I was not expected to fill Bill's shoes. The development and start-up