|
The Manhattan Project |
 |
|
|
|
|
September & October 2001 Newsletter |
|
Volume II - Issue 5 This newsletter is sponsored by the Society for the Historical Preservation of the Manhattan Project (http://www.manhattanprojectmemorial.org and the Children of the Manhattan Project (http://www.childrenofthemanhattanproject.org ) Topics covered in this issue: 01)
Site Statistics 02) New Veteran Profiles 03)
New Additions to the Site 04)
Preserving the History 05)
New Education Focus 06)
Veteran Search & The Memorial Site 07)
Quote of the Month 08)
Question of the Month 09)
Did You Know? 12) U.S.S. Indianapolis 14) Final Comments 01)
Site Statistics... There are
several measurements to the success of any given web site. The two
primary ones are the number of "new" visitors to your site in
any given month and the number of "page hits" your site has
received. "Page hits" refers to the number of pages viewed by
the visitors to the site. For instance, if you visited our site for the
first time in February and viewed 5 different pages, our site would have
received 5 "page hits". The below
table will give you an idea of the growth:
02)
Several Veteran Profiles Added… We have recently added eight new Veteran Profiles to our “Manhattan Project Veteran’s Memorial” web site; http://www.manhattanprojectmemorial.org/veteran%profiles/photo_directory.htm. These are photos and stories which have been sent to us by family members or friends. This part of our project is probably the most important and the slowest going. Keep in mind that we are trying to create the only public record of Manhattan Project participation for the thousands of civilians and military personnel who were not so lucky as to be named in the history books. 03)
New Additions to the Site… Since our
last newsletter in August, we have added close to another 30MB of material
to the web site. Our primary site is
now over 600 pages and 100MB in size. Below is a sampling of a
few of those additions: ·
Photos
– In the past 60 days, we have added more than 150 photos, including
10 of the 509th Composite Group, 100 + of Hanford, and 20 of the
Berkeley Radiation Lab. Check out our
new Photo Directory for a complete listing. http://www.childrenofthemanhattanproject.org/HICC/HICC_PD.htm · We have a new section which lists questions that have been submitted by visitors to our web site:
http://www.childrenofthemanhattanproject.org/COTMP/visitors_questions.htm · We have a new section which lists comments that have been submitted by visitors to our web site:
04)
Preserving the Historical Importance of the Manhattan Project… Most of you
receiving this newsletter realize that this is one of the major objectives
of our organization. However,
there are others who share this objective and we would like to make you
aware of their efforts. We
have devoted a full web page dedicated to each of these organizations and
I encourage you to visit either Los Alamos or Oak Ridge to see them first
hand. · Los Alamos Historical Society – Los Alamos – Housed at Fuller Lodge, they sponsor a historical museum located next door. http://www.childrenofthemanhattanproject.org/MP_Misc/Preserve/LAHS.htm · Los Alamos Education Group – Los Alamos – This is a group of retired LANL employees and concerned citizens whose mission is to set the record straight as to why the atomic bombs were necessary to bring an end to World War II. They have a wonderful exhibit at the Bradbury Science Museum. http://www.childrenofthemanhattanproject.org/MP_Misc/Preserve/LAEG.htm · Bradbury Science Museum – Los Alamos – This museum is operated by the University of California and devotes a huge area to Manhattan Project history including replicas of “Fat Man” and “Little Boy”. http://www.childrenofthemanhattanproject.org/MP_Misc/Preserve/bradbury.htm · American Museum of Science & Energy – Oak Ridge – This museum has loads of historical information on the Manhattan Project, mostly dealing with Oak Ridge’s role. http://www.childrenofthemanhattanproject.org/MP_Misc/Preserve/AMSE.htm
· Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association – This organization works to preserve the historical importance of Oak Ridge, TN. 05)
New Education Focus… The school year has started and, as anticipated, we receive many visits from both high school and college students. We continue to work on a comprehensive historical information center to complement the hundreds of photos and documents. The Manhattan Project is so overwhelming in scope that many students have a difficult time deciding where to begin. To assist them in their research, we have developed a new "Student Topics" section which provides encouragement to develop their research projects around specific stories of the Manhattan Project. http://www.childrenofthemanhattanproject.org/History/Student-1.htm For a
chronological listing of the historical research data, please visit
our table of contents to see our planned project.
We always welcome comments , so please let us know if any changes
to our approach are warranted. Please
click on the link below to visit this education center. http://www.childrenofthemanhattanproject.org/History/ERC-1.htm 06)
Veteran Search and the Memorial Site… We must not
lose sight that our primary focus has always been and will continue to be
the Manhattan Project Veteran. We
have several initiatives started that should improve our success in
locating veterans. The below list of names have been submitted by visitors to our site. Please let us know if you have any information about these individuals. NOTE: WE HAVE SEVERAL MORE NAMES THAT I WILL E-MAIL TO EVERYONE IN A SEPARATE E-MAIL! 1) Arthur Isserstedt - Worked on Timing Device at Los Alamos 2) Sgt. Robert Breneman - Military Police at Los Alamos 3) Grover H.
Catt; 509th Composite Group 4) Bert Sigler - Provisional Engineer at Los Alamos 5) Bill Elmore - Civilian Scientist or SED at Los Alamos 6) John Frank
Boling; Civilian employee; Oak Ridge 7) Lillian O. Crist - Secretary at Oak Ridge 1943-45 8) John
Westerling; Chemical engineer; SED; Los Alamos 9) Ralph
Wascher – Driver; SED we believe; Los Alamos 10) Alice
(Hails) Compton – Chief Coding Clerk; Washington, DC In addition,
we have a fantastic new message board where several people have posted
messages looking for information on relatives.
Please visit this message board often to see if you recognize the
names of any Manhattan Project veterans.
Click on the link below to reach the Message Board! http://www.bulletinboards.com/view.cfm?comcode=cotmp Look for an upcoming tribute to Harry K. Daghlian and Louis Slotin, two Los Alamos scientists who lost their life in the pursuit of the first atomic bomb. 07)
Quote of the Month... "I know not what world war III will be fought with, but world war IV will be fought with sticks and stones"
08)
Question of the Month... First, the
question from our last newsletter:
The correct answer: Princeton University This
Month's Question: Due to the extreme secrecy of the Manhattan Project, espionage was always a main concern of the security force. During the espionage investigation into the activities of British physicist, Klaus Fuchs, it came to the attention of the FBI that a member of the SED at Los Alamos had been passing classified documents relating to the atomic bomb to his sister and her husband. What was the name of the SED member and who were the husband and wife team that received the secret information? 09)
Did You Know?... During World War II it was rumored that the Army Air Force had been seen dropping pumpkins instead of bombs. Actually, this rumor originated from someone who had learned or heard sensitive information from someone with the 509th Composite Group. During practice bombing missions, the 509th Composite Group dropped "test" bombs of approximate size and weight of the "Fat Man" bomb. These test bombs were mustard colored and were referred to as "pumpkins". 10) Books
and Publications... As many of you already know, we have worked diligently to provide our history buffs with access to several books dealing with all aspects of the Manhattan Project. A few months back, I was asked by the publisher of Glenn Seaborg's new autobiography to review an advanced copy. I did so and recommend it highly. http://www.childrenofthemanhattanproject.org/BK/book_featured.htm As always, several original and unique publications are available from the Los Alamos Historical Society! http://www.childrenofthemanhattanproject.org/MP_Misc/Preserve/LAHM_01.htm
11) Comments
Worthy of Note... The famous line from the movie Field of Dreams was: "If you build it, they will come". We have found that to be true with our web site and the immense interest there is in the history of the Manhattan Project. August response to our site will almost double July's. We are receiving load of e-mails each week. One writes: "I just found out about this site today. ABSOLUTELY MARVELOUS!!!!" - John Coster-Mullen; Historian and Author. In addition, Hans Bethe was recently awarded the Bruce Medal for lifetime achievement. In the publication of the award, 5 biographical references were given, with our Manhattan Project Hall of Fame being 1. The others included PBS, Robert Bacher and Victor Weiskopf's book, and the Britannica Guide to the Nobel Prizes. We thank everyone responsible for recognition of our hard work. http://www.childrenofthemanhattanproject.org/HF/Biographies-Men/bethe.htm
12) U.S.S. Indianapolis... As most of you know, the U.S.S. Indianapolis was the ill-fated Heavy Cruiser that delivered atomic bomb components to the South Pacific island of Tinian in July 1945. On its return trip, it was torpedoed by the Japanese and sunk. 800 of the crew of 1,200 lost their lives in one of the most controversial actions of World War II. We are working closely with the Indianapolis Veteran's Organization and recommend that you check out their site along with others that we have located. http://www.childrenofthemanhattanproject.org/HISTORY/H-07a3b.htm 13) September 11th Terrorist Attack… It is hard to believe, but it is possible that our web site was visited by one or more of the terrorists who struck the United States on September 11th...or, some of their "friends". For statistical purposes, we track a substantial amount of information about our visitors. During the running of some mid-month statistical reports in September, I noticed some "odd" things and notified an individual that I know (a former Manhattan Project scientist) who has some high-level contacts with the Government. Although the information I had was "interesting", I was skeptical of its importance. But, my contact thought otherwise. In a matter of hours, I was contacted both by Military Intelligence at the Pentagon and the CIA. I have provided them with certain information which they believed could be "very important". I was asked to keep the details secret for awhile and thus cannot, at this time, expand this further. Suffice it to say that I was enormously pleased that I could do "something" to assist the authorities in their search for answers. 14) Final Message… You
Can Make a Difference - Again, we wish to thank all of you
for your continued support and interest in preserving the historical
importance of the Manhattan Project.
We are always
eager for new content for both our newsletter and web site.
The interest amongst our young people is growing by leaps and
bounds. Anything that you can
contribute would be greatly appreciated.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
