13-12  Thomas J. Braswell

mp-contribution:

The foreman was always concerned about deadlines and getting the work out. I think they appreciated me because I was one of the most dedicated workers and that helped them push the other workers too.

mp-experience:

I ate at the cafeteria where an English scientist, who managed the project,also ate. He was an interesting entertainer. One day, he took loose sugar and put it in his hand and rubbed it around and around and eventually he opened his hand and it was a block of sugar. We were all amazed!

mp-stories:

I worked at Mallinckrodt Chemical Plant in St. Louis. I worked 10 hours a day, seven days a week, at 65 cents an hour. When I left, I was told by the superintendent that this was a secret project and no word was to be devulged about it to the public. I don't think I even told my family what I was doing.

biography:

Thomas Joe Braswell was born September 17, 1919, in the Missouri Ozarks. He survived two critical diseases, the German flu (as an infant), and TB (as a teenager), and became a Christian at an early age. He was in the NYA, was plant police at the Colorado Springs Air Academy. He then worked as plant policeman for the Hercules Powder Plant in Kansas, where rocket powder was made. In 1943 he worked at Mallinckrodt Chemical Plant, on the Manhattan Project. He left this Project, and served as plant police at Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Plant in California. Following WWII, he worked for several shoe factories, married Vernice Green, farmed, and returned to school at the age of 40. He earned an Advanced Masters Degree in Guidance and Psychological Counseling and worked in public schools for a decade as teacher, counselor, and principal. After a heart attack, he retired. He now lives in Texas.