A Surprise Visit to History - The Atomic Bomb of WWII

 Days 58 and 59 - Saturday, September 10 - Sunday, September 11, 2022

Raccoon Valley RV Park, Heiskell TN

Raccoon Valley RV Park has a community room, and we are invited to watch a guest play what looks like a shooting game.  There are tables and chairs for meetings and nice air conditioning - if you need it, although the temperature is 68 degrees outside.

Because it is cloudy and rain is predicted, we plan to do our morning walk inside some buildings.  Clouds are still hanging around as we drive out the gate and head to Costco, Total Wine, and Kroger, where we will find necessary supplies at each location.

On Sunday the rain has gone and we walk a bit in the RV park, noticing that the staff has planted several containers of various herbs that are free for anyone who wants to pick them.

Later in the afternoon we visit Big Turtle Park in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, which was constructed as an Eagle Scout project in 1998.  

In Bissell Park nearby we find a bit of history and learn that Oak Ridge was not a city -- but looked much like the hills and valleys of East Tennessee -- until Pearl Harbor was bombed.  The Government then built a city which was called The Secret City because it then became the site of the Manhatten Project.  The entire city was surrounded by a large fence which provided 24/7 security for employees and families who would work to develop atomic power.  Their motto was:

     "What you see here, what you do here, what you hear here, let it stay here."

The workers performed repetitive tasks that they didn't know the reason for and that were kept secret from the other workers, because if they talked about their job, the information may get repeated to the enemy.

We soon learn more about the Manhattan Project.  Bissell Park has an oval walkway that honors the thousands of men and women who moved to the Secret City, and  features ten bronze plaques that tell the story of their contribution to ending World War II.  The plaque below tells of the beginning of the project, and how the future employees had to sell their present homes and move to live on site.

President Harry S Truman had been in office only 100 days when he learned that he had to make a difficult decision.  It was the sixth year of WW II, and over 50 million people had died.  Secretary of War Henry Stimson cautioned the President to consider wisely the use of the bomb, and the President wrote:

"I want to weigh all the possibilities and implications.  Here was the most powerful weapon of destruction ever devised and perhaps it was more than that...it was not an easy decision to make."

President Truman approved plans to use atomic bombs on two Japanese cities to force Japan to surrender and end the war.   

Another plaque honors the construction workers, and reads in part, "the success of their construction work for the Manhattan Project is a lasting tribute to the patriotism, dedication, skill and hard work of the untiring workers."

We spend quite a bit of time on the oval walkway, reading the plaques and taking photos.  I guess I let Herb photo-bomb the picture below, as he can be seen at the edge of it photographing something of interest to him.

The plaque below tells of not the first bomb, but the second one, that ends the war.  Oak Ridgers were thrilled to know that their work brought peace to an aching world.  There are many people alive today who lived through those times.

On August 14, 1945 Japan surrendered.

Willie of Sweet Georgia Brown,

     and of Walldog and Willie,

     Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 10 and 11, 2022