In 1942, with the United States at war with Germany and Japan, the government began buying up land twenty-five miles west of Knoxville in what was then a sparsely-settled part of eastern Tennessee. It built roads and schools, theaters and restaurants, stores and a library. Ultimately, 75-thousand people were brought there to live and work—-though most of them didn’t know what they were working on until August of 1945 when the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in Japan. Oak Ridge, Tennessee is still there—-though not quite as populous as it was in the ‘40’s. Today we’ll visit the town our government built for people making the bomb that ended World War II.
Caught this show on Bob Edwards weekend. Appreciate you letting them tell their story at length. My dad was stationed in Hawaii at the end of the war; I assume as one of the troops scheduled to make a landing in Japan. The work on the bomb and the decision to use it has, thus, been a little more personal for me than it otherwise might have been. Keep up the great work.
This is one of the best interviews ever….bittersweet!
Amazing show.
Thank you!