Army

General and Physicist Helped Usher in the Atomic Age

By David Vergun , DOD News

No one person can be credited with producing the world’s first atomic bomb but two men had outsize achievements in that effort: physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer and Army Lt. Gen. Leslie Groves.

On Oct. 9, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt approved the development of the atomic bomb, partly out of intelligence reports that Nazi Germany might acquire one first.

Roosevelt chose the Army to lead the project, as that service had much experience managing large-scale construction projects.

In September 1942, Groves was appointed director of the ultra-secret Manhattan Project, the code name for the vast effort to produce the bomb. Groves had extensive experience supervising big projects as an engineer, including construction of the Pentagon, and he was widely recognized as a leader who got jobs done on time no matter what.

Groves approved a number of critically important research and engineering endeavors; he also approved production sites for work on the bomb, including Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Los Alamos, New Mexico; and Hanford, Washington. As leader of theproject, Groves directed construction at those sites; made key decisions in the bomb’s manufacture process; directed intelligence on German efforts to produce a bomb; and, once the bombs were ready for delivery in 1945, selected targets in an effort to shorten the war.

Another one of Groves’ important decisions was selecting Oppenheimer to lead the physics aspects of making the bomb.

Both Groves and Oppenheimer had the talent, drive and leadership qualities that enabled production of the bomb on a very short timeline.

After the end of World War II, the Manhattan Project continued to support atomic weapons testing until the Atomic Energy Act of 1946 split the program into two parts: the Atomic Energy Commission, known today as the Department of Energy, and the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project.

The organization responsible for the aspects of the nuclear weapons remained under military control after the split. It was responsible for nuclear weapons maintenance, storage, surveillance, security and transportation, and conducting offensive and defensive military training in nuclear weapons operations and supporting nuclear tests.

The Defense Department’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency traces its roots back to the Manhattan Project in 1942, according to the agency’s website.

A large number of books have been written about the Manhattan Project and the people involved in it. A biography of Oppenheimer, “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer,” was published in 2005. It was written by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin.

That book was adapted into the film “Oppenheimer,” which was released 07/21/23

The first nuclear test occurred near Alamogordo, New Mexico, on July 16, 1945. The bomb was successfully used later that year.

Directed by Christopher Nolan, it stars Cillian Murphy as Oppenheimer, Emily Blunt as Oppenheimer’s wife, and Matt Damon as Groves.

Postwar Developments

Developments during World War II later led to harnessing the technology to produce:

• Nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers.

• The U.S. nuclear-triad defense, consisting of nuclear delivery from submarines, strategic bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles.

• Nuclear power for producing energy for peaceful purposes.

USS Midway Museum to Build Freedom Park at Navy Pier

The number of young sailors and Marines who bid farewell to the United States from San Diego’s Navy Pier will never be known. Pushing westward, often sailing into harm’s way, many of these fresh young faces, however, would never see their country again.

As far back as the early 1900s, U.S. Navy ships routinely anchored in San Diego Bay at the foot of Broadway. Seen as a natural site for a naval supply depot, a small pier was constructed in 1922 which would anchor the San Diego waterfront for a century. Countless naval vessels, brimming with untold millions of tons of supplies and ammunition, along with precious human cargo, cast off their mooring lines from Navy Pier to support U.S. military and humanitarian operations around the world.

Now, 100 years later, the pier will soon be transformed from a lifeless parking lot into Freedom Park at Navy Pier, paying tribute to the service and sacrifices of military veterans and their families.

“The park will honor our veterans and celebrate our freedoms,” said Laura White, president of the USS Midway Foundation. “It will also be an opportunity for our next generation to learn how they too can be an everyday hero in their life. They don’t have to necessarily join the military, they can just be an everyday hero in their own community.”

The USS Midway Museum and the Port of San Diego are working together on constructing the new park which will be the largest veterans park on the West Coast when completed. Unanimously approved by the California Coastal Commission, Freedom Park will tell the story of those who served our country and preserved the liberties that Americans enjoy today.

“Designs are currently being developed for this exciting new public park,” said White. “With Freedom Park, visitors will have countless opportunities to learn about and interact with many key milestones in our nation’s military.”

It is estimated that Freedom Park at Navy Pier will cost approximately $65 million. Currently, nearly $29 million has been committed to the project from the

Port of San Diego, the USS Midway Museum and, with the support of Cong. Scott Peters, through Community Project Funding distributed via the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. An additional $36 million will be raised by the USS Midway Foundation. Major fundraising efforts are scheduled to begin in fall 2023.

“This is an exciting moment,” said Ben Clay, chair of the USS Midway Foundation. “Our mission is simple, get the park built and celebrate our veterans. I look forward to making Freedom Park a reality for all San Diegans and those who visit our wonderful city.”

A Footsteps of Freedom promenade, that will run along the entire north side of Navy Pier, will be dedicated to the service and sacrifice of those who have worn the uniform of our nation and the families that supported them. Additional monuments, play elements, benches and swings, walking trails and gardens, smart technologies and other exciting features will be incorporated throughout the scope of the park.

“Anything to bring the people down here to acknowledge the Navy and its history is great,” said Mike Newell, a USS Midway Museum docent volunteer since 2007 who retired from the Navy in 1989 as an aviation electronics technician senior chief after 22 years of service. “San Diego is such a rich military town. It’s great to have the park built on Navy Pier.”

Engineering efforts are already underway, with structural repairs and rehabilitation proceeding on and under the pier. That work, along with the demolition of the last building on the pier, will take place over the next two years. It is anticipated that actual construction on the park will commence in 2025 and be completed by 2028.

“I have a personal connection as my father actually once had an office in the building on Navy Pier,” said Michael Montag, a Navy veteran who spent five years as a construction mechanic in the Seabees and recently joined Midway’s volunteer team. “I think it’s fantastic. The new park will be a great way to pay homage to all of the Navy and Marine Corps in San Diego. As a San Diego native and Navy veteran, I think we need to always be honoring our veterans.”

“It’s wonderful to see redevelopment along the Embarcadero and that Freedom Park will be right at the center of it all,” said White. “We’re excited to become the place to be in San Diego and looking forward to honoring our veterans in many different ways, as well as engaging the next generation.”

Continued on next page > www.midway.org/give-join/volunteers volunteers@midway.org www.midway.org

For those interested in becoming a USS Midway Museum volunteer, more information along with the volunteer application can be found at: www.midway.orggive-join/volunteers.