Stories from the Manhattan Project

Mark Holmes of Bloomington

As a sergeant assigned to guard American scientists in Europe, Mark Holmes ended up taking famed physicist Enrico Fermi for a ride.

Mark Holmes of Bloomington was assigned to an intelligence unit in France in the spring of 1945.
His job at one point was to escort a group of notable scientists who had come to France as the war was winding down in Europe.
He was approached by Enrico Fermi, the scientist from Italy who had led the team that created the first atomic chain reaction at the University of Chicago in 1942. "Fermi asked me if I had access to a jeep," Holmes told the World War II History Roundtable at Ft. Snelling History Center.
The two set off on a long ride south to where the Swiss, Italian and French borders converge. Holmes said they conversed very little on the trip. "One reason was because Dr. Fermi had such a heavy accent. The other reason was because I was just a sergeant, and I only spoke when I was spoken to."
Fermi said he was going into Switzerland, but Holmes suspects he may have traveled into Italy where his family was. "All I know is that he told me to meet him the next day at 1500 hours at the same spot I dropped him off."
When Holmes got back to his base, the powers that be noticed that one of their scientists was missing.' "Where's Fermi? Where's Fermi?" they kept asking, but I didn't say anything. I got to thinking that maybe this guy is pretty important. I kept wondering if I should speak up, but they had told us to accommodate these scientists. So I did what I was told, and said nothing."
The consternation in the American sector must have been extreme at that point, knowing that one of the most eminent scientists in the world, who had most of the world's nuclear secrets in his head, was missing.
Holmes went to the assigned spot the next day. "He came out of the bushes about 20 yards ahead of me. He looked pretty tired, and I asked if he'd like to lay down. So he slept on the back seat all the way back."
On Monday, Holmes decided to unburden himself of the story and got in to see the commanding general.
Holmes concluded the story of taking Fermi to the border and back. The general looked at him. "Sergeant, thank you very much. I have not heard a word of what you just said." He showed Holmes the door.
 

Burton Field of Waconia

What do you do when somebody asks you what you do for a living and you're helping make a secret bomb? Burton Field had a couple of answers handy.

Burton Field was an electrical engineer, a graduated from the University of Minnesota, and he was assigned to Oak Ridge.
When asked about what type of work he was doing at Oak Ridge, Field said he had two standard answers.
"I would either say we were working on a high energy explosive, or, if it looked like they had a sense of humor, I would say that we were making the fronts ends of horses to send to Washington D.C. for final assembly."
Asked why the Japanese didn't develop the bomb, Field speculated that it was a lack of electrical power and water. "Our sites were selected because of their access to water and electricity. At Oak Ridge, we used the equivalent power of two TVA dams. The Japanese just couldn't mount that type of energy."
After the test at Alamagordo and the two bombs that were dropped in Japan, the entire national supply of U-235 and Plutonium was exhausted, Field said.
"There wasn't enough left for another bomb, we just hoped the Japanese wouldn't find out."
Through the work of many veterans, including Field, the government now recognizes atomic claims from the Manhattan Project.
A recent Board of Veterans Appeals decision said that the U.S. Veterans Administration must give veterans the benefit of the doubt if they make a claim.
For more information, contact you county veterans service officer or call the VA at 1-800-827-1000.