.
. >>
. >> THIS
. >> THIS MONTH4@ MARKS SEVENTY FIVE YEARS SINCE THE UNITED
STATES DROPPED THE WORLD'S4@
FIRST ATOMIC BOMBS ON JAPAN,
ULTIMATELY ENDING WORLD WAR4@ T@
THREE U.S. CITIES SELECTED FOR
THE MANHATTAN PROJECT WORKED IN
SECRECY TO BUILD THE DEADLY
WEAPON FROM SCRATCH.
OAK RIDGE4@ WAS ONE OF THEM.
HISTORIANS WITH THE OAK RIDGE
PUBLIC LIBRARY4@ CONDUCTED DOZES
OF INTERVI4@EWS WITH PEOPLE WHO
LIVED IN THE SECRET CITY IN THE
1940S AND EMILY DEVOE SHARES
SOME OF THOSE4@ ACCOUNTS.
>> CREATED OUT OF WAR THE CITY4@
OF OAK RIDGE HELD THE KEY TO
ENDING IT.
WE KNEW WE WERE DOING4@ SOMETHIG
THAT WAS GONNA WORK OUT.
>> IN THE END TO END THE WAR WE
BELIEVED.
BUT THE THOUSANDS WHO MOVED TO
THE SECRET CITY WERE IN THE
DARK4@ ABOUT WHAT EXACTLY THEY
WERE MAKING.
>> I COULDN'T SAY IF I COULDN'T
TALKING AB4@OUT IT NOT IN VAIN.
WERE MAKING. >> I COULDN'T SAY IF I COULDN'T TALKING AB4@OUT IT NOT IN VAIN.@
>> THERE WAS NOBODY TO TALK TO
ABOUT4@ BUT ARE MISSING FOUR
PRODUCTION FACILITIES4@ EACH WIH
ITS OWN METHODS BEGAN REFINING
AND DEVELOPING NUCLEAR
MATERIALS FOR WHAT WOULD BE A
SCIENTIFIC MARVEL4@ IN THE
WORLD'S DEADLIEST WEAPON.
>> SURE, WE HAD CODENAME4@ THE
PROC4@ESS FOR POLISH4@ 660 COOLT
KNOWN AS4@ 860 YOUNG WOMEN WENT
TO WORK MONITORING DIALS ON
KHALIA TRONS USED FOR
SEPERATING URANIUM ISOTOPES.
>> WE CALLED THEM CUBICLES.
AT FIRST I LOOKED AT THOSE AND
THAT4@ I'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO KEP
UP THIS BUT YOU KNOW4@ YOU DO.
>> IT WAS KIND OF STRANGE AND
YOU'RE GOING TO DO THIS JOB AND
YOU KNOW YOU KNOW NOTHING.
YO4@U DON'T KNOW THE PRODUCT AND
YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT'S INSIDE
YOUR CUBICLE4@ AT THE TIME.
>> THEY KNEW TURNING THE DIAL
TO HIG4@HER TEMPERATURES4@ WAS D
BUT NOT TOO HIGH.
>> IT WAS A RED LIGHT, AN
EYELASH HAWKING CORNER4@, A
CUBICLE IF YOU WERE GETTING TOO
HOT THAT LAURA4@ DID GO OFF
SCARER YOU HAVE TO DEATH.
>> AND THEY WOULD MAKE TERRIBLE
ANALOGY IF THE UNITED STATES
WAS GOING TO PULL OFF THE
UNTHINKING4@ BULL.
WE'RE A UNITED PEOPLE.
>> WE WANTED TO GET THE WAR
OVER EVERYONE IN OAK RIDGE WAS
TOLD TO DO THEIR JOB WITHOUT
SPECULATION.
>> ONE OF MY OPERATORS HAD ONE
YEAR OF CHEMISTRY4@ IN COLLEGE
AND HE4@ HE SAYS I KNOW WHAT
WE'RE WORKING WITH.
>> AND I SAID DON'T TALK ABOUT
IT.
4@MEANWHILE, WORKERS IN OTHER
MANHATTAN PROJECT LOCATIONS4@
AROUND THE COUNTRY WERE DOING
THE SAME RACING AGAINST4@ THE
CLOCK AND YOU WERE SO BUSY THAT
EIGHT HOURS THAT4@ YOU DIDN'T
HAVE TIME AND RARELY YOU DID
KNOW WHO YOU WERE TALKING TO.4@
>> ON JULY 16TH, 1945, 4@THE
FIRST NUCLEAR BOMB WAS
DETONATED AT A FACILITY IN NEW
MEXICO.
THE FUEL CAME FROM OAK RIDGE
BUT THOSE WHO CREATED IT AND
THE REST OF THE WORLD DIDN'T
FIND OUT UNTIL A MONTH LATER
WHEN TWO ATOMIC BOMBS DROPPED
ON JAPAN.
>> AN ENGINEER ON THE EVENING
SHIFT4@ THROUGH TO LIVE AND DID
WAS4@ ABOUT 10 O'CLOCK IN AYMAN
HEARD THEY DROPPED THE BOMB4@ AD
THE OPERATORS4@ THEY LEFT THEIR
CUBICLES RUN I4@N, KNOCKED OUT.
>> WHY IS EVERYBODY WRONG?
>> FATHER4@ CALLED MY MOTHER
TURNED THE RADIO ON.
>> FATHER4@ CALLED MY MOTHER TURNED THE RADIO ON.4@ LIST4@EN TO THE NEWS.
FIND OUT4@ WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOIN.
I SAID OH THAT'S PART OF WHAT
WE WERE DOING.
YOU KNOW HOW THINGS WILL ALL
COME TO YOU.
SO THAT WAS4@ THE FIRST THING
THAT I THOUGHT.
EVEN AFTER THE BOMBS AND THE
SECRET CITY THAT HELPED CREATE
THEM BECAME PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE.
SOME IN OAK RIDGE4@ DIDN'T FULLY
REALIZE THEIR ROLES UNTIL MUCH
LATER WHEN THEY SAW4@ PICTURES Y
PHOTOGRAPHER E4@D WESTCOTT.
A SNAPSHOT OF THEIR ROLE IN
HISTORY4@ IN OAK RIDGE.
>> I'M EMILY DEVOE4@ AND THOSE
WERE JUST A FEW OF THE
FIRSTHAND ACCOUNTS