Hanford's A-bomb builders focus on the lives they saved
No one at Hanford Engineer Works knew they were making history.
There were signs, but all told them to keep quiet. They were told they were serving their country and furthering the war effort.
But they were curious.
Why were they -- thousands of men and women -- converting an isolated Central Washington farming community into a bustling industrial complex, virtually overnight? Where were trucks and railcars filled with tons of precious steel and aluminum going? Why did they have to wear radiation meters? What was so top secret?
The answer came on Aug. 6, 1945. With the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, the people of Hanford and Richland finally discovered what they had been working on for two years: the Manhattan Project's atomic bombs.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/235688_bomb08.html
There were signs, but all told them to keep quiet. They were told they were serving their country and furthering the war effort.
But they were curious.
Why were they -- thousands of men and women -- converting an isolated Central Washington farming community into a bustling industrial complex, virtually overnight? Where were trucks and railcars filled with tons of precious steel and aluminum going? Why did they have to wear radiation meters? What was so top secret?
The answer came on Aug. 6, 1945. With the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, the people of Hanford and Richland finally discovered what they had been working on for two years: the Manhattan Project's atomic bombs.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/235688_bomb08.html