EDITOR:
The article by Debbie Coleman-Topi in the Aug. 2, 2023 Landmark, Volume 159, No. 14 about how some of the alumni at Park University had a hand in developing the atomic bomb brought back memories of when my dad worked at the Oak Ridge, Tenn. facility during World War II as a carpenter. (EDITOR’S NOTE: Oak Ridge, Tenn. was home to several massive Manhattan Project facilities employing thousands of workers during and after World War II). I like to think that my dad had a wee part in that, also.
We lived 80 miles away and he drove a 1933 Chevrolet to get there, which wasn’t an easy task because tires were of such poor quality back then and not easy to obtain. His car had a spare time in both front fender wells and many times both spares were needed. Anyway, he didn’t get to finish the eighth grade because his dad kept him out of school to work on the farm in northeast Tennessee.
But here is a story that my mom told me. She said that he told her that they–whoever they are–figured for days with slide rules trying to determine what angle to cut rafters for a building. I remember him coming home one particular weekend and did some figuring with the pamphlet that came with his rafter square. Mom said that he went back on Monday morning and cut a rafter that fit. He was told to put his tools away and he was offered a supervisory job that would pay him more money. But he said that he didn’t want that responsibility. That is not to say that no one else would figure out the angle to cut the rafters, but no one had at that point.
Please forgive me for my boldness in writing this but I thought you might have a passing interest in this story.
--Raymond E. Charles
Houston Lake --Raymond E. Charles
Houston Lake