This wonderful book by Denise Kiernan was recommended to me by a friend and has the subtitle, “The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II.” There is some irony in the fact that I’ve read this book as the Rocky Flats Plant where I worked has been very much in the news. To explain this distraction, the facilities at Oak Ridge were built to make the nuclear material for the Manhattan Project. Rocky Flats was the place in the eventual weapons complex where plutonium and a variety of other metals were made into parts for the nuclear weapons. The descriptions of the secrecy surrounding converting farming areas in Tennessee into a massive, part of the Manhattan Project certainly reminded me of the days when I worked at Rocky Flats as described in my book, “An Insider’s View of Rocky Flats, Urban Myths Debunked.” I do not know whether the issues of damage to the health of people working at Oak Ridge compare to the fire storm of controversy that seems to have once again flared up over Rocky Flats. I am probably more interested in the book than someone who is unfamiliar with Oak Ridge or Rocky Flats, but I recommend the book to anyone who enjoys good history.

The book describes the young women (called “girls” in that era) who were willing to be transported to an unnamed place to work in a job that was not described in even the simplest terms. Celia Szapka Klemsi was transported from Manhattan by train to Knoxville, Tennessee without being told her final destination. When she asked where she was going and what she would be doing she was told she was not allowed to know. She was told that asking questions was frowned upon and that “everything will be taken care of.” Her adventurous spirit must have been strong, because she agreed to travel to the unknown. The train was filled with other young women only knew their new job paid well and would help the “war effort.” The train stopped in Knoxville, given their evening meal, and put back in the cars to be driven to Oak Ridge. Continue reading →