Military Officer - March 2008 - (Page 99) pagesofhistory The Manhattan Project An important World War II-era landmark in the race to build the atomic bomb has been rediscovered in the State Department office building in Washington, D.C. T he Manhattan Project was conducted under a cloud of secrecy, but now an important landmark in the project — one of the offices where Army Maj. Gen. Leslie R. Groves led the World War II race to build the atomic bomb — has been rediscovered. Groves occupied offices on the fifth floor of the State Department building, which at that time housed the War Department, but the exact location was unknown. Recently, Paula DeSutter, assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Verification, Compliance, and Implementation, became curious about the location of Groves’ office; she then saw a photo in Robert S. Norris’s 2003 book Racing for the Bomb that looked like the office of one of her deputies. The location was confirmed by Robert Furman, 92, of Maryland, who had served as Groves’ chief of foreign intelligence. about her days flying aircraft in simulated missions. She flew B-26s at the gunnery school near Las Vegas, while gunners in B-17s fired live ammunition at the sleeve she towed. She flew a plane with wind-damaged wings from California to Texas for repairs. And she flew searchlight tracking and mountainmapping missions. After the war, Darr eventually settled in Bethesda, Md., and began focusing on her poetry. She wrote nine books, as well as a play about the women who were in her flight group. Darr later suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and died in December 2007 at the age of 87 in Chicago. S World War II Pilot, Poet Dies he called it “aerial dishwashery” — the mundane but necessary tasks to train pilots during World War II. Ann Darr, a Washington poet who served with the Women Airforce Service Pilots — or WASPs — wrote THIS MONTH IN HISTORY ■ On March 16, 1802, President Jefferson signed a law establishing the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. The academy, with the motto “duty, honor, country,” has produced generals, presidents, and academic leaders. T War Hero’s Medal Sold he gold medal commissioned by George Washington to be presented to the Marquis de Lafayette, a French hero who supported the American Revolution, has been sold for $5.3 million at a Sotheby’s auction. The medal was put up for auction by Lafayette’s great-great-granddaughter and was purchased by La Fondation de Chambrun, a foundation in Chateau Lagrange, Lafayette’s home 30 miles east of Paris. The medal, which is shaped like an eagle, is expected to be displayed in Lafayette’s bedroom. MO MARCH 2008 Army Maj. Gen. Leslie Groves was chief of The Manhattan Project, which yielded three atomic bombs during World War II. PHOTO: AP MILITARY OFFICER 99
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