by Steve Vogel
McCloy had an idea McCloy memo to Somervell, 13 July 1942, SDF, NARA RG 160.
Reviewing McCloy’s suggestion Styer memo to Somervell, 14 July 1942, SDF, NARA RG 160.
Without a doubt Cong. Rec., 29 Feb. 1944, 2106; conference about fifth floor, 16 July 1942, Witmer notebook, OSD HO.
Groves notified Renshaw “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Groves,” Renshaw and Groves, 14 and 15 July 1942, I, CEHO; Renshaw memo to Davidson, 17 July 1941, I, CEHO; “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Miscellaneous,” Renshaw and Davidson, 17 and 21 July 1942.
Somervell soon issued Somervell memo for the Chief of Engineers, 20 July 1942, I, CEHO; Col. W. A. Wood memo for the Chief of Engineers, 24 July 1942, SDF, NARA RG 160; Sidney Shalett, “Mammoth Cave, Washington, D.C.” NYT, 27 June 1942.
Army documents submitted Gavin Hadden, memo to Renshaw, 15 Jan. 1944, I, CEHO; Cong. Rec., 1 Oct. 1942, 7692.
Nor was it the only “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Miscellaneous,” Renshaw and Antes, 25 and 27 July, 1942.
“Here’s the story” Ibid.
Groves wanted Renshaw “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Groves,” Renshaw and Matthias, 3 Aug. 1942; “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Miscellaneous,” Renshaw and Antes, 24 July 1942; Davidson memo to Renshaw about additional construction, 29 July 1942, I, CEHO; Col. Foster calling Groves, 22 July 1942, Groves papers, entry 5, box 1, NARA RG 200.
“To get the whole” “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Miscellaneous,” Renshaw and Mr. Sherman, 22 Aug. 1942.
McCloy, you blackmailer
One problem McCloy, Sevareid interview, Amherst College.
Help came Ibid.; Isaacson and Thomas, The Wise Men, 201; Steven Casey, “Franklin D. Roosevelt, Ernst ‘Putzi’ Hanfstaengl and the ‘S-Project’, June 1942–June 1944,” Journal of Contemporary History, 1 July 2000.
“So I sent back word” McCloy, Sevareid interview, Amherst College.
McCloy recalled Isaacson and Thomas, The Wise Men, 201; McCloy, Sevareid interview, Amherst College.
Great strain
Even as War Department Star, 21 June 1942; WP, 21 June 1942. Star, 22 July, 1942.
A heat wave WT-H, 18 July 1942; Stimson diary, 29 July 1942; Stimson and Bundy, On Active Service in Peace and War, 411.
Even Paul Hauck McShain autobiographical notes, 14, VII, I, McShain papers, HML; Reynolds notes, 42, McShain papers HML; Brauer, The Man Who Built Washington, 84; Lew Edwards in 1984 McShain video, courtesy Polly McShain.
One day I’ll be famous
The job and the weather McShain, letter to Groves, 20 Aug. 1942, entry 5, box 1, NARA RG 200; Polly McShain, author interview.
Yet there was little “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Groves,” Renshaw and Davidson, 19 Aug. 1942, and Renshaw and Groves, 19 Aug. 1942.
Meanwhile, open warfare “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Groves,” Groves and Renshaw, 29 July 1942; Wise Contracting Co. letter to Renshaw, 27 July 1942, I, CEHO; “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Groves,” Groves and Renshaw, 31 Aug. 1942; McShain letter to Renshaw, 30 July 1942, I, CEHO.
Renshaw and Groves backed “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Groves,” Groves and Renshaw, 31 Aug. and 1 Sept. 1942; Renshaw, memo to Chief of Engineers, 26 Aug. 1942, I, CEHO; H. E. Doyle, letter to Robins, 28 Aug. 1942, I, CEHO.
However, the Virginia Somervell and Woodrum, telephone transcript, 31 Aug. 1942, SDF, NARA RG 160.
The limestone plaque Hauck recollections on cornerstone, Oct. 1962, Pentagon vertical file, Pentagon Library; E. A. Rogner, The Pentagon: A National Institution, 27; “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Groves,” Renshaw and Matthias, 28 and 29 Aug. 1942; “Personnel principally responsible for design and construction,” Oct. 1943, Hadden notebook, I, CEHO; Furman, author interview.
Hell-an-gone
Why anyone Richard E. Lauterbach, “The Pentagon Puzzle,” Life, 24 May 1943; Immen, “The Pentagon…Fact and Fancy.”
the food operation McShain address to engineers, McShain papers HML; Fox, “World’s Largest Cafeteria to Feed 40,000 Nearing Completion” J. H. Beswick, letter to the editor, WP, 12 Aug. 1942.
Those eating “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Groves,” Renshaw and Groves, 11 June 1942; WP, 13 June 1942; Washington Daily News, 13 June 1942; WT-H, 16 June 1942.
Groves worried obsessively “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Groves,” Groves and Renshaw, 3 June 1942; Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Groves,” Groves and Renshaw, 30 July 1942.
Still dissatisfied Groves, memo to Renshaw, 6 Aug. 1942; “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Miscellaneous,” Antes and Renshaw, 7 Aug. 1942.
The plank walkers reserved Ramale, author interview.
Air-conditioning Frierson, The Pentagon, 18–19; “The Pentagon Building,” Airlanes; “World’s Largest Building Cooled by Sun Control,” Popular Science, September 1943; Somervell memo to Donald Nelson, 20 Aug. 1941, I, CEHO; “Refrigeration Plant for the Pentagon,” undated report, circa 1943, NARA RG 319; “Heating and Refrigeration Plant,” sent to Renshaw 20 May 1944, I, CEHO.
It was impossible “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Groves,” Groves and Renshaw, 17 July 1941; Ulio memo, 10 Aug. 1942; SDF, NARA RG 160.
The situation here is tragic
The final insult Washington Daily News, 27 May 1942; WP, 2 Aug. 1942; McShain address at Rosemont College, 2 Apr. 1946, VII, McShain papers, HML; “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Groves,” Renshaw and Matthias, 7 Aug. 1942.
Drivers who Renshaw memo to Groves, 24 July 1942, I, CEHO; Iselin, ed., “Reminisces of Early Days.”
Nelson Clayton Nelson H. Clayton, author interview, 23 Feb. 2004.
In the evening Kelly, “Pentagon Veterans Recall Construction Days” Star, 2 Aug. 1942.
The Capital Transit Company Stimson letter to Nelson, 8 Mar. 1942, NARA RG 107; “New War Building Creates Huge Transportation Problem,” Star, c. June 1942, I, CEHO; Downey, author interview.
Getting to and from WP, 7 Oct. 1942; WT-H, 24 July 1942; Henry F. Pringle, “My Thirty Days in the Pentagon,” The Saturday Evening Post, 16 Oct. 1943; WT H, 5 Sept. 1942.
The most fantastic operation
General George Marshall Furman, author interview; Time, 19 Oct. 1942; “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Miscellaneous,” Antes and Renshaw, 7 Aug. 1942; Pogue, Organizer of Victory, 30
Hauck took Marshall Reynolds notes, 42–3, McShain papers, HML.; field progress report, 31 Aug. 1942, NARA RG 319; WP, 2 Aug. 1942; “The Pentagon Building,” Airlanes; McShain autobiographical notes, “The Pentagon,” VII, McShain papers, HML.
Even before its completion WP, 17 Aug. 1941; Shalett, “Mammoth Cave” “Inside the Five-sided Brain,” Time, 2 July 1951.
Among all the visitors Bureau of the Budget, “Report Covering Pentagon Building,” 31 Aug. 1942, I, CEHO; War Department press release, 13 July 1942, I, CEHO; House hearing, 15 June 1942, 219.
“This project” Bureau of the Budget, “Report Covering Pentagon Building,” 31 Aug. 1942, I, CEHO.
CHAPTER 13: ONE OF THE WORST BLUNDERS OF THE WAR
Washington’s demon investigator
Engel was “Washington’s demon” Robert Humphreys, “The Man Who Astonished Washington,” Saturday Evening Post, 9 Oct. 1943; Time, 12 July 1943; Engel address to Washington Society of Engineers, 1 Oct. 1941, Somervell papers, MHI; F&R, The Corps of Engineers, 378–80.
Armed with his findings Humphreys, “The Man Who Astonished Washington” Engel, address to Washington Society of Engineers, 1 Oct. 1941, Somervell papers, MHI.
Engel was nothing Humphreys, “The Man Who Astonished Washington.”
In early 1941 F&R, The Corps of Engineers, 379–80; NYT, 9 Mar. 1941.
Engel did make it F&R, The Corps of Engineers, 381.
Somervell was irritated Ibid.; Groves, oral history with Pogue, second interview.
The man on horseback
Somervell by then War Department Bureau of Public Relations, press digest, 18 Sept. 1942, Som
ervell papers, MHI; Time, 19 Oct. 1942.
Somervell’s rise transcript of radio broadcast on WOL in Washington, 2 Mar. 1942, Somervell papers, MHI.
Roosevelt’s own Ickes diary, 21 June 1942, 6720; Ohl, Supplying the Troops, 161–4; Ickes diary, 14 June 1942, 6715.
Lunching with Roosevelt Ickes diary, 10 Oct. 1942, 7064.
Many in Washington Rexford G. Tugwell, The Democratic Roosevelt—A Biography of Franklin D. Roosevelt, 568; Stimson and Bundy, On Active Service in Peace and War, 440; Charles R. Shrader, “World War II Logistics,” Parameters, Spring 1995.
Somervell was “one” Murphy, “Somervell of the S.O.S.” Somervell address to Michigan industry group, 3 July 1942, Somervell addresses, vol. 1, Somervell papers, MHI; AP article in WP, 29 Sept. 1942.
Somervell was driven by Millett, The Army Service Forces, 366; Newsweek, 7 Dec. 1942; Somervell address to conference of commanding generals, S.O.S., 30 July 1942, Somervell addresses, vol. 1, Somervell papers, MHI; Murphy, “Somervell of the S.O.S.” Tugwell, The Democratic Roosevelt, 568.
A request for munitions Janney, “The Man Behind the Invasion.”
With the Army in need Somervell, “Problems of Production in World War II,” lecture to Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Washington, D.C., 18 Nov. 1946, 5, Somervell papers, MHI; Charles E. Funk, Thereby Hangs A Tale: Stories of Curious Word Origins, 30–31.
“Prominent members” Renshaw, F&R interview, I, CEHO.
The obstacle course
Groves would later say Groves, F&R interview, I, CEHO.
“And there’s no way” “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Groves,” Groves and Renshaw, 14 July 1942.
“He wanted the report” “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Groves,” Davidson and Renshaw, 10 July 1942.
Never mind that Somervell House hearing, 22 July 1941, 505.
The only problem Groves, oral history with Pogue, second interview; Groves comments, 46, CEHO.
“Groves had the idea” “The Pentagon Telephone Conversations, Re: Congressman Engel Inquiry,” Renshaw and Matthias, 22 Sept. 1942, I, CEHO (hereafter “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Engel”).
The congressman fancied Humphreys, “The Man Who Astonished Washington” Groves, oral history with Pogue, second interview.
Groves’s strategy Groves letter to McShain, 11 Dec. 1947, Groves papers, entry 7530B, box 6, NARA RG 200; Groves, oral history with Pogue, second interview; Groves diary, 24 June 1942, entry 7530G, NARA RG 200.
Groves had certainly succeeded “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Engel,” Renshaw and Matthias, 22 Sept. 1942; Renshaw, memo for Major Carl Sciple, 11 July 1941, I, CEHO.
A building unique in Washington
Groves grew paranoid “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Engel,” Renshaw and Antes, 24 Aug. 1942; House hearing, 15 June 1942, 220; Franklin Matthias, oral history, 1984, 14, CEHO; “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Groves,” Renshaw and Matthias, 25 Aug. 1942
“Oh, that’s ridiculous” “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Engel,” Renshaw and Antes, 24 Aug. 1942.
Marble had been used Ibid.; “Basic Data on the Pentagon,” III, 6, SDF, NARA RG 160; “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Groves,” Renshaw and Henry Thompson, 25 Aug. 1942.
Somervell looked “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Groves,” Renshaw and Matthias, 28 Aug. 1942; Groves, memo to Renshaw, 1 Sept. 1942.
Witmer had also “The Pentagon,” Witmer papers, 14; Witmer planning memorandum, OSD HO.
Groves cared not House hearing, 15 June 1942, 219; Matthias, oral history, 10, CEHO; “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Groves,” Renshaw and Matthias, 3 Aug. 1942; Witmer planning memorandum, OSD HO.
On September 11 “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Groves,” Renshaw and Groves, 11 Sept. 1942.
His girth notwithstanding Norris, Racing for the Bomb, 530; Groves, “For My Grandchildren,” appendix V, by Gwen Groves Robinson, 295, Groves collection, USMA; Furman, author interview.
“Maybe the next time” telephone transcript, Col. Rehm calling Groves, 30 Jan. 1942, I, CEHO.
Somervell had quashed Somervell, memo for assistant chief of staff, 6 Aug. 1941, I, CEHO; Somervell, memo to Marshall, 27 July 1942, I, CEHO.
Early in the construction Groves memo to Army headquarters commandant, June 1946, Groves collection, GCM Lib.; telephone transcript, Rehm calling Groves, 30 Jan. 1942, I, CEHO; Capt. Biggs, memo to Renshaw about recreational facilities, 13 July 1942, I, CEHO; Richard Groves, author interview. The gym, known as the Pentagon Officers’ Athletic Club, opened in January 1947 at the order of Eisenhower, then Army chief of staff, and operated until a new facility opened in 2004.
Groves seeks peace
The job Groves, “The Atom General Answers His Critics,” Saturday Evening Post, 19 June 1948; “Recollections of Grace Williams Groves,” Groves papers, MHI.
He had been particularly “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Groves,” Renshaw and Matthias, 3 Sept. 1942; WT-H, 11 Sept. 1942.
“If we had competent” “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Groves,” Renshaw, Hauck, Barker and Groves, 9 Sept. 1942.
Most mornings Norris, Racing for the Bomb, 2; “For My Grandchildren,” appendix V, by Gwen Groves Robinson, 289, Groves collection, USMA.
The job of constructing Norris, Racing for the Bomb, 173; Groves, “The Atom General Answers His Critics.”
Groves was not alone Norris, Racing for the Bomb, 162–4; Groves, recollections of Lucius Clay, Groves collection, USMA.
If you do the job right, it will win the war
Groves was feeling Groves, “The Atom General Answers His Critics” Lawren, The General and the Bomb, 7.
The day before Groves, Now It Can Be Told, 3; “For My Grandchildren,” appendix V, by Gwen Groves Robinson, 289, Groves Collection, USMA.
“About that duty overseas” Groves, “The Atom General Answers His Critics” Groves, Now It Can Be Told, 3–4; Stephane Groueff, Manhattan Project: The Untold Story of the Making of the Atomic Bomb, 5; Nichols, The Road to Trinity, 49–50.
The answer, ultimately Groves, oral history with Pogue, first interview, GCM Lib.; Groves, F&R interview, 1964, CEHO; Groves impression of Manhattan Project associates, 1958, Groves collection, USMA.
In the summer of 1942 Groves comments on Styer, Groves collection, West Point; Norris, Racing for the Bomb, 172; Nichols, The Road to Trinity, 49–50; Groves memo about 5 June 1961 conversation with Styer at West Point, Groves collection, USMA.
Styer had a suggestion Ibid.; Styer letter to Remington, 12 February 1968, VII, CEHO; Jones, Manhattan: The Army and the Atomic Bomb, 73–5.
Yet Groves Groves, impression of Manhattan Project associates, 1958, Groves collection, USMA.
Political dynamite
Groves left Styer’s Groves, Now It Can Be Told, 19, 23–5; Nichols, The Road to Trinity, 51; Groueff, Manhattan Project, 15.
Groves was moving fast Groves, Now It Can Be Told, 4–5; Groves letter to Maj. Gen. A. C. Smith, 22 July 1955, with Groves’s comments, VII, CEHO.
The second reason Groves, F&R interview, 1956, CEHO; Groves, Now It Can Be Told, 5.
Somervell “very heartily” Groves, F&R interview, 1964, CEHO; Groves, oral history with Pogue, second interview.
One of the worst blunders of the war
The whole Pentagon project Capt. Buysee memo to Antes about conference with Engel, 24 Sept. 1942, I, CEHO; “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Engel,” Engel and Renshaw, 21 Sept. 1942; field progress report, Pentagon building, 31 Aug. 1942, NARA RG 319.
Renshaw could barely “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Engel,” Renshaw and Rep. Lane Powers, 22 Sept. 1942.
For some reason, Groves “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Engel,” Renshaw and Matthias, 21 and 22 Sept. 1942.
Renshaw replied Ibid; field progress report, Pentagon building, 31 Mar. 1943, NARA RG 319.
“Why don’t you give Bill” “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Engel,” Renshaw and Powers, 22 S
ept. 1942.
“I think he’s going” Ibid.
On Thursday, October 1 Cong. Rec. 1 Oct. 1942, 7690–96; WT-H, 2 Oct. 1942.
At Somervell’s order Groves memo to Somervell, 3 Oct. 1942, SDF, NARA RG 160; Groves diary, 1 and 2 Oct. 1942, entry 7530G NARA RG 200; Groves oral history with Pogue, second interview.
Groves monitored Groves memo to Somervell, 3 Oct. 1942, SDF, NARA RG 160; Star, 1 Oct. 1942; WP, 2 Oct. 1942, WT-H, 2 Oct. 1942; Washington Daily News, 1 Oct. 1942.
The day after Engel’s speech Somervell letter to Woodrum, 2 Oct. 1942, I, CEHO; Star, 2 Oct. 1942; WP, 3 Oct. 1942, WT-H, 3 Oct. 1942.
Engel declared himself WP, 3 Oct. 1942; Star, 6 Oct. 1942.
Yet there was no Groves comments, 46, CEHO.
“It is to be doubted” Star, 5 Oct. 1942.
It was not just WP, 4 Oct. 1942; Star, 12 Oct. 1942; WP, 13 Oct. 1942.
“Washington has many reasons” WP, 4 Oct. 1942.
CHAPTER 14: THE RACE TO MOVE IN THE HIGH COMMAND
By command of General Somervell
The race was on Groves memo to Renshaw, 22 Oct. 1941, I, CEHO; field progress report, Pentagon building, 31 Mar. 1943, NARA RG 319.
“If unfavorable weather” Groves, memo to Renshaw, 22 Oct. 1941, I, CEHO.
Just a few days Memo to chief of staff about 1942 flood, 20 Oct. 1942, box 3, NARA RG 551; Star, 17 Oct. 1942; Stimson diary, 16 Oct. 1942; Price Day, “No Red Tape Fetters Army’s Good Provider,” Baltimore Sun Sunday Magazine, 5 Mar. 1944; Newsweek, 7 Dec. 1942; NYT, 17 Oct. 1942.
Somervell was at the scene Star, 17 Oct. 1942; Newsweek, 7 Dec. 1942; Day, “No Red Tape.”
The flood proved WP, 18 Oct. 1942; Star, 17 Oct. 1942; National Weather Service Baltimore/Washington records for Potomac River at Washington, D.C. (Wisconsin Avenue/Georgetown). Unofficial records show the flood of 1889 cresting at 19.5 feet.
