How it all started

Sunday Morning 6/21/09 -- Musings

it is now about 4:45 AM and I have finally given in and made myself get up to start writing. I've been awake for a couple of hours, trying go back to sleep but finally realizing all the thoughts going around in my head won't permit it. Also I think these ideas have some merit and if I don't flesh them out to some extent right now, they will escape in the clamor of the day.

Why do I think there is some value in all these visual, camcorder recordings I have been doing for a few years now? Primarily because the technical capability is new. Probably only ten years ago this would not have been easily done by amateurs in a low key relaxed manner. Camcorders have made this possible. Written autobiographies have been around for a long time. But I think it is a major advancement to be able see a person tell their story in person. Libraries are full of written autobiographies. Perhaps soon we will see shelves of visual autobiographies that will be important for future generations.

But that is quite a way off from what I want to do.I want to record the life stories of ordinary (?) people who have lived in and made Park City the unique place it is. I describe these people as ordinary only in the sense that they come from everywhere and with all kinds of backgrounds. I further like to describe them as extraordinary in that they were among those who were willing to leave their current situation and come here with a passion of some sort, put roots down and make a constructive life here -- probably overcoming a number of difficulties along the way. They remind me of our immigrant ancestors who came to this country for a variety of reasons, perhaps to escape religious persecution, for a better economic life, or just for a free spirit of adventure. On my father's side they came from England in the mid 1600's, probably for economic opportunity primarily but also for religious freedom. On my mother's side, they came from Germany in 1850 and from Norway in 1890 -- in both cases for economic opportunity. In Norway my grandmother was one of seven children, living comfortably as a child on a large farm. Her father realized that all of his children, particularly the girls, would not likely have the same chance for such a comfortable life. America was indeed the land of opportunity and those individuals who "had it in their genes" or the passion to get up and go made our country the unique place it is.

I think Park City is a microcosm of the America of a 100 or more years ago. Immigration is a major concern today as it was then and I like to ask early in the interview, "Where did your ancestors come from and why?". In general, people who have been willing to emigrate from their homeland have truly made America. That same spirit seems embodied in our neighbors here in Park City. I like to refer to them as:

Extraordinarily Ordinary

Passionate People of Park City with Imagination, Initiative and Perseverance

I want to record their life stories, where their ancestors came from and how did it happen that their parents were where they were when the interviewee was born.Their life stories are primarily for their descendants who will not just read about Grandma or Grandpa but will be able to see them talk first hand about what life was like, including pleasures and difficulties, as well as concerns of the times and hopes for the future. The last 50 or 100 years have seen unbelievable changes to those of us alive today and it is probable that major changes will continue. I am reminded that my father was in the trenches in the first World War -- the "War to End All Wars". I was in WWll, a member of the so-called "Greatest Generation". Was our "greatest contribution" ending the war with the introduction of nuclear power and 50 years or so of MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction)? At least the world has not destroyed itself yet. Will succeeding generations truly be the "Greatest" by profiting from our experiences and thoughts today? Maybe they will smile at how naive we were, like I do now when I read a letter I (as a 20 year old) sent home to my mother from Los Alamos, written the afternoon after the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and I could let her know where I had secretly been in the Army. I was proud that what I had been doing ended the war and was certain there could never be another war -- not just because it was too destructive but also because it gave us an unlimited source of practically free power that would eliminate the needs of mankind. That was naive!

The stories are not for self aggrandizement by either the recorder or the interviewee. The finished DVD will go to no one other than the interviewee without permission. With this in mind I encourage recounting experiences and thoughts that are both negative and positive -- that presumably could be beneficial as well as just interesting to later viewers.

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(letter I wrote to my Mother in Nashville the afternoon after the first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and I could tell her where I had been in secret)

Tuesday Afternoon

August 7, 1945

P.O. Box 180

Sante Fe, New Mexico

Dear Mom,

Well at last you know approximately what goes on up here. I guess by now the cat is completely out of the bag and you know of the little “Yo-Yo” we’re making. It’s quite a destructive thing as Japan should know. Ever since that day, July 16 (when the first bomb was exploded in the desert in southern New Mexico), everyone here on the “hill” has known what was coming. You can understand now why such a device was guarded so closely, why not one of us dared mention it off the area; and why all our mail was censored.

I wish I had been here several months sooner to actually have taken part in some of the early and more exciting experimentation. The day after I arrived here they told us what was expected; however, it took two days to actually comprehend its full extent. Now when one was actually dropped on Japan perhaps I was a little better prepared than you but certainly just as

amazed and fearful! It must certainly be true that there can never be another war; however, I think that one side of this subject has been forgotten or at least slighted. It’s not just because destruction would be universal, but more because positive construction can be world wide. An accumulation of unlimited power for the good should erase economic reasons for wars. It’s not likely that wars could begin for any other reason.

Maybe I can let you in on a little of Army life up at this place. We, as you have probably heard, do not live directly in Sante Fe but off up in the mountains at a little old boy’s school known as Los Alamos. We must be at least 1000 feet above Sante Fe, and it does get quite cold at night; however, the warm weather that I like so well takes over completely during the day.The Special Engineering Detachment and a group of M.P.’s make up the Army complement. The rest of the group are civilians living in trailers and huts right here on the hill.

I consider myself very fortunate to have seen such men as Dr. Oppenheimer and Dr. Kistiakowski. They are now rather famous as the promoters of this new discovery. They were the men present at the trial experiment down south of Albuquerque.

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It is now Wednesday and I hear that Russia has just declared war on Japan. I believe (as Drew Pearson did last Fall) that the war should be over in a week! Let’s see. This new bomb may sound inhuman but the relatively few people who have been fortunate enough to have worked on the project and to have known in advance what was up, like myself, would be sorely disallusioned if the American people or any part of them should be afraid to face the fact that this thing will mean peace forever, even with the cost of several

thousands of Japanese civilians’ lives at the present. Let us pray that it will be unnecessary to use any more even on our enemy. However, if they should doubt our intentions and refuse to give unconditional surrender, Japan may well be completely obliterated!!

I’m sorry I haven’t been writing quite regularly but you can imagine how excited we were knowing of the world’s greatest secret.

love, Buddy

P.S. Important! Please send me a gas ticket immediately if possible. I need it immediately for transportation in Sante Fe. Also please save the first paper mentioning the bomb and any reference to Los Alamos or Sante Fe. Also get a paper of Russia’s entry and Japan’s surrender. Get all you may think of and save the whole paper.

I’ve been going to Post Chapel and an evening fellowship group. Can you rush my picture and appr. 6 coat hangers?