Proximity and Timing

On the first Saturday of April and October the White Sands Missile Range opens the Trinity Site, a National Historic Landmark where the world’s first atomic bomb was detonated on July 16, 1945, to the public. April 1st found us in San Antonio, New Mexico, a mere twelve miles from the entrance to the site. When we realized how close we were, we decided to check it out. We arrived just after 8:30am to a two mile line-up of cars. After showing our IDs at the security checkpoint we drove deep into the base. 

Once we reached the site and parked, we walked with a throng of others about a quarter of a mile to ground zero. Little is left of the original installations that were part of the military camp set up for the Trinity test. Instead, a stone maker denotes ground zero and a replica of Fat Boy was strapped to an 18-wheeler nearby. There was almost a carnival-like atmosphere with books and souvenirs being sold, and people taking smiling selfies with the bomb replica. This really surprised us. We expected a more solemn remembrance of this world changing event, and we kept wondering what had drawn our fellow visitors to the Trinity Site.

A handful of signs told a rather skewed story of the making of the bomb, with the role of the military emphasized and the scientists’ role diminished. Robert Oppenheimer, the head of the Los Alamos National Laboratory where the bomb was developed, was mentioned only once. I was trained as a scientist and have studied the Manhattan Project, and Robert Oppenheimer, so I knew there was much more to the story than was being told at Trinity. 

Nowhere was there a discussion of the changes to global history that began in this place, and nowhere was there a discussion of the human impact of nuclear arms. Estimates vary but around 300,000 people were killed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki from the atomic bombs and their fallout. Throughout the American West, as the United States continued to develop and test nuclear weapons, countless civilians were exposed to nuclear fallout, particularly in Nevada, New Mexico and Utah

The most powerful moment of the day for us came as we drove out of the site. A group of downwinders—people exposed to wind-blown radiation from atomic testing in the western deserts—held signs in silence at the entrance gate. They also placed crosses along the highway to remember those they lost to the nuclear fallout. We were moved by their quiet yet powerful activism. 

The Trinity Site was a prime example of history being skewed by the teller. Everywhere were references to American might and ingenuity, nowhere were reflections on the lasting damage wrought on the planet or its inhabitants. 

We talked nonstop as we got on I-25 and headed north, discussing the various aspects of the project that we both knew as well as positing questions we wanted answered. We knew that many of the scientists who worked on the project were Jewish refugees from Europe, and we also knew that after the war most of the scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project became staunch anti-nuclear advocates, as they understood the danger of what they brought to life. Their opposition was often seen as anti-American and in many cases it greatly hindered their scientific careers.

We skipped Los Alamos in the fall, but now we were curious, especially about the telling of the story, so after three glorious days in Santa Fe with our friends Peter and Antonio, we drove the short distance to Los Alamos to get an understanding of how the Manhattan Project is portrayed in the town that was created for and by the project. 

The Manhattan Project National Historic Park was only established in 2015—seventy years after the bombs that altered the course of US and world history! The collective park also includes sites in Hanford, Washington and Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where various components of the Manhattan Project were carried out. 

The Los Alamos site headquarters is just two small rooms in a building that also houses the town youth center. The ranger on duty was very engaging, the displays were excellent, the maps very helpful and the park movie created important context for why this site is so limited. Most of the buildings and materials related to the Manhattan Project are “behind the fence,” meaning they are in secure areas within the boundaries of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Thus, if you come to Los Alamos to learn about the Manhattan Project, what you will get is the National Park Service Headquarters; a walking tour around the historic part of town, though few if any buildings are accessible to the public as most are privately owned; and the Bradbury Science Museum. 

The Bradbury Museum was where we finally found the information we’d been seeking, and boy there was a lot of information! Though not a large museum, it was chock full of dense and detailed material. As we read slowly through the exhibits, I felt a bit like I was back at a scientific conference, and with good reason since the museum was actually started by LANL scientists.

They covered everything, from the basics of the project, to the impact of nuclear proliferation on world history, to the safety issues and health impacts of nuclear testing (finally, a mention of the downwinders!) to the current work of LANL. We appreciated that they included photos and bios of some of the workers on the Manhattan Project, including a number of women. Honestly though, what surprised us the most was learning that over 900 nuclear weapons had been tested (some underground), mostly in Nevada, since the Trinity test in the summer of 1945. The US no longer allows these weapons to be tested, which is a great thing, yet, so many innocent civilians were impacted when testing was taking place, impacts which the government has struggled to acknowledge. 

We continue to be amazed by how much learning we are doing on this trip, and by the conversations and thoughts this learning sparks in both of us. Would we be sitting around our living room in San Francisco talking over the pros and cons of nuclear weapons, or analyzing the treatment given to the telling of these stories at specific sites in New Mexico? Clearly, the answer to that question is no. What a gift we have in this year of exploration, not only to learn more about ourselves and each other but to learn more about our nation’s past as well as its present.