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FIFTH GRADE Part Six: Tennessee goes to war again 
Oak Ridge residents celebrate the end of World War II PHOTO: Ed Westcott When America went to war in 1941, Tennessee went to war abroad and on the home front. Here, important parts of the atomic bomb were created. War games were staged. Prisoners of war were housed. Ships, boats and planes were constructed. Boots and uniforms were manufactured. And, most importantly, thousands of Tennesseans volunteered.
I. Those who fought
An estimated 360,000 Tennesseans served in the U.S. military during World War II. They fought in France, in Germany, in the Phillippines, at Midway, and in Okinawa. 6,057 of them died -- more Tennesseans than in any other war other than the Civil War. 
Troy McGill's headstone in Knoxville National Cemetery. McGill was awarded the Medal of Honor after his death in World War II.
Some of you may have relatives who fought in World War II. If they are still alive, you are lucky. Ask them about what they did and listen to what they have to say.
Eight Tennesseans received the Congressional Medal of Honor for things they did during World War II. These awards are given to people who go "above and beyond the call of duty" and who risk their lives while engaged in an action against any enemy of The United States. 
John Willis PHOTO: U.S. Navy For a list of Tennessee's eight World War II Medal of Honor recipients and a brief summary of what each of them did, click here to be taken to the high school section. But here's a sample: John Willis of Columbia (in Maury County) was a corpsman (a soldier who is also a medical nurse) trying to help wounded comrades in the Battle of Iwo Jima. He was administering blood to a patient when a grenade landed in the foxhole in which he was standing. Willis calmly threw it out. Another landed beside him and he threw it out. This happened again and again until the ninth exploded in his hand and killed him.
By the way, the Navy later named a warship after this man, called the USS John Willis. He was a real American hero, and his actions are indicative of thousands of other Tennesseans who fought. II. The home front
Here are five things you might find interesting about Tennessee and its contribution to the war: 
PHOTO: H. C. Spinks Clay Co.
During World War II people in cities like
2. Prisoner of war camps 
War maneuvers near Watertown PHOTO: U.S. Army 3. Maneuvers
Imagine how it must have looked to have been working on a Tennessee farm and see a tank coming over the hill in your direction. This actually happened. During the war, the U.S. Army conducted maneuvers in Tennessee, mainly because the terrain in Tennessee was determined to be similiar to that of western Europe. More than 800,000 people participated in these maneuvers. In 1939 a company called Aviation Corp. (abbreviated Avco) built an airplane factory adjacent to the 5. Oak Ridge
In 1939 scientist Albert Einstein wrote a letter to President Franklin Roosevelt informing him that the Germans were on the verge of creating a powerful new weapon. A couple of years later, with the U.S. drawn into World War II, Roosevelt got Congress to secretly fund work on such a weapon in four locations -- Anderson County, Tennessee, being one of the four. 
The K-25 plant PHOTO: Ed Westcott Quickly the site was cleared and three large manufacturing plants were built. The plants were known as X-10, Y-12, and K-25. Although the details of what went on in these massive facilities is beyond the scope of this web site, each of the buildings was involved in trying to separate Uranium 235 -- used in the atomic bomb -- from Uranium 238.
Various types of early Oak Ridge housing PHOTO: Ed Westcott Tens of thousands of people were brought in from all over the country to work at these facilities, and in the early years these people were housed in all types of structures. As you can see from these pictures, most people lived in tiny houses that were built rather quickly.
By the summer of 1945 Oak Ridge had an estimated 75,000 residents, making the brand new town the fifth largest city in Tennessee. And the project succeeded in its mission. In July 1945 small amounts of Uranium 235 were carried from Oak Ridge to New Mexico, where they were placed in a nuclear bomb known as "Little Boy." That bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945. Three days later, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, and a few days later Japan surrendered, ending World War II.
For more information of Oak Ridge, take our virtual tour of the Museum of Science and Energy by clicking here. 
Cordell Hull PHOTO: Cordell Hull Foundation for International Education III. Prominent Tennesseans It’s a long way from a tiny log cabin in
Click here for a virtual tour of the Cordell Hull birthplace. 
General Frank Andrews PHOTO: U.S. Air Force Frank Andrews
Most Tennesseans don't recognize the name Frank Andrews, but they should. A Tennessee native, General Frank Andrews was one of the highest ranking officers in the U.S. military during World War II and is considered one of the founders of the U.S. Air Force. (There is an air force base named for him: Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.) When he died in a plane crash in May 1943, General Andrews was the commander of U.S. forces in Europe (a post later assigned to General Eisenhower). 
Cornelia Fort PHOTO: Hill Aerospace Museum Cornelia Fort Cornelia Fort was a rich girl in A year later she Cornelia Fort was killed in a mid-air collision in 1943. Today a small airport in Elsewhere on Tennessee History for Kids: Click here to take a tour of the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge;
QUIZ
1. Other than the Civil War, what war cost the lives of the most Tennesseans? 2. What was the name of the barrage balloon training base in Henry County? 3. (TRUE OR FALSE) The U.S. Army conducted extensive training maneuvers in Tennessee during World War II. 4. What major weapon were people working on, in secret, in Anderson County during World War II? 5) Who is considered to be the Father of the United Nations? |
All photographs taken by Bill Carey for THKF unless otherwise stated.