The Pentagon: A History (70 page)

To save space, references for one or more paragraphs are often grouped together in a single note. The order of the citations in each note generally corresponds to the information or quotation being referenced. The following abbreviations are used in the endnotes and bibliography:

AAR—After Action Report

ACL—Arlington Central Library, Virginia Room

AIA—American Institute of Architects

ACOHP—Arlington County Oral History Project

AOC—Architect of the Capitol

AP—Associated Press

CEHO—U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Office of History, Fort Belvoir, Va.

CFA—Commission of Fine Arts

CMH—U.S. Army Center of Military History, Fort McNair, Washington, D.C.

CU—Columbia University Oral History Research Office

DoD—Department of Defense

ENR—Engineering News-Record

FDR Lib—Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, New York

F&R—Army Corps of Engineers historians Lenore Fine and Jesse Remington

GCM Lib—George C. Marshall Library, Lexington, Va.

HML—Hagley Museum and Library, Wilmington, Del.

HST Lib.—Harry S. Truman Library

LOC—Library of Congress

MDW—U.S. Army Military District of Washington

MHI—U.S. Army Military History Institute, Carlisle, Pa.

MLK Lib—Martin Luther King Library, Washingtoniana Division

NARA—National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md.

NARA DC—National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.

NCPPC—National Capital Park and Planning Commission

NYT—The New York Times

OSD—Office of the Secretary of Defense

OSD HO—Office of the Secretary of Defense Historical Office

OUSA—Office of the Under Secretary of the Army

PENREN—Pentagon Renovation Program

RG—record group

SDF—Somervell Desk File, NARA RG 160

Star—
Washington
Evening Star

USMA—United States Military Academy Archives, West Point

WP
—
The Washington Post

WT-H
—
Washington Times-Herald

A pentagon

On a warm
Planning memorandum, 30 Sept. 1942, David Witmer papers, box 1306, OSD HO (hereafter known as Witmer planning memorandum); “The Pentagon Project,” Control Division, Army Service Forces, 25 June 1944, box 15, file 4, SDF, NARA RG 160 (hereafter known as “The Pentagon Project—ASF”); Alfred Goldberg,
The Pentagon: The First Fifty Years,
16–20; Steve Vogel, “The Battle of Arlington,”
WP,
26 Apr. 1999.

The general spoke
Maxwell Taylor, oral history with Forrest C. Pogue, 1959, GCM Lib.; George C. Marshall, oral history with Pogue, 14 Feb. 1957, GCM Lib.; Forrest Pogue,
Ordeal and Hope,
297; “The S.O.S.”
Fortune,
Sept. 1942.

“Pat, we’re going”
Engineer Memoirs—Major General Hugh J. Casey,
1993, 137–140; Casey letter to Lt. Col. David Matheson, 11 July 1955, vii, CEHO.

Yet it must be no
Witmer planning memorandum, OSD HO; Somervell notes on the building July 1941, I, CEHO.

“Now, don’t question”
Robert Colglazier, oral history, 1984, MHI.

“That,” Casey later
Engineer Memoirs—Casey,
p. 137.

Washington was consumed
The Papers of George C. Marshall,
vol. 2, 547; “The Pentagon Project,” Engineer Historical Division, 1, I, box 16, CEHO (hereafter known as “The Pentagon Project—EHD”); “Report of the Secretary of War to the President, 1939,” 33.

Working around the clock
Engineer Memoirs—Casey,
137–140.

CHAPTER 1: DYNAMITE IN A TIFFANY BOX

Stimson looks for the right man

To his staff
T.T. Handy, oral history, 1959, GCM Lib; Lucius Clay, oral history, 1972, MHI.

The largest peacetime
Lenore Fine and Jesse A. Remington,
The Corps of Engineers: Construction in the United States,
152–153, 519–520; “Report of the Secretary of War to the President, 1941,” 55.

“They had gotten into”
Henry L. Stimson diary, 7 Feb. 1942 (hereafter Stimson diary); F&R,
The Corps of Engineers,
239–41;
Time,
23 Dec. 1940.

Back then, he had seemingly
NYT,
Stimson obituary, 21 Oct. 1950.

“I am not satisfied”
Stimson diary, 20 Aug. 1940; John J. McCloy, memorandum to Jesse Remington, circa 1957, VII, box 32, CEHO.

“Have him assigned”
George C. Marshall to Gen. Bryden, GCM Papers, box 85, Somervell folder, GCM Lib.

I suppose the fellow who built the Pyramids was efficient, too

None of Brehon
L. D. Dunbar, “Army Man at Work,”
New Yorker,
10 and 17 Feb. 1940.

Somervell found the idea
NYT,
8 July 1939.

Somervell imposed
Stephen Voorhees, F&R interview, 1958, VII, box 33, CEHO;
NYT,
8 Feb. 1940

“I suppose the fellow”
Dunbar, “Army Man at Work.”

“Well, girls”
New York World-Telegram,
Nov. 1937; Dunbar, “Army Man at Work.”

“Dynamite in a Tiffany box”
Charles J. V. Murphy, “Somervell of the S.O.S.,”
Life,
8 May 1943.

Somervell was one of the only
Ibid.

Somervell “went up like a torch”
Florence Kerr, oral history, 1963, Smithsonian.

A furor arose
John Kennedy Ohl,
Supplying the Troops: General Somervell and American Logistics in World War II,
35.

“The day before yesterday”
William A. Delano, letter,
New York Herald Tribune,
16 Feb. 1955.

Much of the $45-million
Ohl,
Supplying the Troops,
32–3; “New York Municipal Airport” brochure, undated, Somervell papers, MHI;
NYT,
16 Oct. 1939, 8 Nov. 1940.

“I was much impressed”
Ohl,
Supplying the Troops,
33.

Just a country boy from Arkansas

“I’m just a country boy”
Address at University of Arkansas, 7 June 1943, “General Brehon B. Somervell Public Addresses,” v. 2, Somervell papers, MHI (hereafter Somervell addresses);
Kansas City Star,
30 Dec. 1943.

He had been born
Biographical papers, Somervell papers, MHI; Ohl,
Supplying the Troops,
9–10.

There Brehon was raised
Murphy, “Somervell of the S.O.S.” Connie Somervell Matter, author interview, 25 Feb. 2004.

Brehon had a wild streak
John Janney, “The Man Behind the Invasion,”
American Magazine,
June 1944;
The Brecky
1909 Central High School yearbook, Somervell papers, MHI; Murphy, “Somervell of the S.O.S.”

Somervell won
West Point academic records, Somervell papers, MHI; Ohl,
Supplying the Troops,
10; Janney, “The Man Behind the Invasion” Murphy, “Somervell of the S.O.S.” Dunbar, “Army Man at Work.”

Touring Europe
“Service Reminiscences of Lt. Gen. John C.H. Lee,” MHI; Janney, “The Man Behind the Invasion” Murphy, “Somervell of the S.O.S.”

“I was hard at work”
Dunbar, “Army Man at Work.”

The Pershing expedition
“Recollections of General Brehon Somervell,” memorandum to author, Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Ernest Graves, Jr., 12 Feb. 2004; Ernest Graves, Jr., author interview, 12 Feb. 2004; “Investigation of National Defense Program,” Statement of Lt. General Brehon B. Somervell to U.S. Senate Special Committee Investigating the National Defense Program, 20 Dec. 1943, Somervell papers, MHI; Ohl,
Supplying the Troops,
11.

Motoring down
Dunbar, “Army Man at Work” Janney, “The Man Behind the Invasion.”

Somervell’s performance
Murphy, “Somervell of the S.O.S.” Lee, “Service Reminiscences,” MHI; John M. Carlisle, “Somervell,”
Detroit News,
7 May 1944; Distinguished Service Medal citation, Somervell papers, MHI.

“I have yet to hear”
Murphy, “Somervell of the S.O.S.”

“What do you know”
Dunbar, “Army Man at Work.”

“truly an answer to prayer”
Lee, “Service Reminiscences,” MHI.

For his exploits
Somervell service record, Somervell papers, MHI; Ohl,
Supplying the Troops,
13–14.

“This is the best officer”
Janney, “The Man Behind the Invasion” Ernest Graves letter to Roy Finch, 31 Dec. 1936, Somervell papers, MHI.

“He called himself a mean”
Engineer Memoirs—General William M. Hoge,
1993, 97.

“Watch Somervell”
Time,
8 Dec. 1941.

His reputation
Murphy, “Somervell of the S.O.S.” Matter, author’s interview; Lee, “Service Reminiscences,” MHI.

Magnitude never seemed to bother him

In 1929, Somervell pondered
Maj. Brehon Somervell, “Report to the Chief of Engineers, United States Army on the Potomac River and Its Tributaries,” 1 Sept. 1930, Records of the Washington, D.C., District, NARA RG 77;
WP,
29 Dec. 1929;
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal,
National Park Service, 1991, 30.

Somervell was pitted
Washington Daily News,
3 Apr. 1930;
Star,
3 Apr. 1930;
WP,
6 Apr. 1930; Albert E. Cowdrey,
A City for the Nation,
1979, 50.

He saw himself
Ohl,
Supplying the Troops,
18;
Engineer Memoirs—Major General John R. Hardin,
1981, 107, CEHO.

In 1934, President Roosevelt
Ohl,
Supplying the Troops,
22–24.

“He got his orders”
Hugh S. Johnson,
New York World-Telegram,
15 Mar. 1941.

Attracted by the grand scope
Ernie Pyle, “44 Year-Old War Hero is Boss of the Florida Canal Job,”
Washington Daily News,
3 Mar. 1936.

Congress cut off
Ohl,
Supplying the Troops,
22–24. The canal project would be periodically revived, including during World War II and again in the 1960s. Work was again shut down in 1971, and the project officially canceled in 1991. Today the canal right-of-way is a 110-mile-long environmental “greenway” across central Florida.

A gleam of light on the horizon

Among those he met
F&R,
The Corps of Engineers,
256; Doris Kearns Goodwin,
No Ordinary Time: Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II,
87;
NYT,
Harry Hopkins obituary, 30 Jan. 1946; Leslie R. Groves, F&R interview, 1956, VII, box 32, CEHO; Voorhees, F&R interview, VII, box 33, CEHO.

“If I hadn’t”
Murphy, “Somervell of the S.O.S.” Richard C. Moore, memo to F&R, 1955, VII, box 32, CEHO.

La Guardia, by now
NYT,
8 Nov. 1940; Ohl,
Supplying the Troops,
36;
Current Biography 1942,
777.

Leaving New York
“Comments of Lt. Gen. Leslie R. Groves on MS, Construction in the United States,” 1955, 51, VII, box 34, CEHO (hereafter Groves comments); John D. Millett,
The Army Service Forces,
5; Julian Schley, F&R interview, 1955, VII, box 33, CEHO; George C. Marshall to Major Smith, 25 October 1940, GCM Papers, box 85, folder 17, GCM Lib.

Arriving in Washington
Ohl,
Supplying the Troops,
38; Stimson diary, 19 Dec. 1940.

Waiting in the wings

Brigadier General
Charles Hartman, memo to F&R, 1955, CEHO; Mary Pagan, F&R interview, 1955, CEHO.

Being chief
Winnie Cox, F&R interview, 1956, CEHO;
NYT,
28 Dec. 1940; Michael Madigan, F&R interview, CEHO.

“It is a pathetic situation”
Stimson diary, 11 Dec. 1940.

The White House had threatened
McCloy memorandum to Remington, VII, box 33, CEHO.

Gregory, who was the Army’s
Edmund Gregory, F&R interview, 1955, VII, box 32, CEHO; R. C. Moore memo to history office, 1953, VII, CEHO. Gregory disputed this account, telling Army historians the decision to sack Hartman was his.

Gregory finally saw
Hartman memo to F&R, VII, CEHO; Pagan interview, VII, CEHO; F&R,
The Corps of Engineers,
256–7; James Burns, F&R interview, 1956, CEHO.

Somervell’s appointment
AP article, in
NYT,
14 Dec. 1942; Stimson diary, 19 Dec. 1940; Cox interview, VII, CEHO; Pagan interview, VII, CEHO.

“Somervell was like”
Stimson diary, 19 Dec. 1940.