The Pentagon: A History (77 page)

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 Sept. 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.

“By command”
Newsweek,
7 Dec. 1942.

The water spared the Pentagon
Journal of Military District of Washington, 17 Oct. 1941, NARA RG 551; Frierson,
The Pentagon,
16; photographs of flooding, box 1317, OSD HO;
WP,
23 Oct. 1942.

Our lives depend on that

From outside, the Pentagon
“Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Groves,” Groves and Renshaw, 30 Oct. 1942; Groves memo to Renshaw, 22 Oct. 1941, I, CEHO.

Much exacting work
Ibid.; Life,
21 Dec. 1942; Groves memo to Styer, 9 July 1942, I, CEHO; Matthias, memo to Renshaw, 28 Oct. 1942, I, CEHO;
Star,
14 Nov. 1942.

Groves had been unsure
Voorhees, F&R interview, CEHO.

Inspecting the building, Somervell
“Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Groves,” Groves and Renshaw, 26 Aug. 1942.

The same was true
“Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Groves,” Groves and Renshaw, 31 Aug. 1942; “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Groves,” Renshaw and Matthias, 1 Sept. 1942.

Most irritating of all
French memo to Chief of Engineers, 4 Nov. 1942, I, CEHO; Matthias memo to Renshaw, 6 Oct. 1942, I, CEHO; French memo to Renshaw, 31 Oct. 1942, I, CEHO; French memo to chief of engineers, 4 Nov. 1942; Major C. H. Humeline memo to chief of engineers, 29 Oct. 1942.

Renshaw appealed for help
Renshaw memo to Robins, 4 Nov. 1942, I, CEHO; Robins memo to chief signal officer, 11 Nov. 1942, I, CEHO.

The first Signal Corps workers
George W. Good, Jr., e-mail to author, 9 Jan. 2004; Kelly, “Pentagon Veterans Recall Construction Days.”

Renshaw roared
“Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Groves,” Renshaw and Matthias, 2 Oct. 1942.

This is the War Department

The Pentagon had to be
WP,
12 Sept. 1941; Frierson,
The Pentagon,
15.

Frank E. Watts
Frank E. Watts, “Working in the Pentagon,” 30 July 1994, box 1303, OSD HO; “Largest P.B.X. in the World,” Nov. 1942, I, CEHO.

Just before midnight
WP,
12 Sept. 1941; Clayton, author interview; Jim Fearson, “The Telephone in Northern Virginia from the Beginning to World War II,” monograph;
WP,
30 Apr. 1951.

“It really was the eighth”
Marian Bailey, author interview;
WP,
26 Mar. 1992;
Des Moines Register,
20 Dec. 1992.

Indeed, the switchboard
Military District of Washington memo, 4 Aug. 1942, NARA RG 551.

The whip

“Certainly, even the greatest”
Groves comments, 115, CEHO.

Groves had been consumed
Norris,
Racing for the Bomb,
233–4.

After writing the letter
Groves diary, 29–31 Oct. 1942, entry 7530 G, NARA RG 200; “Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Groves,” Groves and Renshaw, 30 Oct. 1942.

There were not enough trucks
Ibid.;
War Department letter to Capital Excavating Co., 14 Nov. 1942, I, CEHO; Capt. F. T. Johnson, memo to Office of Judge Advocate General, 22 Oct. 1941, I, CEHO.

On October 24
Atkinson,
An Army at Dawn,
40.

The timing of the move
War Department press release, 13 July 1942, I, CEHO;
WP,
17 Sept. 1942.

But in Stimson’s own office
Helen McShane Bailey, author interview; John Connell, oral history, 1991, box 1311, OSD HO.

Reporters were appalled
Fred Morrison, Radio Correspondents’ Galleries, letter to Stimson, 24 Sept. 1942, I, CEHO; Stimson letter to Clifford A. Provost, National Press Club, 21 Sept. 1942, I, CEHO.

Carry me back to Old Virginny

Yet Admiral Ernest King
Stimson diary, 31 Oct. 1942.

The cantankerous
Eric Larrabee,
Commander in Chief: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, His Lieutenants, and Their War,
155, 193–4; Stimson diary, 31 Oct. 1942.

Stimson was often dismayed
Stimson and Bundy,
On Active Service in Peace and War,
194.