Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-08-07

some of the usual engineering pro-
cedures because we were in a field
that had never before been ex-
plored on so vast a SCALE Gen
Groves said. But we made progress
through determination and the will
ingness to take a chance. These
chances paid dividends. even though
some phases of the program had to
be abandoned through necessity.
Organization job"
"All concerned worked together al
team and we owe great tribute tt
the scientists, contractors, and other.
who worked untiringly and unself.
ishly day after day in overcoming
the numerous handicaps in the pro.
gram. 1t was an organization job
THE completely of the project
was such that any decision on one
phase could not be made in the ma.
jority of the situations without
affecting other parts of the work anc
the closest cooperation was de.
manded. and had, in all matters.
SOIt-SpOkcH Ou1ccT.
Gen. Groves was deputy chief Of
construction in the Washington
Office of the Chief of Engineers wher
he was assigned to the atomic re.
search development in the summer
of 1912. AS deputy chief, he super.
vised the erection of the Pentagon
Before his venture into nucleal
physics-the field of research which
brought the large-scale tapping Of
the energy within atoms to produc,
new weapon-Gen. Groves majol
experience with scientific matters
had delt with research on anti.
aircraft searchlights and Allied
equipment.
A pleasant-mannered, soft-spoker
officer who outwardly never showed
the strain Of his job, Gen. Groves
constantly amazed his associates be.
cause of his ability to handle thu
variety Of complex details-both ad.
ministrative and technical-with 9
minimum of confusion.
Relaxed at Tennis.
When bad moments" came and
the success Of the project was II
doubt Gen. Groves became ever
more determined to find the answer
so that the United States would bs
the first to solve the riddle of al
atomic explosive. The rumor storie!
in newspapers about Germanys ex,
periments along the same line servet
as an added incentive.
During the three years Of expert.
menting Gen. Groves has stayed al
his desk IL hours a day, often re,
naming at his Pentagon ONCE lon,
after his staff has gone home.
Whenever possible he has sough
relaxation with a brisk, turn at ten.
mis- at the Army, Navy Country Clut
and then returned to his Office.
Father = Chaplain.
Gen. Groves permanent rank 4
lieutenant colonel although he has
never served in that rank. He wa!
jumped from major to full colone
in 1910 to become special assistant
to the quartermaster general ir
charge Of the Army,s vast construc.
ton program.
Gen. Groves was born in the
manse Of the First Presbyterian
Church at Albany, N. Y. on August
II, 1896, shortly before his father
went into the Army as a chaplain
stationed at Vancouver Barracks.
The family remained at Vancouver
Barracks while the father was il
Cuba, the Philippines and In Chine
during the Boxer rebellion. Gen
Groves remembers seeing his father
for the first time when he was s
years old.
The Groves family toured from
one Army post to another as the boy
grew up. In 1914, the future general
entered the Massachusetts, Institute
Of Technology. He left NIT in 1915
to enter West Point under q presi-
DENTAL appointment.