Preface
A vast homefront construction effort by the U.S. Army undergirded mobilization and combat in World War II. Started by the Quartermaster Corps and carried to completion by the Corps of Engineers, this building program embraced more than 27,000 projects, large and small, and cost $15.3 billion, roughly $59 billion in 1970 prices. (See Appendix.) Among its major features were camps and cantonments to house 5.3 million troops; plants to mass-produce explosives, ammunition, tanks, and planes; hospitals providing nearly half a million beds; a huge network of ports and depots; improvements to principal waterways and flood protection for vital industries; bomber bases which entailed a whole new technology; the mammoth Pentagon Building; and facilities for the epochal Manhattan Project. Our book is a history of this undertaking.
It is also a history of people: of military leaders and their staffs; of civilian engineers, contractors, suppliers, and equipment dealers; of dollar-a-year men and expert consultants; of industrialists and union organizers; of statesmen and politicians; of patriots and profiteers; and of the faceless multitude—workers, GI’s, small businessmen, dispossessed property owners, and citizens of every stripe who participated in or felt the impact of the program. Throughout we have tried to show how individuals and groups influenced events.
Ostensibly a diffuse technical subject, an untempting prospect for historians, construction proved a rewarding field of inquiry. High-level planning, site selection, land acquisition, engineering design, contractual arrangements, procurement methods, labor relations, and day-to-day operations in the field—all were illuminating studies. Gradually a story emerged of public indifference and military myopia, of unprecedented challenges and initial unpreparedness, of cruel disappointments and serious mistakes, of remedial measures and sweeping reorganizations, and of prodigious efforts and crowning success. Because many World War II developments had their roots in World War I and the two decades that followed, the narrative begins in 1917 and, more or less following a chronological scheme, proceeds through eighteen chapters to August 1945. The final chapters discuss two extraordinary achievements—airfields for heavy bombers and the atomic bomb.
We are deeply grateful to all those persons who aided in the preparation of this volume. Special thanks are owing to our past and present colleagues in the Engineer Historical Division whose advice and assistance eased our task. Dr. O. J. Clinard, who launched us on the undertaking, was a source
of inspiration and encouragement. Dr. Karl C. Dod offered many valuable comments and suggestions. Miss Dorothe M. Grand gave us the benefit of her discriminating editorial judgment. Mr. Eugene V. McAndrews was a thoughtful critic. Miss Blanche D. Coll did research and drafted sections on labor relations; Miss G. Louise Marr, on real estate. A study of the Manhattan Engineer District by Dr. Ralph F. Weld provided the groundwork for Chapter XX. Many participants, nearly all of whom are named in the volume, gave generously of their time and knowledge, helping to illuminate the written record and correcting factual errors. We are particularly grateful to the officers who read and commented upon the entire manuscript: Lt. Gen. Leslie R. Groves; Maj. Gen. John R. Hardin; Lt. Gen. Eugene Reybold; Col. Lloyd C. Ritchie; Lt. Gen. Samuel D. Sturgis, Jr.; and Lt. Gen. Walter K. Wilson, Jr. To Generals Groves and Sturgis, who worked closely with us for many years, our debt is exceptionally heavy. Mr. Thomas B. Pringle and Mr. Harry B. Zackrison were invaluable advisers on technical subjects.
General acknowledgments are due to Mrs. Lois Aldridge, Mrs. Virginia M. Nester, Mrs. Mary K. Stuart, Mr. John E. Taylor, and Mrs. Mae E. Walker, whose archival assistance was indispensable; to Miss Agnes M. Dutkevich and Mrs. Ruth E. Steers, who typed the final draft of the manuscript and verified quotations and names; and to Mr. Robert L. Collins, Jr., who did artwork for maps and charts.
We are also obliged to members of the Office of the Chief of Military History, especially to Dr. Stetson Conn, Chief Historian, and Mr. Joseph R. Friedman, Editor in Chief, for their practical advice and constructive criticism. Mr. David Jaffe, Chief of the Editorial Branch, demonstrated rare skill and admirable diplomacy in the final editing. Mrs. Marion P. Grimes was the copy editor. Mrs. Muriel Southwick prepared the index.
Finally, we wish to express our warm appreciation to Mr. Robert W. Blakeley, Lt. Col. Frank E. Burk, Brig. Gen. Curtis W. Chapman, Jr., Mr. Logan O. Cowgill, Brig. Gen. Ira A. Hunt, Jr., Mr. August J. Karasek, Mrs. Bessie S. Rubin, and all the other members of the Engineer family who effectively supported our effort.
For the facts presented and the conclusions drawn in this volume, the authors alone are responsible.
Lenore Fine
Jesse A. Remington
Baltimore, Maryland
15 April 1971