Alumni Sandstorm ~ 04/14/15
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8 Bombers and Don Sorenson sent stuff: 
Ruth PATTY ('56), Ferna GAROUTTE ('58)
Shirley SHERWOOD ('62), Tommy HEMPHILL ('62)
David RIVERS ('65), Shirley COLLINGS ('66)
Betti AVANT ('69), Karla SNYDER ('69)
Don Sorenson (NAB)
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BOMBER BIRTHDAY Today: Bonnie MOTT ('64)
BOMBER BIRTHDAY Today: Myra WEIHERMILLER ('67) 
BOMBER BIRTHDAY Today: Robin CORLEY ('69)

BOMBER LUNCH: John Ball "Kids", noon (every other Tuesday)

BOMBER CALENDAR: Richland Bombers Calendar
    Click the event you want to know more about.
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>>From: Ruth PATTY Holesworth ('56)

Re: FBI and Craighill

I remember FBI agents coming to the house to ask my Dad
questions about people. 

My Dad bought 318 & 320 Craighill ("B" house duplex) from Judy
WILLOX' ('61) parents for rental property. My four children and
I lived there from 1967 to 2003. My Dad told me that area used
to be a river bed. Dug a pit in the back area for a Hawaiian
bar-b-que and dug up a lot of big rocks. South down to Abbot
you'll find the soil is sandy.

-Ruth PATTY Holesworth ('56)
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>>From: Ferna GAROUTTE Hicks ('58)

Does anyone remember the FBI at Halloween? I remember they
would have a few kids at a time into their home. Hot apple
cider and cookies were served. Then the lady dressed up as a
witch would ask questions about where our dad/mom worked, what
they did at work. I remember saying my dad worked on the bus.
That was all I knew, he got on the bus. I think they were
checking for too much talk at home. They were staying in a
house on Goethals. The hot apple cider and cookies were good.
Anyone else remember this?

-Ferna GAROUTTE Hicks ('58)
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>>From: Shirley SHERWOOD Milani ('62)

Re: FBI

After I graduated I left Richland and was living in Seattle. I
got called home suddenly in August, 1964 with the news that my
dad had died of a heart attack. I told my mom that I would
return to Richland and live with her if she wanted me to. She
worked hard to discourage me, but I applied for work downtown
anyway. I finally listened to her and returned to Seattle,
later got married and we ended up moving to Livermore, CA. When
my daughter turned three and a half I decided to go back to
work so we could buy furniture for our new house. I applied at
the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory without even knowing
what they did there. During my interview I was told they build
bombs. I was hired and told I would have to sit in a "Red" area
until my Q clearance came through. I knew I had been accepted
for work at Richland, but had turned it down to go back to
Seattle. But I was sure surprised when I was told my Q
clearance had gone through almost immediately at LLNL because 
I had gotten a "Top Secret" clearance at Richland. My badge
always had a "HA" on it rather than a "CA" that everyone I
worked with had on theirs. I always assumed the "HA" stood for
Hanford.

After my daughter started elementary school I met a young woman
who asked where I worked. She wanted to get on at LLNL also. I
told her to go apply. I had no idea she was going to use me as
a reference. When the FBI came to ask me about her I had to
tell them I knew nothing about her at all. I don't know if she
was hired or not.

I ended up working at LLNL 27 years, retiring from there in Oct
1999 on my 55th birthday. Have been in Oregon since. 

-Shirley SHERWOOD Milani ('62)
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>>From: Tommy HEMPHILL ('62)

Re: Portland-Vancouver Lunch 

PLEASE JOIN US!!!

WHEN: Saturday – April 18, 2015
TIME: 11:30 AM - 2:00 PM
WHERE: Beaches Restaurant – on the Columbia River
       1919 S.E. Columbia River Drive - Vancouver, WA 98661
       Located just one mile east of I-5 on Highway 14.
       Take Exit #1 – Drive straight to the river and into 
       the parking lot.  It's very easy to find.

ALL Bombers and their friends and family members are Welcome.
Your lunch is your choice off of the regular menu.

We have reservations in the EAST dining area that is open for
minors. A fairly accurate head count is very helpful.

PLEASE RSVP

-Tommy HEMPHILL ('62)
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>>From: David RIVERS ('65)

Re: Spy Vs Spy

Oh we are a gullible bunch aren't we... all this talk about the
Fibbies in Richland... you guys crack me up... there were no
Fibbies in Richland until they built that big Federal building
back when... I remember Stanley MIDDLETON ('63-RIP) and I
decided we wanted to see the inside of the building about the
time they finished clean up..Something about his step dad I
think but who knows maybe we were just curious... It was kinda
like the time Michelle (NAB) and I were in Buffalo and thought
we'd pop up to see if Hillary was in... we rode alla way up to
the top of the ancient building her office was in and when we
got there it was closed... so anyway, Stan and I pushed the top
button (may as well start at the top)... I can only surmise it
was not supposed to take us all the way... when we got there
men had their guns drawn and we hadda lotta splainin' ta do...
I am pretty sure we never tried that again... reminded me of
the time I took my class of ghetto kids to the city hall... 
one little girl diligently checked every sign on every door...
finally I asked what she was looking for... she said her dad
was in City jail and was looking for his name... ..ahhhhhhh
yute... so back to the FBI... first, I want you to go...
hmmmmmm where to go... I would say the School but they have
finally put the cloud on the school so that may not work... 
so ask all them new people who have moved into our little 
town... ask 'em about the Manhattan Project... blank stares... 
right? Now re-read day before yesterday's Sandstorm... (don't 
read yesterday's... of course MADDY ('67) "remembers" them... 
he's had imaginary friends all his life)... everyone said they
knew someone who knew someone who knew about the FBI in
Richland... no one remembers "who"... OK... now member when
they sprayed all that radio-active iodine inna air... remember
the mosquito sprayers... remember how nobody minded if we rode
behind them getting a bug buzz on... well back inna day... the
men in black didn't have those cool little flash-bulb pens that
they have now to make people forget what they just saw... so
they hadda resort to some pretty primitive methods of making 
us ferget... two of the ways were the iodine inna air and the
sprayer machines... Of course I don't remember the other ways
they had back then because they worked better than the iodine
and the sprayers... so I can't remember (I mean if I could
remember you think they'd let me write about it in the
Sandstorm? No way!)... so that's why nobody can remember real
good but they can kinda remember... but not quite... hey I
don't make this stuff up... and it is of great importance, that
I did not forget to send a post for today's Bomber-babe b-day
babe... so now I am good for another year and out of danger of
being tied up and thrown inna river by those two girls from '63
who keep me onna very short leash... oh wait... I could still
"say" something I'm not spozed to say and could still get
throwed inna river... like... uhhhh no I can't say that... well
then... uh no... bad idea... oh man... they almost never do
anything I can actually talk about... uh oh... that may have
been the wrong thing to say... so I'll just say HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Myra WEIHERMILLER ('67) on your special day, April 14, 2015!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-David RIVERS ('65)
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>>From: Shirley COLLINGS Haskins ('66)

Re: Bomber magnetic car logos being auctioned
  http://AlumniSandstorm.com/Xtra/Col/150420-MagneticSign.jpg

As a fund raiser for the 50-year class reunion for the class of
'66 to be held August 12-14, 2016, two identical Bomber
magnetic car logos are being auctioned beginning at $50. The
logos had been on the door panels of the 1946 Ford Deluxe owned
and driven by Lloyd SWAIN ('66-RIP) who passed away March 30,
2015.

If interested, please contact me by email.

Thank you so much ~
-Shirley COLLINGS Haskins ('66) ~ Richland   
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>>From:  Betti AVANT ('69)

Re: FBI agent

I knew the name of the agent I met with for that spelling test
but had decided not to reveal his name but see someone did and
that confirms who I recall. 

-Betti AVANT ('69) ~ Richland   
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>>From: Karla SNYDER ('69)

Yes, the FBI is alive and well. I've had 2 agents interview me 
since moving back here in 2002.

-Karla SNYDER ('69)
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>>From: Don Sorenson (NAB)

Re: Plutonium

To: All Bombers

After looking thru the Plutonium Story the first plutonium
produced was in Berkley. The university used a 60 inch
cyclotron that accelerated deuteron particles into uranium
placed behind a beryllium shield (to create neutrons) to
produce plutonium. As most people know that was in 1940. By
1941 100s of micro grams of plutonium had been produced.
Washington University in St Louis was also using a cyclotron to
produce very small quantities of Pu. Another interesting note a
July 5, 1942 journal entry, Glenn Seaborg remarks about a rumor
of an experimental pile was to be built in the Red Gate Woods.
The area was about 20 miles west of the University of Chicago
(site of CP-1 Fermi's experimental pile). I mentioned in
yesterday's post CP-1 was torn down and rebuilt as CP-2 in the
Red Gate Woods. Plutonium from the Berkeley and Washington (St.
Louis) Universities was used for experiments in Chicago and
elsewhere. Larger quantities of Pu were produced at Chicago
using the irradiated fuel from CP-2 and processed, under the
same Stagg Field House, with a small scale pilot plant. Homer
Moulthrop worked there in 1944 and tells me how they were using
the process to determine decontamination of the plutonium from
fission products.

Burt is correct kilogram quantities of Pu were coming to Los
Alamos from Oak Ridge along with U-235 for criticality and
metallurgical studies. The plutonium was processed in the D
Building that was located near the center of Los Alamos. That
is a different story.

Back to Hanford's Pu. The meeting minutes of the 200 Area
Conference dated Feb 8 1945 a review of operations was reported
by L. Larson, First production batch completed 2-2-45.
Excellent check obtained by final assay. Now with this being
said it is my opinion a small sample from this batch put in a
small glass container was taken by Colonel Matthias to Los
Angles then delivered to Los Alamos. Another reason for my
opinion is the "sample can" used to ship Pu Nitrate is quite
heavy and not very easy to carry. When I read what Matthias had
to say about the trip he didn't mention the weight but he did
allude to the size of the package. In my so called mind its not
possible he used the "sample can" to take the first plutonium
to The Hill.

This comment should be amended to; Los Alamos didn't receive a
lot from either site, until other sources could come on line,
but what they did have was recycled thru the lab for the
experiments carried out there.

-Don L. Sorenson (NAB)
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That's it for today. Please send more.
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