The celebration of learning the bombs have been dropped, Japan has surrendered, the war has come to an end, and family members can be expected to come home, is a jubilant mood for Oak Ridge, as well as all over the country. But, now they have decisions to make, will they still have their jobs, will they go back to their places, before coming to Oak Ridge, how will their lives change, and yes.....now they begin processing, and dealing with the knowledge of what they were actually doing in those plants.
Last night, I was watching a tv show, Madame Secretary. The Secretary of State,(played by Téa Leoni) has just averted a war with Iran. Her young son asks his father if we were going to war. The father says, not if your mother can avoid it. The young son questioned his father who flew fighter jets in desert storm, if he ever killed anyone. The father said, yes. The son asked how did you feel when you had to kill people, and do you think about it today? The father responded, (paraphrasing) "I was conditioned to do my job during my training, I spotted a target, released the bombs, and did what I was told to do. I didn't have time to think about how I felt about it, but yes, now I think about it all the time." They sat and looked at each other, and the young son got up, hugged his Dad, and said good-night. The father, just sat thinking.
I share this because while watching this, it made me think of our book. We are coming to the last chapters of the book. D.K. interviewed these ladies so many years later. The celebrations have wore off, the reality has set in, and now I suppose the women/workers all sat much like this father, and contemplated everything days, weeks, months and years later.
