I spent all day Tuesday touring the Hanford Site. 65 years and a day after Fat Man was dropped on Nagasaki, the first stop on the tour was the B reactor which produced the plutonium for the bomb. I just stood in front of the loading face and gave thanks to the generous God who allowed us to get the bomb first. Anyone who had a father or grandfather in the military in 1945 and thinks that dropping the bomb was a war crime should just STFU every August and be happy that their ancestor came home alive in order to produce stupid, ignorant children who are free to believe left-wing, bleeding heart propaganda about the war.
The tour was completely awesome. Any one who can plan far enough ahead should try to snag a spot on one of them. They are free but require reservations. The reservations website opened up at 12:01 AM on a Tuesday in March. By noon most of the seats appeared to be snapped up.
In addition to the B reactor, we drove through the 200 East and West areas where the plutonium was separated and a lot of today's cleanup efforts are focused. We got to watch the burial process for low-level waste and the construction of additional pits. We also saw the pit where the Navy disposes of the reactor sections of submarines and surface ships.
The only disappointing thing was that there is no gift shop. I need a t-shirt. The tour runs on a schedule so that the bus has to be at particular sites for scheduled briefings at scheduled times, so we were pushed along. They have Saturday tours which allow about 4 hours at the B reactor. It's on my list for next summer.
How about an uncle? He was in the Big Red One in 1945 in Germany (not being sent home yet), on standby for transfer to the Pacific Theater for Operation "Olympic", the invasion of the Home Islands.
He probably wouldn't be here today (he's 94 and still kicking it), and neither would his kids: a university dean, a stationer's senior salesman, and an RN. And neither would their kids, or their grandchildren who are just now beginning to appear.
I might be here, but I would be short a lot of cousins.
Please keep me in mind for next summer's tour! Road trip!