Mad Cap Socialist Self Analysis! ("Mi Casa") Continues. Part Four: Start Your Engines

Continuing a piece about my home town, it's odd military history, and my position within.

PREVIOUSLY ON "Mi Casa":
PART ONE: History. A timeline of important dates in this project.
PART TWO: Introductions. In which the players of this one-act socialist analysis first pop up.
PART THREE: Flash Back-Flash Forward. Work on the top-secret project begins.

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GREETER
By January, 1943, the population of Los Alamos had risen to 1,500. By January, 1944, the population was 3,500. Work began immediately.

(SERBER enters with a notepad, working on his lecture.)

ROBERT SERBER (Placard reads, “Oppenheimer’s assistant. Delivered lectures to scientific staff members about design of nuclear weapons.)
“The object of the project is to produce a practical military weapon in the form of a bomb in which the energy is released by a fast-neutron chain reaction in one or more of the materials known to show nuclear fission.”

OPPENHEIMER
(Leans in from off-stage.) Psst! Don’t say “bomb.” The workmen might overhear the lectures. Say, “gadget.”

SERBER
“We are working on a ‘gadget.’” (Exits.)

GREETER
By October, 1943, the Special Engineer Detachment, or SED, which was part of the Manhattan Engineer District, began to staff the Laboratory. The SED was made up of scientists who had been drafted into the army. The SEDs were comprised of electrical, mechanical, and chemical engineers. Twenty nine percent held college degrees. By the end of 1943, 475 SEDs were working and by 1945, there were 1,823 SEDs working at the Laboratory. These were military scientists who had to wear uniforms. During the course of the Manhattan Project, forty-two percent of the Lab wore uniforms. Nevertheless, the SED were permitted to be non-commissioned officers, and many never had to attend basic training and were exempted from drills, unlike most of their military counterparts. Their place of privilege was resented by some.

(Dirty and ragged MILITARY PERSONNEL walk across the stage, carrying equipment. An SED in a sparkling uniform walks on from the opposite side of the stage, working out calculations on a notepad. The MILITARY PERSONNEL watch him cross the stage.)

MILITARY PERSONNEL
I got to get a transfer into that unit. (Exit.)

GREETER
But the civilian scientists enjoyed privileges that their SED peers did not.

(SED comes back on with his WIFE.)

SED WIFE
What you mean I can’t get a job? I can’t even stay in Los Alamos with you?

SED
Major De Silva won’t allow the wives of SEDs to get jobs in Los Alamos and he won’t let us bring in family.

(SCIENTISTS #1, #2, and #3 enter in their white lab coats, their arms around their WIVES, chatting about housing and life in Los Alamos. They cross the stage and exit.)

SED WIFE
What about them? They get to have their families with them.

SED
Those are civilian scientists. They’re higher up. Most of them worked at universities before they came here and got extra perks to come work here.

(MILTARY PERSONNEL come back on, carrying heavier equipment and looking more ragged than before.)

MILITARY PERSONNEL
Hey, could you give us a hand with this? Oh, that’s right. Wouldn’t want your uniform to get dirty.

(MILITARY PERSONNEL exit grumbling. SED and SED WIFE exit bickering. GEORGE KISTIAKOWSKY enters with GEN. GROVES and OPPENHEIMER.)

GEORGE KISTIAKOWSKY (Placard reads, “Headed SED Division in charge of explosives at S-Site, an explosives test site.”)
They’re unhappy. Morale is low. We’re working hard and doing a lot of the same work as the scientists, but we don’t get any of the perks as the civilian scientists.

GEN. GROVES
That’s because they’re your superiors. You’re the junior scientists and technicians. Everyone follows chain of command. The higher up you are, the greater the benefits you receive.

KISTIAKOWSKY
The SEDs are my staff. They work for me and report to me. I understand the chain of command.

OPPENHEIMER
The SEDs are highly respected among the scientists. They should be rewarded. Remember, we don’t want morale to drop.

GEN. GROVES
You civilians don’t get to tell me what to do about Army matters!

KISTIAKOWSKY
Very well, I’ll resign.

OPPENHEIMER
Oh, dear.

(MAJ. T.O. PALMER enters. OPPENHEIMER, GEN. GROVES, and KISTIAKOWSKY all turn to him.)

MAJ. T.O. PALMER (Placard reads, “Replaced Major de Silva as commander of SED in August, 1944.)
Ahem. I think I can help with this.

(GEN. GROVES, OPPENHEIMER, KISTIAKOWSKY, and MAJ. PALMER exit.)

GREETER
Major Palmer developed a system that made promotion recommendations for groups and divisions of the SED. This helped morale, but conflicting military and laboratory duties remained a problem. (As GREETER speaks, bedraggled MILITARY PERSONNEL continue to do their grunt work.) Meanwhile, over in Russia…

(JOSEF STALIN and LAVRENTI BERIA enter.)

STALIN (Placard reads, “Dictator of Russia.”)
Another purge well done, comrade. Now, I have a project for you.

BERIA (Placard reads, “Head of NKVD, which killed millions of Russians during the Great Purges.”)
Yes, comrade.

STALIN
My spies have intercepted this document, the British MAUD Committee Report. It shows plans to build a bomb of incredible power. This may just be an imperialist trick, but the Germans are besieging Stalingrad. We need all the firepower we can get. Molotov and I have decided to put you in charge of building a new weapon that can be developed from these plans. Citizen Kurchatov is Molotov’s choice for the head scientist. (IGOR KURCHATOV enters.) Make sure this research provides useful information.

BERIA
Yes, comrade.

(STALIN exits)

BERIA (to KURCHATOV)
Make yourself useful or you will be shot.

IGOR KURCHATOV (Placard reads, “Developed Russian atomic bomb.”)
Yes, comrade.

(BERIA and KURCHATOV exit.)

END OF PART FOUR. TO BE CONTINUED...

Go to PART FIVE: This Is More Than Just a Test
Go to PART SIX: Remember, New Perspective