First person
By Ben Moffett
Trinity Site’s autumn open house Saturday drew an appreciative crowd as usual, this one estimated by the White Sands Missile Range public affairs office to be 3,400 – about the usual size.
Those who were on hand expecting to see the opening of the time capsule that was buried 25 years ago, Nov. 24, 1984, to dedicate the restored McDonald Ranch House, were likely disappointed. I know I was, having attended the capsule ceremony not only to view the McDonald House as it originally looked, but to help publicize it for my employer at that time, the National Park Service.
The public affairs office at WSMR said Saturday that a few pieces such as photos from the buried briefcase enclosed in a steel box were posted at the ranch house, but most of the material, including “paperwork surrounding restoration efforts and memos passed back and forth between agencies” were not posted because of time constraints and logistical problems related to their safety. Neither were the scrolls that contained the signature and/or messages of 1984 visitors posted. All will eventually be on display at the WSMR Museum’s Trinity Site exhibition, which unlike the McDonald House, is open seven days a week.
The ranch house, where the core of the bomb was assembled, was in tatters after the July 16, 1945, pre-dawn explosion of the world’s first nuclear device. The National Park Service was the primary contributor to the restoration effort, but the man who made it happen was Gen. Niles J. Fulwyler, WSMR commander, now retired, who had a passion for history.
Public Affairs officer Lisa Blevins Tuesday was good enough to provide me by telephone with the capsule comments left by Fulwyler. His note in the capsule read “(t)his has been a work of love. I hope you who are here 25 years from now enjoy what we have done. Be sure to take care of our heritage. It belongs to all of America.”
My own comment was forgettable. In fact I forgot what I had written, and was again disappointed when Blevins read it back to me. It said “I was born at nearby San Antonio and lived there when the bomb was exploded. I plan to be back for the ceremony in 25 years. Great work.” I suspect that my low profile message had to do with my not wishing to rock any boats as an employee of the cooperating agency, the park service.
The National Park Service task was to return the house to its pre-explosion 1945 condition, and according to a White Sands Missile Range biography of Fulwyler “set the stage for more frequent Trinity Site Open Houses.”
The restored house certainly added to the flavor of the Trinity Site visitor, who suddenly was able to not only learn about World War II and nuclear history but study the livestyles of ranchers on the isolated section of the northernmost stretch of Chihuahuan Desert. It was in private hands until the military bought it out, but virtually unpopulated..
Such historic items as a cistern and an a windmill-fed swimming pool at the ranch house help today’s visitors understand time and distance in the area. A crudely painted sign on the door, asking scientists who were assembling the core to “wipe your feet” before entering. Today it draws guffaws among visitors who are aware of the degree of cleanliness required in “clean rooms” of computer chip manufacturers and other high tech ventures.
White Sands Missile Range Museum director and curator Darren Court said it will be a month or more before the contents of the capsule will be available for viewing in the expanded Trinity Site space. “We’ll have the original documents in a case, and a text panel to explain the restoration and why it was done,” Court said.
I am very glad to be able to write this story. I was 45 years old on the day I signed the scroll and didn’t know if I would make it to 70, which I did in September. And I remain proud to tell anyone who will listen that I am a native of San Antonio, and one of the closest persons to the blast that brought the world into the atomic age, ended World War II, and today remains a force for good and evil that lights up the front page of newspapers on a daily basis.
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