From R/t Feb. 5, 2005
Article by Gene Kinn
-----------------------------
Letter to Parents from 1931 FHS Grad.
Dr. Glenn W. Stahl., who graduated from Fostoria High
School in 1931 and later received bachelor's degree,
a master's degree and a doctor's degree, has been
employed, for the past three years, at the Oak Ridge,
Tenn., atomic bomb plant and the Richland, Wash. atomic
bomb plant. He recently wrote the following letter
to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. W.W. Stahl, Tiffin Road.
Dearest Mother and Dad:
Well, I guess the secret is out now and you pretty
well know what I have been working on for the past
few years. It was quite a thrill to watch the progress
of our atomic bomb research with test tube amounts
of less than could be put on the head of a pin, to
freight car lots and enough to bring the Japs to their
knees in three days. If they had not given up, their
nation would have been wiped out, for as the saying
goes, "there was plenty more where that came
from."
I think the greatest thrill of my life came when I
first went through the plants in Washington and realized
that some of my ideas were helping make that place
click. Somehow, I never doubted that the bomb would
work and I felt sure that, unless the Germans beat
us to it, it would win the war for us.
I felt I did the best I could for the boys who had
to go across and I don't think you need be ashamed
of what I did during the war, even though there aren't
any medals or campaign ribbons to show for it. sometimes,
all you get for a lot of hard work, is a good feeling
in your heart and in the long run, that is most important.
Of course, the bomb alone did not win the war nor
will it keep the peace any more than did the discovery
of gunpowder. Winning the war depended more on the
boys who fought to hold back the enemy until we were
ready. They would have won the war without the bomb,
but they won it quicker and cheaper with it. As for
keeping the peace, scientists in other lands either
know the secrets or will be able to unravel the secrets
of the atomic bomb. Having this they will have the
same powerful weapon as we.
The weapon that will keep the peace is not the bomb,
but the "freedoms from fear and want and of speech,
expression and worship of God everywhere in the world."
That looks like a bigger job than the atomic bomb,
for there you have to remove selfishness and greed
from the hearts of men.
Write soon, Love, Glenn.
