As millions of Americans head to the theaters this weekend for the release of “Oppenheimer,” two Chicago siblings are recalling their family’s deep connection to the Manhattan Project.
Selena and Joe Fragassi’s grandfather worked on the service side of the project that led to the development of the world’s first nuclear weapons.
Selena, a freelance writer for the Chicago Sun-Times, previously detailed her family’s discovered connection to the historic project in a 2020 article.
Joe and Selena previously had no clue that her grandfather was involved with the project until discovering a vast archive of letters and photos following his death.
“I think when I was a teenager in high school I came across, I was just kind of doing some digging, and found this wealth of photos from the mid-1940s of when our grandparents moved out to Los Alamos and started this amazing couple of years out there just working as civilians on this project,” Joe Fragassi told NBC Chicago.
Joe added that he learned more details over the years about his grandfather’s life thanks to his father and uncle, who helped fill in the gaps left by what Joe had uncovered.
Joe and Selena’s grandparents, Fred and Clara, met in Evanston and got married in 1937. Once World War II began, the nearby job market scuffled, leading Fred and Clara to look for opportunities elsewhere.
Fred’s sister Josephine and her husband Marty were living in Los Alamos, New Mexico at the time, where Marty was stationed with the U.S. Army.
Shortly after arriving in New Mexico, Fred was invited by Marty to work on the extremely secretive project. Clara returned home early on in the process due to agoraphobia, leading to the two exchanging letters while long-distance, always sealed with a kiss by Clara.
Selena said that Fred was a chair of the supply warehouse for the project, working with scientists and keeping a log of materials.
According to Selena, Fred was unable to fight in the war due to a 4-F distinction for a minor health condition, which could have been for something as minor as flat feet or impaired vision.
Fred detailed his activities to Clara in the letters they exchanged, with Fred referencing the Trinity test just weeks before the attack on Nagasaki in 1945.
While the project was incredibly secretive, nothing classified was discussed in their letters, with the test the couple discussed having been reported on the news for a fatality that occurred.
Selena also shed light on how the mementos left behind shed light on what life was like in Los Alamos, while alluding to Oppenheimer’s portrayal of the town’s quick construction.
“I mean, in the movie, which we saw talks about the fact that they built up a town purposely for all these people they were transporting to Los Alamos, and they did it in record time, like a couple of months. And so beyond just the work they do day in and day out, they actually did a lot of different recreational activities. My grandpa was on a baseball team,” Selena said.
Both siblings saw Oppenheimer, and came away impressed with the film and its interpretation of life in Los Alamos.
“The movie, just the gravity of it really hit me and knowing that our grandparents were part of this very secretive project that I don’t know that they even fully understood the grasp of what they were doing, because they they didn’t get clearance,” Selena said.
“Yeah, I agree the movie was really just riveting and, and powerful. Even if you didn’t have this unique personal connection to the Manhattan Project, I think it would be powerful for any American any person that’s, you know, experienced war on this earth or just kind of the, you know, conflict of being human,” Joe said.
Oppenheimer was released to theaters nationwide on Friday.
from NBC Chicago https://ift.tt/eNB0Pfz
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