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Smyrna/Rutherford
County Airport
The War Department ordered the construction of a Bombardment Air Base near
Nashville on December 22, 1941, shortly after the attack by the Japanese
on Pearl Harbor. A tract of
land consisting of 3,325.11 acres located off US Route 70 in Rutherford
County near Smyrna, Tennessee, was selected and acquired by the Department
of Defense for use as an Army-Air Force Training Command Base.
The Nashville District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, under the
direction of Colonel O.E. Walsh, constructed the facility and had it ready
for use by the Army Air Corps on July 1, 1942.
Six thousand workers erected 200 buildings and air strips to accommodate
100 four-motor bombers to train crews for their tasks in the skies over
Germany and Japan. B-17 and
B-24 bombers were soon operating from the base’s runways.
Following the war, the Air Base was deactivated but post-war
complications reopened it under the new name of Sewart Air Force Base, in
honor of Major Allen J. Sewart of Nashville who died in action in the
Solomon Islands.
Peak
Effort
When the District's military construction effort peaked in 1942, the
Engineers were directing the construction of airfields, army cantonments,
ordnance works, prisoner of war impoundments, hospitals, and were
inspecting much of the military equipment and supplies flowing through
Nashville. At
Paducah, the District directed construction of the Kentucky Ordnance
Works; at Muscle Shoals, it built a CAA airport, Courtland Basic Flying
School, and a TNT plant; at Milan, Tennessee, it constructed Milan
Ordnance Works; near Asheville, North Carolina, the Swannanoa General
Hospital, later renamed Moore General Hospital in honor of Dr. Samuel P.
Moore, Surgeon General of the Confederacy, was erected with 1520 beds and
a hospital training unit for 661 officers, nurses, and enlisted men.
The District was also assigned the task of constructing the Maury Chemical
Weapons Supply Plant at Columbia, Tennessee.
Fort
Campbell
The Camp Campbell project (Fort Campbell), located on both sides of
the Kentucky-Tennessee state line north of Clarksville, required the
acquisition of more than 100,000 acres of property, the construction of
100 miles of roads, and the erection of housing for 35,000 men.
Retiree Recalls District's WWII Mission
by Dave Treadway
 District
retiree Hobart Parish played a vital role in helping establish the facility
at Oak Ridge. He agreed to share some of his story.
Historian Dr. Leland R.
Johnson, in his book, "Engineers on the Twin Rivers",
(1978) referred to "…certain highly classified activities within the
District's boundaries for which two separate Engineer Districts were created
-- the Kingsport and Manhattan Districts."
Dr. Johnson provided other
details.
"During the summer of
1942," wrote Dr. Johnson, "citizens of Anderson and Roane Counties, near
Knoxville, Tenn., were mystified by the presence of strangers, some
khaki-clad, who carried surveying instruments. When asked what they were
surveying for, the reply was quick: '75 cents an hour.'"
Parish recently provided a
first-hand account of the role some District employees played during that
trying time.
Early in 1942, Parish, as
the District dispatcher, was assigned to drive an appraiser in a 1940 ford
sedan over mostly unpaved roads from Oliver Springs, to Lake City, up and
down both sides of Clinch River and Emory River, and up to the plateau
toward Oakdale and Crossville to "make a preliminary Survey and Appraisal of
land in the area".
"We were there probably
less than a week," recalled Parish, "and using most of the daylight hours in
our ramblings. We had no idea what was going to be built. The Orders and
Regulations at that time had a short description of the Manhattan District
that identified it as a District to be formed for Special Purposes and could
be placed at any location.
He recalled that 34 new
Studebaker Champions were sent to Oak Ridge to facilitate the Real Estate
acquisition process. Managers reasoned that parts from one or more cars
could be used to keep the majority in running order.
"A number of 20-ton dump
trucks," said Parish, "(the largest I had ever seen) were transferred to the
Manhattan District. Nashville
District assisted in the transfer of Property and Real Estate, everything
from light and telephone poles to buildings, equipment, etc., even people.
We had to have a different badge for each area and we had to turn them in
and if we needed to go back to an area we would go back to the Badge Control
Office and pick up our Badge for that area.
"Most visitors to the area
arrived by train," said Parish. "One who came a number of times was Colonel
(later General) Leslie Groves. We would always furnish him a car to make
the trip to Oak Ridge. He found out early on that colonels carried less
weight with scientists, physicists, and professors so, decked out the
standard suit and tie allowed in civilian areas, he became 'General' Groves,
the rank he was already selected to wear but would pin on later.
"One time when
Colonel/General Groves was waiting on his car and sitting in my very small
office I suggested Oak Ridge Demolition Project as a description to use for
the work we did there.
He said, 'Okay,' without
the slightest hesitation and that is what I used until we got everything
transferred to the Manhattan District."
"The complete answer to
this question was not to be revealed for three years," continued Dr. Johnson
in "Engineers on the Twin Rivers", "and in the meantime
strangers thronged into the hills and a new town, Oak Ridge, mushroomed
overnight. By early 1943, the Engineers had completed acquisition of land
for the Manhattan District and a gigantic complex of industrial might began
to rise, built by 47,000 men under the lash of hard-nosed Engineers. By
1945, 82,000 men were engaged in the construction, maintenance, and
operation of the Oak Ridge project, very few with any idea what they were
really doing."
Parish and the rest of the
world found out what they were doing there on a very hot day in August
1945.
"I never knew what Oak
Ridge was all about," admitted Parish, "other than being very secret, until
I was driving up Seventh Avenue one day about Union Street
and I heard on the radio about the Atomic Bomb that was dropped on Japan and
they gave some information about Oak Ridge playing a part in the making of
the Bomb."
"A few tense days later,"
wrote Johnson, "on board the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay, General
MacArthur accepted the surrender of the Empire of Japan, and witnessing the
event was a representative of the Nashville District, Colonel Orville E.
Walsh, who had initiated the District's military construction mission five
years before."
To ask a
question of the Corps Historian in Washington, D.C.,
email:
Historysearch@ HQ02.usace.army.mil
The Civilian Conservation Corps: One Man’s Journey
Courtesy of Hobart D. Parish, former CCC
By Ryan Forbess
The Great Depression began on October 29, 1929, but in Tennessee most
people said they could not tell any difference, times had always been
difficult.
Tennessee has always been a leader in agriculture. Tobacco, soybeans and
cotton have been our top crops but by the mid-1930s much of the land had
been farmed too hard for too long, eroding and depleting the soil. Crop
yields had fallen along with farmer’s incomes. The best timber had been cut
off our landscapes. Morale was low, but Tennesseans had seen hard times
before.
In response to the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt
created many programs designed to put America back to work. The Civilian
Conservation Corps was established in early 1933. The CCC mission was
two-fold: to reduce unemployment, especially among young men; and to
preserve the nation’s precious natural resources.
Although the exact numbers vary, estimates of the young men who
participated in the nine-year program reach 3 million. Enrollees performed a
variety of conservation activities including reforestation, soil
conservation, road construction, flood and fire control, and agricultural
management. The CCC was instrumental in the development of a number of
Tennessee State Parks and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Not only
did the CCC provide food, clothing, and shelter for its enrollees, but it
also offered them opportunities for education, vocational training, and
health care.
Enrollment was offered to single men between the ages of 17 and 28.
Enrollees signed up for a minimum of six months with the possibility of
re-enlistment. Their motto was “We Can Take It!” because of the hard work
they undertook and the tasks that lay before them. Initially, Tennessee’s
CCC boys earned $30 per month, $25 of which went to their families.
In the beginning, CCC camps were small tent villages, but as winter
approached, permanent barracks replaced the tents. The structures offered no
frills. A regular army officer or reserve officer commanded each camp.
“Our program is two-fold,” President Roosevelt told the country.
“Conservation of our natural resources and conservation of our human
resources. Both are sound investments for the future…” President Roosevelt
was right and what a legacy the CCC left in Tennessee. Today the numbers of
surviving CCC members are dwindling, but most still try to meet in reunions
throughout the state. CCC “boys” have an intense pride for the job
that they did.
One such man is Hobart D. Parish, who was born in Carroll County in the
community of Buena Vista. Like most people in rural West Tennessee, his
family operated a small farm. Parish heard about the CCC, and like most
young men wanted to join. At that time in West Tennessee most people made
around 50 cents a week. The CCC was paying $1 a day plus your food, and a
decent place to sleep. This was motivation enough, and young men from every
community hoped to enlist. In Carroll County the local magistrate or squire
was the person tasked with selecting quality young men to join. The quota
was nine at the time.
Parish and the magistrate’s granddaughter had been playmates as children,
so he knew the magistrate and was able to get a job riding with him to drop
the CCC recruits off at Bethel College in McKenzie.
When they arrived at Bethel College that day the nine recruits were given
a physical exam. One of the young men didn’t pass his, and the magistrate
wanted to make sure he filled the quota so he asked Parish if he still
wanted to join the CCC. This is an opportunity that you didn’t pass up, and
Parish found himself at the day’s end a CCC boy. His career in the CCC began
on July 5, 1934, with a bit of luck and surprise.
After the exam they were loaded onto a train at the McKenzie Depot bound
for Clarksville’s CCC Camp Montgomery #1474. Many of the young men at that
time had rarely ever left the county they lived in, so to them this journey
was an eye-opening experience.
The next morning Parish awoke to the sound of a bugle and his work in the
CCC began. He was selected to serve on the survey crew. He didn’t have any
previous surveying skills, and wasn’t required to take any tests to be on
the crew. All the training was on the job, and taught by an engineer.
The surveying crew was typically the first crew to arrive at a job site.
The crew consisted most commonly of two to five CCC boys. They would map the
farm or area that the other CCC crews would be working on in the future.
The crew engineer taught the survey crew the various methods of
surveying. They were shown how to use a plane table; measure the land with
chains; the use of triangulation methods to determine distance; and the use
of a transit. They used an alidade, a device to determine bearings, and a
hand level in staking out small dams used to prevent and stop erosion. The
survey crew staked these out and the work crews came in later to build them.
They also surveyed areas where fire towers would be constructed. The survey
crew worked on roads, telephone lines, terraces, and contour plots for
farming.
Most CCC camps stopped work during the floods of 1937 to help with flood
control and disaster relief. When the rains began in January the ground was
already frozen so runoff into the rivers contributed greatly. Rain was
reported 27 out of 31 days during January.
In Clarksville, the CCC camp assisted people in moving to higher ground
if their home was expected to flood. The Clarksville CCC camp was sent to
Hickman, Ky., along with another CCC camp from Pikeville. The two CCC camps
worked together sandbagging along the riverbank. They slept on U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers quarter boats in shifts. The area was under so much water
many thought this must be what the ocean looks like. The flooding was so
intense that large holes would open in the earth and water would begin
flowing out. CCC crews would be forced to sandbag around these areas also to
prevent them from flooding behind the levee.
“One of the saddest times during my CCC career is when we lost a boy to
drowning in the Mississippi River,” says Parish. “He was walking across a
plank between quarter boats and fell into the water and went underneath the
boat.” The Coast Guard was able to retrieve his body from the water.
Parish remained in the CCC until he was discharged on June 5, l939. He
was quickly hired by the Nashville District of the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers as a rodman on a survey crew making $1,260 a year. The skills he
learned in the CCC as a surveyor served him well in the Corps of Engineers.
His time in the Corps was spent working on surveys and placing navigational
aids, buoys, and lights on the river channels of Tennessee. When the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers began constructing dams in the Tennessee Valley,
Parish surveyed those as well.
He worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers until he retired after 44
years of service. He held several positions with the Corps in the field, in
the District Office, in the South Atlantic Division Office, and in the
Office of the Chief of Engineers in Washington, D.C.
No one felt more strongly about the work of the CCC than President
Roosevelt. “This is going to be a busy and useful place in the years to
come,” Roosevelt told the country as he visited the Great Smoky Mountains
National Park. “Just as the work of these young men, will, I am very
confident, lead them to busy and useful lives in the years to come.” These
young men gained the skills and determination that aided them through their
working lives from their days with the CCC. To many, their days in the CCC
were the best part of their life. They gained a foundation on which to build
a lifetime and in return we were given access to the wonderful places and
things they created.
Read more about the history of the Civilian Conservation Corps on the Web
site
www.cccalumni.org/history1.html.
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