John "Swede" Lundstrom is the landowner's grandson and was living with his mother and grandparents when the government took some of the family's land for the plant. Two thousand five hundred acres were taken total from different people for the plant and an additional 2,000 for the firing range. They had to find a different home.
Construction on the plant went around the clock. New roads were built and Arkeny's water system couldn't handle plant needs so a water main was run from Des Moines. A testing range and huge bunkers were built.
After the war, the government allowed original owners have first chance to get their land back and his grandfather got his back. Homes were built on the former range and developers figure people are sometimes puzzled when they come across a bullet.
All for the War Effort. --GreGen
My Cooter's History Blog has become about 80% World War II anyway, so I figured to start a blog specific to it, especially since we're commemorating its 70th anniversary and we are quickly losing this "Greatest Generation." The quote is taken from Pearl Harbor survivor Frank Curre, who was on the USS Tennessee that day. He died Dec. 7, 2011, seventy years to the day. His photo is below at right.
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