The summer term of 1943 at the University of Kentucky was almost over. It had been a tough term. Courses had been compressed so that course material had to be covered in half the normal time. My main course met at 7:00 am, for two hours daily. That was particularly hard for me because it was not my nature to get up early in those days. I managed to struggle through it with a passing grade and graduate, but I had to go back and learn what I had missed, later on in my career. It was customary for companies seeking new graduates to interview seniors shortly before their graduation. Interviewers came one day from Oak Ridge, representing the Manhattan Project. They offered good paying jobs and security. (Remember that this project produced the first atom bombs.)

“What will I be doing in the job,” I asked. They couldn’t answer my question. It was some big secret, I supposed. I took the application forms to mull over before I decided anything. I considered the offer, and discussed it with my friend and classmate, Birney Layson. The job would be close to home, the pay would be good, and my deferment would probably continue, but I was having a hard time coping with not knowing what I would be doing. While I was procrastinating, Birney filled out his forms and dropped them in a mailbox.

In class the next morning it was announced that representatives from Westinghouse were to conduct interviews after class. Birney and I both attended the interviews. We learned that new graduates would be hired as student engineers. New hires would be given assignments at several divisions of the company to give both student and management a chance to evaluate compatibility. This seemed a better deal to me, and to Birney, too.

“I already sent in my application,” said Birney, “let’s go see if I can get it back from the post office.”

Off we went, trying to catch up with his mail. We first stopped at the box where he deposited it. It had been picked up. On to the post office we went. Birney pleaded his case, and he was given forms to fill out, but it wasn’t there. We would have to wait for the truck that picked up from the box where it was dropped. We headed back to the Westinghouse guys and accepted jobs with the company.

Birney got his mail back from the post office so that he didn’t have to resign before he was hired. Before long we graduated without ceremony.

The next time I saw Birney we were in Pittsburgh, Pa. at the Westinghouse Educational Center, along with a group of new engineering graduates. We spent our first week there in orientation. We were given help in finding lodging. Birney needed a place for himself and his wife, Ruby. I chose board and room at Mr. and Mrs. Smith’s house in Wilkinsburg. During the week we learned about the company’s products and locations. Representatives from different divisions came in to tell us about their operations, and suggest assignments. 

The Smiths had three of four young Westinghouse engineers living with them when I moved in for my six-month stay. They made a companionable and well-behaved group. We all met together for meals. Each of us had our own identifiable napkin ring and a clean napkin often enough. We had good meals, including Philadelphia scrapple now and then. We always knew that the meal was over when Mr. Smith asked, “Is this all we are to receive at this time?”

My first assignment was at East Pittsburgh, an old, dirty facility, used for making heavy equipment. Each morning I rode a streetcar to work, went to my desk and got out a dust rag to clean off the dirt and grime. Even so, my shirtsleeves were past tattle-tell gray by noon. My main occupation was testing industrial-size motors.

The early fall weather made it an ideal time to explore my environment. Downtown Pittsburgh was an interesting but most confusing place, with it triangular blocks nestled between the squares facing the rivers that angle in and join to form the Ohio. The city’s cultural center, with its museums, theaters and so on, surrounding Pittsburgh University was a pleasant place to visit and hang out for a while. An occasional visit to a park with the Laysons and another Kentucky grad, Ben Rector, was a welcome Sunday afternoon event.

My next assignment was entirely different from the first. It was at the Research Labs. I was exposed to work on developing rectifiers and electromechanical devices. The offices and laboratories were clean and the work atmosphere was somewhat relaxed. A room was set aside for that purpose during the lunch hour. There was even a corner where we could dance. I met several young women there that I wouldn’t have otherwise known. Laverne, a pretty, fair-skinned, brown-eyed young woman with blushing curls caught my eye. She was fun to be with, and appreciated my attention. She became high on my short list of potential mates. We corresponded for a while after I left, but time and distance took their inevitable toll. 

After six months in Pittsburgh, I left for my last assignment in Lima, Ohio where I accepted a regular job, which I felt better matched my talents. In the meantime Birney had taken a job in Buffalo, New York. I think he never became acclimated to the Buffalo winters, because he eventually quit engineering and moved to Florida to run a marina. I have often wondered how different my life would have been had I taken the job at Oak Ridge.