#2 New Mexicans Help Win World War II

#2 New Mexicans Help Win World War II

Objective: I will be able to explain

#1 how Navajo Code Talkers contributed to the war effort.

#2 how N.M. proved to be the perfect location for the Manhattan Project.

Navajo Code Talkers

More than 4oo Navajo volunteers joined a special group of American marines called the Navajo Code Talkers. Using the Navajo language, they created a secret code that was used to send important messages during key battles in the war against Japan.

Navajo Code Talkers

There were 450 words in the secret code. There was a Navajo word for every important military term or object. For example, if a Navajo Code Talker wanted to say the word

"battleship," he would use the code name for battleship, which was "whale." Then he would say the word "whale" in the Navajo language. The code was nearly impossible to break be cause it was a code on a code.

Multiple Choice

What were the group of 400 Navajo volunteers who joined the Marines called?

• Navajo Volunteers

• Navajo Code Talkers

• Jan Carlos Code Talkers

• Navajo Secret Speakers

Multiple Choice

What did the Code Talkers create?

• A secret code based on their language

• A secret way to send signals using light

• A new way to hide smoke signals

• The best art on the reservation.

Multiple Choice

Why was the code so hard to break?

• It was in Jicarilla

• nobody could speak Navajo

• it was a code within a code

The Manhattan Project

In September 1939, President Roosevelt received a letter from the world's most famous scientist, Albert Einstein. The letter warned that scientists in Germany were beginning to develop an atomic bomb. An atomic bomb is a nuclear weapon with enormous destructive capabilities. Germany could win the war if it was successful in building an atomic bomb. Concerned, Roosevelt assembled a team of American scientists whose mission was to create an atomic bomb before the Germans could. The top-secret mission to design and build an atomic bomb was called the Manhattan Project.

Multiple Choice

What was The Manhattan Project?

• Bridge building project in New York

• Secret project to design and build an Atomic bomb

• A secret military site in Kansas

New Mexico: The Perfect Location

U.S. military and scientific leaders considered several locations for the labs that would develop an atomic bomb in the shortest time possible. Los Alamos, on New Mexico's high Pajarito Plateau, was chosen as the ideal location. It was a small, isolated Hispanic community with few roads on or off the mesa.

Multiple Choice

New Mexico was the perfect location for the Manhattan Project because it was located on a high plateau in a small isolated community.

• True

• False

New Mexico: The Perfect Location

The government could acquire the site easily, including the campus of the Los Alamos Ranch School. The school was closed in 1942.Its buildings served as the Manhattan Project's main structures for the first months.

J. Robert Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer was an accomplished scientist who knew Los Alamos well, having been there with his family during several summer vacations. Oppenheimer was well respected by both his fellow scientists and army leaders, especially General Leslie R. Groves, the leader of the entire Manhattan Project.

J. Robert Oppenheimer

It took more than two years of extremely hard work for Oppenheimer's team of scientists to develop the atomic bomb and prepare it for testing. The scientists and the army tested the first atomic bomb at a place code named Trinity Site, on July 16,1945. The explosion was so large that it could be seen from as far away as Arizona, Colorado, and Texas. The bomb was thousands of times more powerful than the biggest bomb ever made. 

Fill in the Blanks

Maintaining Secrecy

To maintain the secrecy of the Manhattan Project, nearly everything and everyone had code names. For instance, the atomic bomb was code named "Adam Barnes" and J. Robert Oppenheimer was called "James Oberhelm."

Multiple Choice

What was the code name for the Atomic Bomb?

• Alfred Blast

• Abraham Biggy

• Adam Barns

Maintaining Secrecy

Anyone coming into or leaving Los Alamos had to pass through heavy security at guard gates. Lab workers and their families were not allowed to travel more than 100 miles from Los Alamos. Everyone had to carry identification passes. The government monitored long distance phone calls and out-going mail.

Maintaining Secrecy

Other than the scientists, people who worked at Los Alamos had no idea what the top-secret project was all about. All they knew was that the project was important and might help end the terrible war. It was not until the war ended that the world discovered the secrets of Los Alamos.

Multiple Choice

How far were scientists or their families allowed travel away from Las Alamos?

• 50 miles

• 100 miles

• 200 miles

• As far as they wanted

Army Air Bases

New Mexico's isolation and size made it ideal not just for the Manhattan Project but also for army air bases. Each base had a similar purpose: to train airplane pilots and their crews for battle. The air force also tested new planes and new weapons over the vast empty spaces of New Mexico. Bases opened in towns like Albuquerque, Clovis, Carlsbad, Hobbs, and Roswell. Some of these bases continued to operate long after the war had ended.

Open Ended

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