Remembering Two Atomic Martyrs

... and contrasting them with the Republicans in Congress

Chances are you’ve never heard of Louis Slotin or Harry Daghlian, two very young atomic scientists who worked on the atom bomb at Los Alamos, and gave their lives for their fellow scientists and their country.

You may be totally opposed to nuclear weapons, but during World Wat II there was tremendous worry that the Nazis might build an atom bomb first; they had been far ahead in nuclear physics, as pacifist Albert Einstein warned President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Before Hiroshima, it was seen as just another weapon that had the potential to end and win the worst war in history, as indeed it did

Daghlian and Slotin were immigrants, by the way. Slotin, 35 when he died, the son of Russian Jews who emigrated to Canada to escape pogroms, was born in Winnipeg, and was recruited for the Manhattan project. Daghlian, an Armenian born in Turkey, was only 24. In August 1945, after the Japanese surrender, Daghlian was working on a very dangerous experiment when he accidentally dropped a tungsten brick onto a plutonium bomb core, releasing a huge dose of radiation.

Slotin, at left; Daghlian, at right, preparing for the July 1945 Trinity test of the atom bomb

He might have survived if he had just gotten the hell out of there, but he insisted on dismantling the entire experiment, though he must have known it meant certain death. He died in great agony after suffering for weeks.

Louis Slotin was even more of a hero. He was working on the same core when a screwdriver he was holding slipped, causing a far worse reaction. In great agony he pulled it apart and threw it on the floor, ending the chain reaction.

Had he not done that, all his colleagues might have died. Three did get seriously ill from radiation, which may have contributed to their deaths years later. Slotin himself suffered horribly for nine days before dying.

They risked their lives in what they knew would be extremely dangerous work for their country. When their accidents happened, both chose certain death at least partly to save their colleagues.

We should try to remember them every time we witness the spectacle of comfortable, rich and sleek Republican Senators voting for an agenda they know is wrong and will damage the nation, just to curry favor with Donald Trump.

I do not believe in any religion. But in this case, it seems entirely appropriate to say, damn their sold-out souls to hell.