Water Resources: Hydraulics and Hydrology
Q ..
But you were dealing with people who were professional engineers, basically.
A:
Exactly.
And they were looking at you based on your professional credentials and what you could do
for them.
A:
Yes. When we were draftsmen in Rock Island during World War II, we had a problem with
one of the head draftsmen, but the fellows had problems with him, too.The basic problem,
I think, was that he was a male chauvinist, but also he was German and sympathetic to the
Nazis. Because of his political views he was not loaned to the Panama Canal, and he was
enraged that we went. He was hardly civil to us after we returned to the Rock Island District
from Panama.
As you say, it's an exception. It was probably more the person.
A:
He was certainly the exception, yes. The fellows had similar problems with him.
Missouri River Division
In Omaha, the work was interesting, but we had never worked as engineers in a Corps
district. In the Rock Island District, we were draftsmen. In the St. Paul District, while we
were in school, we were engineering technicians. We operated the models; we analyzed the
data; but we weren't engineers. So, in reviewing District work in Omaha, we felt the need
for a better understanding of what the districts did. Also, Omaha was not a very interesting
a
to live. On weekends, we frequently drove up to South Dakota to watch construction
of the dams on the upper Missouri River. It was the most interesting thing to do, and, really,
it was a good thing to do because we learned a lot about dam construction that was useful in
later years.
Decision to go to the Missouri River Division
So you had taken all of these advance courses at Iowa, and when it came time to get
another job, because you had resigned at
did
influence you or was it the fact
that you were close to Omaha?
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