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History unearthed at BNL
Excavator for National Synchrotron Light Source II discovers souvenirs of Camp Upton
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November 12, 2009 | 12:03 PM
Heavy equipment operator Brian Peters recently peered through the windshield of his backhoe at an unusual sight under the dirt he was excavating at Brookhaven National Laboratory — a rock with writing and a drawing on it. He called site manager Michael Beatrice to take a look.
What lay in the newly dug trench was a large piece of concrete with a hand-drawn emblem of a bugle, the number 14, the notation Company G, the motto Baptized by Fire and a partial date: July 24, 194_. Peters noticed a second piece of concrete with hand-painted names, possibly members of Company G during that time period.
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| | | This decorated piece of concrete might have been part of a warehouse floor at Camp Upton, BNL Cultural Resource Manager Tim Green surmised. Courtesy of BNL. | |
NSLS-II Conventional Facilities Director Marty Fallier said, "Knowing that the lab was originally the site of Camp Upton, I realized that we had unearthed an artifact from the World War II era." Fallier asked the lab's Cultural Resource Manager Tim Green to investigate.
"This find is very interesting and it certainly sparks curiosity," said Green. "As far as we can tell, this was probably painted on the floor of a warehouse. I notified Don Farnam of the lab's Veterans Association because I knew he and his fellow veterans would be interested."
Farnam was amazed it was in such good shape. "This boulder has been underground for over 70 years, but the writing on it was quite legible," he said. "The emblem and logo were intriguing, but reading the hand-painted names of those who served our country during the Second World War made this personal for me."
In addition to the inscribed concrete boulder, old bottles and charred newspapers dating back to 1917 were found at the excavation site. "There are a few sections of the paper that are legible," said Michael Bromfield, lead construction engineer for the NSLS-II Project team. "But I salvaged what I could and saved the scorched pieces of newspaper in a folder. One is a story about the World Series and another is a story about a boxing match scheduled for Oct. 2, 1917: Tommy Tuohey versus Ed Wallace."
"The lab has a rich history and I bet there are many more artifacts buried beneath the site," Green said.
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