This book is by Everett M. Rogers, Ph.D. and Nancy R. Bartlit
“At last, a compelling, highly readable summary of New Mexico’s greatest contributions to World War II, often in the words of the very New Mexicans who lived it.”
~ Richard Melzer, Author of Breakdown: How the Secret of the AtomicBomb Was Stolen During World War II
“Silent Voices is a ‘fascinating and well-organized revelation of the many connections—human, military, and technical—between New Mexico and the Pacific War.’”
~ Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize Winner
“Silent Voices succeeds on two fronts—as solid history and as a collection of vignettes about real people whose actions changed the course of history.... This book ought to be required reading for the American and New Mexican history classes throughout the State.”
~ Anne Hillerman, Journal Santa Fe
"This well-written book is at once easily read and informative."
~ New Mexico Magazine
When World War II began, New Mexico had a population of 531,815 inhabitants, one of the least populated of the 48 states. Yet, New Mexico and New Mexicans played a key role in the outcome of World War II Pacific Theater. The New Mexico National Guard was the first U.S. military unit to fight the Japanese, holding on for four months during the Battle of Bataan. Then they suffered through the Bataan Death March and years in POW camps. The atomic bomb was developed at a secret laboratory in Los Alamos as the Manhattan Project and tested at a site near Alamogordo. The Navajo Code Talkers helped capture bases from which B-29s bombed Japanese cities. Finally, several thousand Japanese Americans, classified as dangerous enemy aliens, were imprisoned in the Japanese American Internment Camp near Santa Fe. These seemingly separate events were related through unique qualities of the arid, spacious land.
Everett M. Rogers, Ph.D, now deceased, and Nancy R. Bartlit have provided a voice for the previously silent heroes of these wartime events: Special Engineer Detachment (SED) enlisted men and women at Los Alamos who actually fabricated the atomic bomb—Navajo Marine privates, National Guard enlisted men, and Japanese American internees. Their stories, obtained through personal interviews by Rogers and Bartlit to supplement the historical record, illuminate the patriotism, human suffering, and courageous humor in these important World War II events.
Order a signed copy directly from the author! Email Nancy Bartlit and she will email you an order form.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
County/City Council Chairman (e.g., Mayor), Los Alamos, NM, 1988
President, Los Alamos Historical Society, 2003-2007
Finalist-history category, New Mexico Book Awards 2007
B.A. – History, Smith College, 1958
M.A. – International Communications, University of New Mexico, 1998
New Mexico Humanities Council Chautauqua Speaker, 2006 +
New Mexico Governor’s Award for Outstanding Woman, 1999
Who’s Who of Women Executives, 1989-1990
New Mexico Outstanding Young Woman, 1972
Strathmore’s Who’s Who, 2003 +
Global Directory Who’s Who, 2005 +, VIP Listing 2008
BIOGRAPHYNancy R. Bartlit is co-author of
Silent Voices of World War II: When Sons of the Land of Enchantment Met Sons of the Land of the Rising Sun, written with the late Professor Everett M. Rogers, Communications professor at the University of New Mexico.
Bartlit is a recent past President of the Los Alamos Historical Society. She is a historian, politician, environmental and health activist, amateur photographer, and long-time community leader of Los Alamos, New Mexico where she has lived with her husband John for 46 years and where her children John and Jennifer were born. In 1969, Nancy, her husband John, and others co-founded New Mexico Citizens for Clean Air & Water, Inc., which led the fight to clean up air emissions of huge coal-burning power plants in the Four Corners region and copper smelters in the southwestern part of the state. Their continued efforts help to preserve the turquoise skies of New Mexico.
Beginning in the 1970s, she served for 12 years on the national American Lung Association Board and served for many years on the state board and as its President. In the 1980s Bartlit was elected to the city/county council for six years, including serving as its Chairman (mayor) for one year and presiding over the NM Association of Counties.
After earning her B.A. in history from Smith College thirteen years after the end of WWII, Bartlit taught for two years at a private girls academy in Sendai, Japan. During school breaks, she toured the four main islands of Japan, visiting Hiroshima and Nagasaki museums for the first time. On one break in Kyoto she assisted history Professor and MIS translator Otis Carey of Doshisha/Amherst Universities.
On her return to the States, she completed global travel by taking the time to stop off in 17 countries. She later toured parts of Europe, including Bastogne, Belgium near the Battle of the Bulge, the gravesite of Winston Churchill, London’s Parliament, and the Tower. Recently, she visited the WWII sites in the Philippines and will visit Iwo Jima, Guam, Saipan, and Tinian Islands next year.
Bartlit’s unique understanding of the Japanese people led to further exploration of cross-cultural perspectives. She returned to Japan four times while her husband worked on joint research with Japanese scientists or to research Japanese war/peace museums and monuments. Nancy represents a human link between a country that was once the archenemy and the place that created the weapons that made possible its surrender.
To schedule a lecture with Mrs. Bartlit, contact
BartlitNancy@aol.com or Michael Hice,
michaelhice@earthlink.net www.nmhum.org, New Mexico Humanities Council, Chautauqua Speakers
Jessica Billings, 505-277-3705
www.theglobalwhoswho.com, The Global Directory Who’s Who, NY
