My name is Marilyn Meisberger Browning.  I was born in 1936.  I was from a family of eight, I was third from the oldest.  My early years were spent in New Marion and I graduated in 1953.  It was an untimely year for us, because our Father was taken from us by sudden death.  That was a rough year for us but we got through it and Mother managed with all seven of us still at home in addition our older sister was staying with us, because her husband was in the service and was stationed in Germany.  We had an addition to our family because Janice gave birth to a girl named Barbara. That year, I was selected to go to Hoosier’s Girl State representing Versailles Women’s group which was a most interesting and valuable experience.  I went to Indiana campus and connected with a lot of friends and am still connected with some of them.   From that point on, I was looking for employment.  I had worked the summer before in Indianapolis and was employed with Bell Telephone Company.  During my time frame there a contractor from Jefferson Proving Ground contacted me as to employment.  I decided I did not know all the ends and outs or the extent of it and didn’t have a personal interview, so I declined.

     A short time later within a few months, my Mother called and the government person had contacted her. It sounded like a good shot, so I went for it.  Lo and behold the person that interviewed me was Marie Torline.   Our family had known her husband Joe for many years, at least my Father did so it was an easy interview.  She just moved me on through the process and at the end told me I was hired.  I was most happy to be in a working status and receiving pay for it.  My first job was in what I would call Materiel Testing Directorate and I was starting in this typing pool.  There were approximately 25 to 30 people.  Anna Ackva  was the supervisor.  She was originally from Chicago.  She was stern but always fair.  She often mentioned when she left the room for whatever it was, when she came back and all the folks were typing she would say, “that is music to my ears.”

    I don’t know the exact time frame, but I moved to Logistics which at that time was in Building 100.     I left after I became married.  My husband was in service and he was stationed to El Paso, Texas.  The personnel Officer at JPG gave me a recommendation so that I could seek employment there.  So as soon as I arrived in El Paso, I proceeded to get employment there at Fort Bliss.  That was certainly an interesting experience.  At that point I worked with a lot of Hispanics, only at that time they were called Mexicans.   Surprisingly though people may think differently they were really good to me.  But by the same token, I tried to treat them fairly too. 

     When we returned to Indiana, He went on to Employment and we were going to have an addition to our family and I did not go forward with that.  In 1958 I got a daughter Carol Ann  So things went okay for awhile and we were going to have another one in 1959 approximately a year and a half apart. We had a rocky road there and we parted ways and went in two different directions.  That left me with two children to raise. 

     Materiel Testing Directorate was the “Bread and Butter” of the proving ground, because that was the unit that tested weapons and ammunition, basically ammunition and a lot of other things that people from foreign countries came to the proving ground.  At one point in time there was a group from Taiwan, I believe that rented a house on Post.  During that time the Post Commander and supervisors made a trip to Germany  to check out different things and perhaps to bring more work to our facility.  The folks that went to Germany were Doyle Schafer, Director of MTD, Elsworth Chambers and the Commanding Officer.   Lo and behold when the returned to JPG they invited JPG personnel to Old Timbers, My first ever trip there, to view and see things that they had learned over there.  We went up there and they had a big slide screen and they did a presentation up there which was helpful to the employees.  That was another strong tie, to behold that marvelous building and I did not really appreciate it that much until years later. 

    I saw a vacancy announcement that showed maybe a little more promise in learning about the proving ground and what have you and perhaps an advancement in the future. It was a building that had one door no windows, so it was very confining in a sense.  It was a very vital place because it sent the classified information, basically firing record results,  and other classified material.  I remember distinctly the “Pueblo Incident” I don’t remember the exact year.  The supervisor was advised to send some information and they decided that the AUTODIN system that we used for this that she would do it offline and encrypt it in her manual way.  That was something that I had never seen before, but I got to watch the process.  They tell me that that was one of the largest compromises to our security.  I believe the name of the man that was in charge was CDR Bucher.   So that was another experience my life of work there.

On January 11, 1968, the Pueblo left Japan for its first mission and set off for the coast of North Korea. For two weeks, it operated relatively quietly outside North Korea. It was later surrounded by North Korean forces. Attempting to flee, the Pueblo was attacked which resulted in the death of one sailor. The spy ship surrendered and the remaining 82 crew members were taken prisoner by the North Koreans.

     Another vacancy came open and one of my co-workers explained that you do a lot of these things in this building that is comparable to these requirements, so why don’t you apply for it.  I did not know, but they said go for it.  There probably will be some training for some of the areas that you are not familiar with.  So I was selected there and I was employed in Instrumentation Division.  My Supervisor was Arnold Tilley.  It consisted of a photo area and the other area being the testing area.  Arnold Tilley was supervisor of the whole instrumentation at that time and we were like the field workers ( Observers). Lots of times we worked together, because lots of programs called for camera coverage as well as the gunners and most importantly of all you have to have the Proof director in there blowing the whistle so the program would go. Many times the observers would be at the impact area gathering data.  Some times we were confined in those shelters (Bomb Proofs) and often times we would be getting data of ground impact and we would get the angles on them and record them and turn them in at the end of the day. 

    Another program, I thought was quite interesting was when you did the cloth target screening. 

     We would take the cloth target down and take it to a building and measure the holes relative to a corner.  The Data Reduction office woulf then calculate dispersion and accuracy of the rounds.

     When we did the VT fuses out along Jines road.  A proof director would be in one shelter, two observers would be in two different shelters and they would set their scope up to get our angles.  I forget what they called them.  (Aiming circles or Theodolites, etc.) They had been surveyed in.  There were poles across the field.  When the round was fired, we would get the burst height for each individual round.  One person recorded and one was relaying.  We just scoped it out.  At “M” building we used Theodolites.  We would report their angle and my angle and that would be for someone else to transcribe that information.  It was a paper trail.

     Another program up on the field at “M” building representatives from

Germany come in. They would store their equipment there in the building, because they knew they were coming back in a short time.   Bob Congleton was normally the one that shot that program.  He had a good rapport with the people.  I asked him, “Why did the Germans come here to conduct this test?”  Bob said it was because they did not have that range anywhere in Germany to shoot these particular rounds.  We would come in and set up the equipment.  You would get air burst on it, you would get deflection, rate of descent, all recorded during the firing of that round. There were units packed into this round. 

   Different numbers for different types of rounds anywhere from 88 to I don’t know how many different ones.  Then when that round hit the ground then the EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) person would go out and walk the field.  The air burst that was the most important was the first light, but also we had to identify how many air bursts there were.  Maybe, I see three and some one else would say I saw four, so we probably would put down four, but that would help them when they would walk the field.  They would see how many duds there were and how many air bursts.  That would help them figure how many units they recovered from that round.  That was at the other end of the proving ground.  It was just right behind New Marion, so we had to be prepared to go up field.  We usually knew the day before.  We would fill up our water jugs, take insect spray or what have you.  So that was an all day job.  It was interesting and you always learned something new.  Most People would help you if you were not familiar with  all phases of it, they would bring you up to snuff on it.

     The Rhinematal Company personnel from Germany planned to host a meal for the Materiel Testing Directorate, specifically the employees that worked on programs that tested their ammunition.  They bought and prepared a typical German meal at the JPG cafeteria.  It was an enjoyable evening.

     Betty Sullivan and I worked together on some programs together.  We did not always get scheduled together, but on the ones that we did work together on she would go in and check out the “Bomb Proof”.  She said, “if there were mice in there you get it.” I would then say back, “If there are snakes in there then you get it. (Laughter).  So we had an agreement on that when we went out and utilized those “Bomb Proofs”. 

     One program that I remember required a helicopter that came in from Fort Knox Kentucky.  Usually two persons went up in the helicopter with the pilot.  The one time I went, Mike Mancuso was on the video and I was  the visual observer and took data on that.  That was something new for me, but it was something more I could learn and It certainly was information that they needed. The only bad time I had during that trip was we got into some wind and I got really sick.  Needless to say, there were only three people , the three in the helicopter and the Proof Director knew this and when I recovered I had already got sick on Mike’s jacket.  When we finished we landed in the field at the South End of the White House and I came tumbling out real quick.  I had already sworn the other two to secrecy, nobody told  and the I saw Debbie Tague, the proof director, she started talking about it and I just started off to the van, I did not want to talk about it.  I just thought that was not official news that needed to be talked about by everybody. Needless to say, I was never selected to ride in the helicopter again.  

     Often times like one program in particular they either three or four camera off the Line of Fire.  And they had to be set up and surveyed in before they could start.  So I was helping load film into the cameras.  When the Proof Director Blew the Whistle and the round fired, then we had time to go out and load the camera with film, High speed, “High Tecs film.  One thing that impressed me was when I found out that one of the rounds had a velocity of 5,000 feet per second.  I couldn’t visualize that even though I was watching it. 

     Another time, I think that they might have bee shorthanded in the Lab and you would go down there and help them out and you would run on a reel slowly and identify that shot.  They would clip the film with that round and attach it to a folder.  There were velocity coils measuring the velocity of the round and some of them had markings on the shell to show some characteristic.  That particular program gave them a lot of information. 

Mike Moore:  How did you like working outside?  Was it nicer than working indoors in an office. 

Marilyn:  I think probably that was some of my healthiest times.  I was not exposed to the smoke from smokers. I had fresh air.  Even when it was cold you survived.  I will back up in this story.  Do you remember rthe program up around “K” Road around “M” building up there.  One day they were short of EOD Personnel (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) and I was designated to walk the field. I don’t know why they selected me, but anyhow that was kind of a scary situation and I remember at one point John, the head of EOD personnel, he walked right behind me all the time.  He tapped me on the shoulder like that and I looked.  He said, “Don’t move.  I will just show you.  I was walking along like this.  She raises her foot off the floor.  If I had of walked forward, I probably would have hit that did.  He looked at it and it had a ribbon on it or something like that denoted that it was still live.  That was the one and only one time that I was required to do that. 

Mike Moore:  Did you ever join the Federal Women’s Program that was run by Dr. James Clark?

Marilyn:  One year Pat Sipe and I went to the South Side of Indianapolis, Now it is called the University of Indianapolis.  They sent us up for a one or two day work shop.  We both attended this one workshop and we were so impressed.  The instructor so impressed us. JPG had this annual thing put on by the Federal Women’s program.  Any employee could attend if they wished. When we got back to JPG, Jim Clark called this lady to come and speak.  Her name was Francis Dodham Rhome. She was originally from California.  She did come and talked at the Picnic Grove.  There were not as many employees attended that we wished, but she was a delightful person because she wasn’t really young and she told about when she went to USC and she played on some baseball team.  She had never heard of JPG, So I feel we accomplished something. 

     Was Ann Christe on that?  Oh yes and Hildred Reid was on the Federal Women’s Program and Paul Torline was also a member.  I remember when Paul and Pat Sipe were given an award by the Committee.  You had submission from the employees for the award.  I believe it was $200.00 each they got.  One time when I was just a member, I went to a meeting, It was hard to get off work to go, but I was sitting there and they called my name and I was selected for that award.  My Mom was called and they asked a lot of questions.  She did not know whether she should go or not. 

Of all of the Commanders, one of them comes to mind is Col Benjamin Logerquist.  I believe he came from Wisconsin.  He was always referred to as “Gentle Ben”.  That is what the employees called him.  He seemed to be a people person which must have made it hard as a Col, because there is certain things that you have to do which is always hard.  Another Commander that I met was Col. Benick.  He was very supportive of the Federal Women’s Program.  I think we asked him for some moneyfor our program one time for we had virtually no money.  He seemed to have a certain amount of health problems, I don’t know if it was in the back or not.  I think he said when he retired, he was going to go to Florida.  Maybe that is why I thought it was his health.  “Some were soft and some were salty.” 

     I retired in 1993, two years before they closed.  I just felt that I had enough service time and it would be a good time to go.  Things were already getting in a flurry, so I just went.  I am also a member of the JPG Heritage Partnership Group.  Their main goal, I believe,  is to collect the  memories and the times they lived there and the folks who worked there.  There were some folks that had combined living there in the past and working there after JPG was established.

     I would just like to bring a little of my heritage to this part of our interview.  Our parents, George Edward, called Eddie, and my mother Marie Ebel Meisberger, they were married at St. Magdalene.  I and four of my siblings the five oldest children were baptized at St Magdalene’s.  It was a most unhappy time in their life when the government decreed that that land would be taken over.  Even sadder still when I was older and employed out there and saw the ruins and  devastation and wondered why they did that.

     One story was told to me by Bill Corning, He said , and he knew it was true, that his cousin, who had some coal yards in Madison at that time and he got the contract, cause I had always wondered what happened to all that stone in the church and school.   He said that his cousin had the contract to get all that.  Why the church people or the congregation did not get that?, but you know it was such a time and turmoil they did not know that they had that option of bidding on that.  Anyway it was getting near the end of the contract and he was supposed to have a certain amount of things removed and what have you.  The house or the rectory had not been removed, so he got some kind of skids and he removed that house or the rectory off the foundation and let it set.  The Army came back and said, “ That you did not do it.”   He said,    ‘I have fulfilled my mission, I got it of the foundation and that is what our contract agreed to.”  This Taylor built a home out of the stone.  But to this day I don’t know where it stands. His last name was Taylor and He was Bill Corning’s cousin. 

     My childhood memories are minimal, because I was not that old.  I was between Five and Six.  I remember a few things about Mass.  I know I got in trouble once by playing with a ladies Rosary.  I always like to get behind this Lady, because she had such a pretty Rosary.  Of course I got into trouble for doing that.  I feel that I can remember music.  I think part of that was because my mother was a music teacher.  I see pictures of some of the statues that people have, It just brings tears to my eyes.  We celebrated One Hundred Fifty years of continuous operation.  One church member said Oh that isn’t true.  I said but it was continuous service.  We weren’t in the same building, but the Church members moved on to New Marion. 

     Some time when they no longer went over to the store to worship My Mother and Dad gave the Archdiocese the old Bank Building to be used as a Church.  I found the paperwork verifying that in the Ripley County Courthouse.   Most of my little friends were Baptists.  My mother told us that you can go on down there with your friends, they would invite us you know, but you all know how to act in church, but they all do it differently.  Just don’t be concerned if they do something different.  I used to have a picture of the nuns that visited.  They would come to St. Michaels in Madison and they would come to New Marion to give us instructions.  In the summers, I can remember that we went to China on a school bus and had our religious classes in the summer down there.  I remember the Pastor named Morand Widoff.  He was responsible for the renovation of the appearance of the church.  He was from Ireland.  That was in the late 1940’s or early 50’s in the New church building at New Marion.  He told us how his friends and relatives were so joyful that some one from America had returned home.  He had a joyful time and I was glad for that. 

     This covers a portion of my JPG life which spanned 30 years.  Even though I was employed and received a salary, I enjoyed the overall experience of work and meeting so many people, not just co-workers, but people from other countries.  I have fond memories of working, but have a sadness when I think about the loss of our Church.