Leslie Groves | |
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Groves as a major general
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Birth name | Leslie Richard Groves Jr. |
Born |
Albany, New York |
17 August 1896
Died | 13 July 1970 Washington, D.C. |
(aged 73)
Place of burial | Arlington National Cemetery |
Allegiance | United States of America |
Service/branch | United States Army |
Years of service | 1918–1948 |
Rank | Lieutenant General |
Commands held |
Armed Forces Special Weapons Project Manhattan Project |
Battles/wars |
World War I Occupation of Nicaragua World War II |
Awards |
Distinguished Service Medal Legion of Merit Order of the Crown (Belgium) Companion of the Order of the Bath (Great Britain) Medal of Merit (Nicaragua) |
Other work | Vice President Sperry Rand |
Lieutenant General Leslie Richard Groves Jr. (17 August 1896 – 13 July 1970) was a United States Army Corps of Engineers officer who oversaw the construction of the Pentagon and directed the Manhattan Project, a top secret research project that developed the atomic bomb during World War II.
As the son of a United States Army chaplain, Groves lived at a number of Army posts during his childhood. He graduated fourth in his class at the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1918 and was commissioned into the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In 1929, he went to Nicaragua as part of an expedition whose purpose was to conduct a survey for the Inter-Oceanic Nicaragua Canal. Following the 1931 Nicaragua earthquake, Groves took over responsibility for Managua's water supply system, for which he was awarded the Nicaraguan Presidential Medal of Merit. He attended the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1935 and 1936, and the Army War College in 1938 and 1939, after which he was posted to the War Department General Staff.