Nerve Gas, the Quiet Peacekeeper

By Tovio E. Puro

The author is a first generation Finnish-American, born in Wisconsin in 1912. In 1914 his parents brought their young family to Cecil County, where his father started work in the Russell clay pits on Wells Camp Road. The family eventually moved into a very comfortable log home which the author’s father built with his own hands from logs harvested from his own land. Although he spoke no English when he entered the first grade at the one-room Marion schoolhouse, the author learned quickly, became the valedictorian for his class at North East High School, and won a full-paid scholarship to Western Maryland College, from which he was graduated with a degree in the sciences.

The book gives us wonderful historical insights into the inner workings of our local munitions plants, from the point of view of an engineer who worked his way up through the ranks, designing products and overseeing both their manufacture and their eventual destruction. As the title implies, the book culminates in a detailed discussion of the author’s experiences at Edgewood Arsenal with weapons employing nerve gas agents – his aim is to dispel the many popular misconceptions about this class of weapon and the current plans to destroy our nation’s remaining stockpiles and replace them with new weapons.

Table of Contents

Building Military Airplanes

Tool and Machine Design through World War II

Employed by the U.S. Army Chemical Corps

The Cold War and Nerve Gas Weapons

Producing Engineering and Value Engineering

Retirement Life and Chemical Weapons Disposal

Retain a Chemical Capability

Epilogue

Biographical Sketch by the Author

Type	Cost	Tax	Postage	Total
Non-Member	$18.75	$.94	$3.00	$22.69
Member	$16.87	.84.	$3.00	$20.71

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