The Manhattan Project Heritage Preservation Association, Inc.
"Preserving, Exhibiting, Interpreting and Teaching the History of the Manhattan Project"
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The Manhattan Project Heritage Preservation Association, Inc. "Preserving, Exhibiting, Interpreting and Teaching the History of the Manhattan Project" |
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| In conjunction with our commitment to the Veteran History Project of the Library of Congress, we proudly present the Veterans of the Manhattan Project. Below are the personal histories of 12 of these veterans. Please "click" on a name below to go directly to that veteran's section or simply page down to view them all. Please "click" here to go to the Veteran Archives Directory. |
Manhattan Project Veteran Archives
Archive Section
10 of 50
| Jack P. Pierard | Diana R. Pierard | Elsie C. Harrington |
| Alfred L. Carson | Herbert F. Depke | Samual B. Watson |
| Robert R. Follit | Jack Busby | Vito Di Rienzo |
| Karl D. Larsen | Charles Critchfield | Rolf Peterson |
10-1
| Name:
Pierard, Jack P. |
Table | Location: Hanford, WA Assigned Unit: Civilian - Other Job/Position: Communications & Office Services Clerk Dates of Service (if Known): 1/44 to 1/65 Information Submitted By:
Archival Record #: HA-CO-PIEJ-0702 | Picture 1 | Document 1 | |
His wife, Diana (Florence Ruth) Russell, was born February 2, 1911 in Culver, Indiana. She was the daughter of T. J. Russell, a Presbyterian minister, and Effie Haswell, and lived in several communities in the Midwest, most notably Fort Wayne, Indiana. They left their respective hometowns and moved to Chicago, Illinois, where they both changed their names.
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10-2
| Name:
Pierard, Diana R. |
Table | Location: Hanford, WA Assigned Unit: Civilian - Other Job/Position: Reading Radiation Badges & Drawing Records Clerk Dates of Service (if Known): 1945 to 1962 Information Submitted By:
Archival Record #: HA-CO-PIED-0702 | Picture 1 | Document 1 | |
His wife, Diana (Florence Ruth) Russell, was born February 2, 1911 in Culver, Indiana. She was the daughter of T. J. Russell, a Presbyterian minister, and Effie Haswell, and lived in several communities in the Midwest, most notably Fort Wayne, Indiana. They left their respective hometowns and moved to Chicago, Illinois, where they both changed their names.
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10-3
| Name:
Harrington, Elsie C. |
Table | Location: Oak Ridge, TN Assigned Unit: Civilian - Other Job/Position: RO Operator Dates of Service (if Known): 10/43 to 2/47 Information Submitted By: Patricia Dangermond; Daughter Archival Record #: OR-CO-HARE-0802 Picture 1 | Document 1 | Story 1 | |
Elsie Harrington was a civilian RO Operator at Oak Ridge during the war.
Not much is known about her actual duties while there. It is known
that the group that she was with all wore white uniforms. If anyone
remembers Elsie Harrington, please contact us via feedback above.
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10-4
| Name:
Carson, Alfred L. |
Table | Location: Oak Ridge, TN & Los Alamos, NM Assigned Unit: Military - SED Job/Position: Mechanical Engineer Dates of Service (if Known): 1943 to 1945 Information Submitted By: Brooks Carson, Grandson Archival Record #: OR-SD-CARA-0802 Picture 1 | Document 1 | Story 1 | |
Alfred L Carson, my grandfather, died the day before I was born in 1970. I
know he graduated from Georgia Tech in 1943 and went directly to Oak
Ridge, then to NM. Like most honest men of the time, he was told to keep
his secrets, and did just that, all the way to his grave. Any information
that anyone might have about Alfred Carson would be of great pleasure to
his family. For myself, I just want to learn about my grandfather I never
met. Thank you. Brooks Carson
SED, unknown specialty. Later in life, worked on aircraft for Lockheed. |
10-5
| Name:
Depke, Herbert "Herb" F. |
Table | Location: Hanford, WA Assigned Unit: Civilian - Other Job/Position: Supv. - Expediting Dept. Dates of Service (if Known): 1943 to 1944 Information Submitted By:
Archival Record #: HA-CO-DEPH-0802 Picture 1 | Document 1 | Document 2 | |
 Herbert F. Depke, Expediting Department, Hanford Engineer
Works; 1943-1944Born 18 Nov 1907, Danville, IL; Died 26 Sep 1974, Danville, IL; Graduate U of I, Urbana, 1930, B.S. Architects not being in demand in 1930 and Dad went into the family business. December 7, 1941 stirred the patriotism of all Red Blooded American Men, my Dad included. Being a college graduate, he was eligible for an officer's commission. Bad teeth made him unacceptable to the Navy, his service of choice. He must have preferred water to mud? The next best thing men with these problems could do was to find War Work. Thirty miles from home, just over the Illinois state line into Indiana, E. I. DuPont ran a plant [TNT or something] and Dad went to work there with some of his buddies. DuPont was soon pegged to open a plant in Hanford, Washington, something called the Manhattan Project, and needed tons of people willing to go to that sand pile near the end of the Earth. Dad volunteered. Later, Mother and I lived in Richland. |
10-6
| Name:
Watson, Samual B. |
Table | Location: Oak Ridge, TN Assigned Unit: Civilian - Other Job/Position: Machinist Dates of Service (if Known): Unknown Information Submitted By: Eric A. Watson, Grandson Archival Record #: OR-CO-WATS-0802 | Picture 1 | Picture 2 | Picture 3 | Document 1 | Story 1 | |
Samual Watson was a machinist at Oak Ridge during World War II. He
was from Kirksy, KY. His grandson states: "In memory to a great man,
admired and respected by all whom he had ever met". If anyone remembers Mr. Watson at Oak Ridge, please contact us via "feedback" above. |
10-7
| Name:
Follit, Robert R. |
Table | Location: 509th CG - Tinian Island Assigned Unit: Military - SED Job/Position: Photographer Dates of Service (if Known): Unknown Information Submitted By: Bernadette M. Daplyn, Granddaughter Archival Record #: CG-MO-FOLR-0802 Picture 1 | Document 1 | Document 2 | Story 1 | |
This is my (Step) Paternal grandfather i.e. he married my English Grandmother.
He was the Mission Photographer on the Hiroshima Mission he is buried in
Arlington National Cemetery Grave 3454 Section 60 he died in 1987. If anyone remembers Mr. Follit, please contact us via "feedback" above. |
10-8
| Name:
Busby, Jack |
Table | Location: Oak Ridge, TN; Sandia Base, NM; and Enewetok Atoll Assigned Unit: Military Police Job/Position: Guard - Bomb Parts Dates of Service (if Known): 1944 to 1947 Information Submitted By:
Archival Record #: OR-MP-BUSJ-0802 |
Jack Busby passed away on January 17th, 2006 at the age of 77. He is survived by his wife, Bea, and his children, Carla and Robert.
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10-9
| Name:
Di Rienzo, Vito |
Table | Location: 509th CG - Wendover, UT / Tinian Island Assigned Unit: 1st Ordnance Squadron Job/Position: Assembled Bomb Components Dates of Service (if Known): 1943 to 1946 Information Submitted By:
Archival Record #: CG-MO-DIRV-0802 Picture 1 | Document 1 | Story 1 | |
This is some of a interview that my stepdaughter did for her History class
about World War II. The interviewee is my father Vito J Di Rienzo age 76.
The interview was taken 12 April,1999. Q. How old were you when you became
involved in World War II? A. I went into the war in 1943. I was 20 years
old Q. Were you drafted or did you enlist? A. I was drafted. Q. Where were
you stationed for basic training and how long were you there? A. I did my
basic training at Fort Dix N.J. I was only in training for a month. Q.
Where did you go after basic training and what did you do there? A. For
two years, I went from state to state working as a mechanic, I went to
Atlantic City; Halliburg, Maryland; Andrews Air Force Base; Washington DC;
North Carolina; Albany NY; South Carolina; Mitchell Field NY; And Wendover
Field, on the border of Utah and Nevada.
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10-10
| Name:
Larsen, Karl D. |
Table | Location: M.I.T. Assigned Unit: Civilian - Scientific Job/Position: Physicist - Heavy Water Research Dates of Service (if Known): 1943 to 1945 Information Submitted By: Richard A. Guay; Nephew Archival Record #: UP-CS-LARK-0902 Picture 1 | Document 1 | Story 1 | |
Dr. Larsen was my uncle. He is deceased. My mother told me years ago of
his secret work at MIT in WW2 on the spectrum of heavy water and that his
work was a prerequisite to the first a-bomb. She said two physicists
were on the heavy water spectrum project, he and an assistant who was from
Texas. My uncle told her and my father that what he did on the spectrum of
heavy water was a scientific first. He said that he worked long hours, day
and night. We would like to know more about what he actually did.
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10-11
| Name:
Critchfield, Charles |
Table | Location: Los Alamos, NM Assigned Unit: Civilian - Scientific Job/Position: Physicist (Group Leader - Ordnance) Dates of Service (if Known): 1943 to 1946 Information Submitted By: Robert Critchfield, Son Archival Record #: LA-CS-CRIC-1002 Picture 1 | Document 1 | Story 1 | Hall of Fame | |
 My
father undertook both his undergraduate and graduate studies at George
Washington University, where he was a research fellow and earned his PhD
in physics. His principal graduate professors there were George Gamow and
Edward Teller and he was present, at GWU, when Niels Bohr publicly
announced the discovery of fission by Lise Meitner and Otto Frisch. He was
subsequently awarded a scholarship by the American-Scandinavian Foundation
to study at Bohr's Institute for Theoretical Physics in Copenhagen, but he
reluctantly declined due to the turmoil and uncertainty being inflicted by
Nazi Germany at that time. He also had a post-doctoral offer from J.
Robert Oppenheimer at Berkeley but chose instead to accept a post-doc
appointment with Eugene Wigner at Princeton. In December of 1942 he
received a personal visit from Oppenheimer and Teller for the purpose of
recruiting him to join the project at Los Alamos.
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10-12
| Name: Peterson,
Rolf |
Table | Location: Los Alamos, NM Assigned Unit: Civilian - Scientific Job/Position: Physicist Dates of Service (if Known): Information Submitted By: Ruth Boe (Classmate at St. Olaf College) Archival Record #: LA-CS-PETR-1002 Picture 1 | Document 1 | Story 1 | |
Rolf Peterson died Dec.23, 2001. He graduated from St. Olaf College in
1943 and obtained his Ph.D in physics from the University of Wisconsin. He
worked on the project at Los Alamos and subsequently spent more than 40
years there until retiring in 1984. He is survived by his wife Betty. (
Santa Fe, NM) If anyone has more information about Rolf Peterson's work at Los Alamos during the war, please contact us via feedback above. |
Burton & Richard Pierard; Sons
