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
15 of 50
15-1
| Name: Dietrich,
Melvin L.
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Table | Location: Oak Ridge, TN Assigned Unit: Comstock & Bryant Job/Position: Electrician & Welding Crew Foreman Dates of Service (if Known): 9/44 to 7/45 Information Submitted By: Denise Barbour; D. Lynne Wilson; Diane Frick; and Dixie Ross - Daughters Archival Record #: OR-CO-DIEM-0903 | Picture 1 | Document 1 | Story 1 | |
Melvin Dietrich worked for Comstock &
Bryant (subsidiary of J. A. Jones Construction Company out of Knoxville,
Tennessee) as Foreman over three crews of Electricians/Welders. Also
worked as an electrician under Edenfield Electric Company.
Primary Contribution: Submitted
heliarc welding solutions for problem metals. Worked seven-day weeks (12
to 14 hour days during the week & 8 hour days on the weekends) to get
the construction projects done. Kept all project information
secret.
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15-2
| Name:
Johnson, James O. |
Table | Location: Los Alamos, NM Assigned Unit: Naval Ordnance Test Station; China Lake, CA Job/Position: Ordnanceman Dates of Service (if Known): 1944 to 1945 Information Submitted By: James O. Johnson Archival Record #: LA-CS-JOHJ-0903 | Picture 1 | Document 1 | Story 1 | |
Jim Johnson was born 1-8-26. Graduated from Colton Union High School 1943.
Started work at the Naval Ordnance Test Station at China Lake, California
in 1944. Left China Lake in 1945, started college that same year. Moved to
Los Alamos in 1952, Retired from LANL in 1986. In 1944 and 45 I was employed as an ordinanceman at the Naval Ordinance Test Station at China Lake, California. In 1945 Los Alamos didn’t have a firing site capable of firing a full scale Fat Man with dummy pit. In fact, the only large firing site at old Anchor Ranch could barely handle one lens, so they came to the Navy and asked us to build some firing sites.
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15-3
| Name:
Dujack, Raymond L. |
Table | Location: Columbia University Assigned Unit: S.A.M. Lab Job/Position: Lab Technician Dates of Service (if Known): 11/43 to 2/44 Information Submitted By: Raymond L. Dujack Archival Record #: CU-CS-DUJR-0903 Picture 1 | Document 1 | Story 1 | |
I withdrew from MIT in the summer of 1943 after completing my freshman
year and went home to New York to await my inevitable call to enter the
armed services. Took job at Columbia University after answering a want-ad
in the NY Times for a "high school grad. good at math." Hired as a lab
tech to work in the S.A.M. Labs in Havemayer Hall on the campus. Never
informed as to what we were working on. Never told what "S.A.M." meant.
Never heard the term "Manhattan Project." Left SAM to enter the Army in
Feb.. 1944: infantry basic training; assignment to the Army Specialized
Training Program (E.E.) at Penn State; discharged June 1946.
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15-4
| Name:
Robinson, John A. |
Table | Location: Oak Ridge, TN Assigned Unit: X-10 Plant Job/Position: Machinist & Instrument Maker Dates of Service (if Known): 2/43 to 8/74 Information Submitted By: Michael S. Robinson, Son Archival Record #: OR-CS-ROBJ-0903 Picture 1 | Document 1 | Story 1 | |
John Arthur (Jack) Robinson came to work at the Clinton engineering Works, X-10 facility in 1943. He was a machinist by trade, and was sent to work in Oak Ridge at the request of James Dupont, of the DuPont Chemical Co, one of the Manhattan Project contractors. He was active in labor, and was selected as the person to represent labor at the awarding of the Army/Navy E Award ceremony for the Oak Ridge operations. He continued working at the X-10 facility until his retirement in August 1974. He resided with his wife Eula, and three children, Judy, Jack Jr., and Mike at 110 Victoria Road until his death at age 74. |
15-5
| Name:
Sloan, Millard F. |
Table | Location: Oak Ridge, TN Assigned Unit: Y-12 Plant Job/Position: Chemical Operator Dates of Service (if Known): 1945 to 1947 Information Submitted By: Millard F. Sloan, Jr.; Son Archival Record #: OR-CO-SLOM-0903 Picture 1 | Document 1 | Story 1 | |
 Born in Oakdale, Tennessee in 1922. Entered U.S. Army in 1941. Served with
the 12th Air Cargo Re-supply Squadron in Ledo, India. Discharged in 1945
and began working at the Oak Ridge facility until 1947. Lives in Waxhaw,
N.C.
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15-6
| Name:
Cowart Jr., William S. |
Table | Location: Los Alamos, NM Assigned Unit: Military - Special Engineer Detachment Job/Position: Design Engineer Dates of Service (if Known): Unknown Information Submitted By: William S. Cowart, III; Son Archival Record #: LA-SD-COWW-0903 | Picture 1 | Picture 2 | Document 1 | Story 1 | |
Please let it be known that my father at the time was studying nuclear
physics and was a design engineer on the project. Prior to that, he
was a fighter bomber pilot with the 8thAirforce in England then he came
home in August of 1944 after marriage to my mother from England and was
studying at Ohio State University before being selected for the project.
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15-7
| Name:
Stewart, William R, |
Table | Location: Los Alamos, NM; Trinity Site; Operation Crossroads Assigned Unit: Special Engineer Detachment Job/Position: Explosives Div. Dates of Service (if Known): 3/44 to 3/46 Information Submitted By: Alan Stewart, Brother Archival Record #: LA-SD-STEW-0903 Picture 1 | Document 1 | Collection | |
 As told by his brother, Alan Stewart: William Stewart arrived in Lamy, NM on 20 March 1944. He was a T/3 under Kistiakowsky and Bainbridge. Aside from being able to recognize him as the GI at the top in the well-known picture of the test bomb being hoisted to the tower for the Trinity test, I have known very little of his time at Los Alamos. He was a very private person and never spoke of those days but he did attend most of the reunions at Los Alamos and drove there frequently.
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15-8
| Name: Burns,
Col. Berton H.
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Table | Location: Tinian Island; Operation Crossroads Assigned Unit: 58th Bomb Wing; 509th Composite Group Job/Position: Controller of Maintenance; B-29 Senior Pilot Dates of Service (if Known): 1942 to 1973 Information Submitted By: Irene Mann, Daughter Archival Record #: OC-MO-BURB-0903 Picture 1 | Document 1 | Collection | |
 Col.
Berton H. Burns' distinguished career with the Air Force began in the
China, Burma, Indian theater with the 40th Bomb Group, then with the 58th
Bomb Wing on Tinian Island, and as a senior pilot with the 509th Composite
Group at Operation Crossroads. He later commanded the 509th
Composite Group. A more thorough biography will be provided by his
daughter, Irene Mann. |
15-9
| Name:
Kaplan, Morris S. |
Table | Location: Houdaille-Hershey; Decatur. IL Assigned Unit: Job/Position: Chemical Engineer Dates of Service (if Known): Unknown Information Submitted By: Linda R. Kaplan, Daughter Archival Record #: CP-CS-KAPM-0903 Picture 1 | Document 1 | Story 1 | |
Morris S. Kaplan was a chemical engineer in charge of engineers working to
find a configuration of lead plates to slow a reaction. The plant was kept
open day and night to find the right array. They were able to accomplish
their goal in 3 months well ahead of schedule. mp-contribution: My father would have said (privately) that achieving their goal ahead of schedule allowed him to feel a part of bringing the war to an end earlier.
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15-10
| Name:
Alger, Sr., Frank A. |
Table | Location: Wendover, UT / Tinian Island Assigned Unit: 509th Composite Group Job/Position: Dates of Service (if Known): Information Submitted By: Frank A. Alger, Jr.; Son Archival Record #: CG-MO-ALGF-0903 Picture 1 | Document 1 | Story 1 | |
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15-11
| Name:
Long, Edward C. |
Table | Location: Oak Ridge, TN Assigned Unit: Y-12 Plant Job/Position: Calutron Supervisor Dates of Service (if Known): 1944 to Late 1980's Information Submitted By: Ted Long, Son Archival Record #: OR-CS-LONE-0903 Picture 1 | Document 1 | Story 1 | |
My father, Edward C. Long, received his BS in Physics at U. of GA just
before the war started. He reported for the draft and was sent instead to
Oak Ridge. He worked at Y-12 as a Calutron supervisor. I recall stories
about the young female operators having difficulties when the Calutron
controllers aged - they were apparently very difficult to control, and
since the women didn't really know what they were doing anyway, sometimes
they stressed out and had to be taken out of the area.
See Mary Elizabeth Long Below |
15-12
| Name: Long
(Barnes), Mary Elizabeth Location: Oak Ridge, TN Assigned Unit: Y-12 Plant Job/Position: Radiochemistry Dates of Service (if Known): 1946 to 1952 Information Submitted By: Ted Long, Son Archival Record #: OR-CS-LONM-0903 Picture 1 | Document 1 | Story 1 | |
My mother, Mary Elizabeth Barnes, earned a degree in Chemical
Engineering from Auburn. During the war, she had worked in Michigan at a
land mine factory, where she did quality control work. She was hired at
Y-12 after the war, working in radiochemistry. She recalled that her boss
was completely against women being in an engineering position, so he gave
her the dirty jobs - climbing up the inside of stacks or wading in sludge
to take samples.
See Edward C. Long Above |
