Staff Sergeant Edward F. O’Mara enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942. Because of a blood condition, Army officials determined that he was not fit for combat duty. After serving at several military installations, he was assigned to Camp Luna, a training facility near Las Vegas, New Mexico.
One day, his commanding officer pulled him aside and said, “I don’t know who you know in Washington, D.C., but we’ve just received orders for you to pack your belongings you’re going to Santa Fe.”
Upon arriving in Santa Fe, O’Mara was dropped off at the La Fonda Hotel and instructed to wait until nightfall, when Military Police would escort him to an undisclosed location. He had no idea where he was being sent or why.
O’Mara had been selected to assist with chemical supply and distribution for the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos, largely because of his previous experience working in a chemical factory in his hometown of New York City. During his time there, he witnessed the Trinity test, watching the world’s first atomic explosion from the eastern side of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains near Santa Fe alongside fellow project workers.
When World War II ended, O’Mara chose to remain at Los Alamos as a civilian employee. Over the next 34 years, he continued his work at what became Los Alamos National Laboratory, contributing not only to postwar research but also to Cold War-era testing efforts in Nevada and Hawaii.
Edward F. O’Mara passed away on May 6, 1994, at the age of 72.