Pacific Nuclear Tests

William Stewart was an engineer in the Special Engineering Detachment at Los Alamos, New Mexico. Specifically, Stewart worked in “Project Trinity” under the leadership of George Kistiakowsky and Kenneth Bainbridge. Stewart helped set up the Trinity test of the plutonium implosion weapon and witnessed the first atomic explosion in history on July 16, 1945. He […]

Jack Busby was a Military Policeman from Waco, Texas, and served at Oak Ridge, TN as part of the Manhattan Project. Busby travelled from Tennessee to Sandia Base, New Mexico, and also served on the Enewetak Atoll in the Pacific. He was responsible for guarding bomb parts being flown to and from various locations at […]

Col. Berton H. Burns’ distinguished career with the Air Force began in the China, Burma, Indian theater with the 40th Bomb Group.  His work with the Manhattan Project started with an assignment with the 58th Bomb Wing on Tinian Island, and as a senior pilot with the 509th Composite Group. Following the war, Burns participated […]

Robert “Bob” Hayes worked as an airplane mechanic on Kwajalein Island, maintaining Boeing B-29s. He talks about life in the Pacific during World War II, being trained to use a flamethrower on Iwo Jima, maintaining complicated airplane engines, and witnessing the Bikini Atoll nuclear tests.

Leon D. Smith joined the Manhattan Project in 1944 and was assigned to the 509th Composite Group at Wendover Airfield in Utah.  Smith, who grew up in Wisconsin, was studying electrical engineering at the University of Wisconsin when he was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1943. When he suffered extensive hearing loss, he requested […]

George Cowan joined the Manhattan Project in 1942 at the Met Lab as a chemist for Enrico Fermi’s group, and also worked for Columbia University. He was also involved in Operation Crossroads after the war.

Thomas O. Jones volunteered to join the Army before the start of WWII. As the war began to unfold in Europe, Jones was placed in a sub-organization of the Army called the Counterintelligence Corps. Eventually, his work in the Counterintelligence Corps led him to the Manhattan Project, where he was recruited to help with security. […]

Tom Scolman arrived in Los Alamos shortly after receiving his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Minnesota under renowned physicist Alfred Nier. At Los Alamos, Scolman worked in the Weapons Division with a team of physicists to help assemble and test explosives that would be used in nuclear devices. After the war, Scolman worked for the Los Alamos […]

Richard Shepard joined the Manhattan Project at Oak Ridge, working in the K-25 Plant as a member of the Special Engineer Detachment. After the war, he was at Bikini Atoll during the Operation Crossroads tests.

Fay Cunningham joined the Manhattan Project in 1944 as a metallurgical engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as part of the Special Engineer Detachment. Cunningham and his team of engineers helped to develop a mechanized process for producing crucibles that were used in the reduction of uranium and plutonium. After the war, Cunningham served […]