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National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

Harry Petcher

Head of Box Lunch DepartmentHanford, WA

Manhattan Project Veteran
Hanford Listen to Harry Petcher’s Oral History on Voices of the Manhattan Project

Harry Petcher's flat feet meant he couldn't be drafted, but still had an obligation to work for the war effort. After working as a Signal Corps clerk in Chicago, Petcher moved to Hanford with his wife, where they found jobs in the mess hall. Petcher soon became head of Hanford's massive box lunch department, where he oversaw tens of thousands of box lunches being made every day. In twenty months at Hanford, the staff served 3,088,480 box lunches.

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