William T. Kelley was drafted in 1942 into the Army and was assigned to the Corps of Engineers’ Manhattan District as part of the counterintelligence element of the project. In this capacity, he possessed three identities to perform his duties in protecting the security of the project. These identities were as a civilian, a Navy lieutenant, and as his actual rank of sergeant in the Army.
He was assigned to Hanford with the responsibility to ensure the security of the facility by interfacing with radio and newspaper media. He would request they not print or use certain words associated with the Manhattan Project, such as uranium, nuclear, reactor, etc. Although Hanford was his base camp, he worked at numerous locations throughout the country as part of the Manhattan Project team. These locations included University of Chicago, Oak Ridge, TN, Pocatello, ID, Los Alamos, NM, as well as other locations. Hay may also have been present at the Trinity Test on July 16, 1945.
Following the war, he became a member of the newly established Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and stayed with the AEC until 1974.
Information submitted by the Kelley family.