Memories of Early Atomic Pioneers

When William (Bill) Compton arrived at Hanford, he was issued badge number TNX-35 indicating that he was the 35th person hired by the DuPont Company. Bill, like so many of his colleagues, were proud of the work they performed at the Hanford Engineering Works (HEW) for the Manhattan Project during World War II. The feats they accomplished were amazing. In 1994 Bill Compton began to notice that his colleagues were aging and some had passed on. Their stories and experiences were being lost. To preserve their amazing stories and accomplishments on the Manhattan Project, Bill conducted personal interviews and captured firsthand, their memories on audio tapes that are summarized here in this book. Bill Compton conducted most of the interviews featured in this book and Edgar Robert (Bob) Gilbert provided major support, transcribing all the interviews into readable text and conducting interviews when Bill was not available. Bob made a commitment to Bill prior to Bill's death, to ensure that all their hard work and the memories of their colleagues would not be forgotten. Without Bill's passion and Bob's diligent effort, this book would never have been possible.