For me the Manhattan Project was personal: One of those assigned to the project was my uncle John Edmund Gray, a University of Rhode Island graduate with a brilliant mind.

John Gray grew up in the industrial city of Woonsocket, Rhode Island.

He had a strong interest in the field of engineering from a young age and not only was recruited to work on the Manhattan Project during World War II, but would later in life serve as an advisor to several presidents of the United States on the topic of Atomic energy.

John, known to close family as Jack, was one of four children born in Rhode Island in 1922.

After high school, he worked for one year at the Woonsocket Rayon Company, a local firm in the Rhode Island city where he grew up.

In 1943 he earned a B. S. degree in chemical engineering from the University of Rhode Island, where he worked several campus jobs to help pay expenses. After college John became a participant in the Manhattan Project.

Hundreds of men were assigned by the government of the United States to lend their minds to producing the first Atomic bombs, but the majority had no idea at the time what their skills were being utilized for since the project was beyond the level of “top secret”.

The eventual goal of the Manhattan Project was to find a way to end World War II, a conflict in which an estimated 50-70 million people were killed during the years 1939-1945.