My uncle enlisted in the Navy, right after the attack on Pearl Harbor. I found this picture of him

[egold2604]

76. My father worked at the Naval Ordinance Lab in DC during the War

My father worked at the Naval Ordinance Lab in DC during the war designing many of the weapon systems that helped win the war, including many of the rockets systems.

Dad received the first Presidential Citation of WWII and the first Presidential Deferment of the war. He tried to enlist several times but was told his job was too important. Finally they told him if he enlisted he would be right back at his drafting table as a sailor at much less than his civilian pay.

His first major design, for which he got his Presidential Citation, was designing a recoil and loading system for a cannon to be placed in the nose of a B-17 to be used against Japanese barges bringing troops to the Philippines at the start of the war. Japanese destroyers were decimating the PT boats sent out to destroy the barges. Dad put a 50 cal. machine gun next to the cannon with loads such that the velocity of the shell was the same as the cannon and used it for aiming. When the tracer hit the barge the cannon was fired and hit the barge.

He also designed the recoil system for the big guns on battleships and cruisers.

After the war, he swore never to work on weapons systems again. He got his Ph.D. in Physics and was a partner in a BioMedical Instrumentation company. He has many patents to his name.

He was a true American Hero. A three star Admiral came to his funeral. Turns out Dad reported to him during the war. He told our family that Dad was responsible for saving thousands of live due to his inventions.