Like every other red-blooded American, East Tennessee residents did all they could to help end World War II. Locals like "Petie" Siler signed up for service, despite having fought in World War I. Oak Ridge residents worked expeditiously on the Manhattan Project, gathering uranium-235 to fuel the first atomic bomb. Knoxville's Rohm & Haas Chemical Company branch furnished Plexiglas for aircraft. Military veterans Dewaine A. Speaks and Dr. Ray Clift detail the unified sacrifices and contributions of East Tennessee's honorable soldiers and civilians.
Dewaine A. Speaks is the author of Wild About Mary, Preparing for International Travel and Weston Fulton Changed the World. He earned a BA with a major in economics from the University of Tennessee. Mr. Speaks retired in 2001after a career in marketing of industrial equipment, domestically and internationally. He was a member of the United States Air Force and the Tennessee Air National Guard. He is currently a member of the East Tennessee Veteran's Honor Guard.
Ray Clift earned a BS in biological sciences education and an MS in industrial technical education from the University of Tennessee. He holds a PhD in business management from Walden University and studied at Rutgers University and American College. Dr. Clift worked as an engineering graphics and mathematics instructor at the University of Georgia before joining Rohm and Haas Chemical Company. He was a member of the United States Air Force and the Georgia Air National Guard.