William ("Bill") Dallam, WWII

Ninety-nine-year-old William ("Bill") Dallam first served in the Navy during WWII from 1943-45 aboard the USS Moale in the Asia-Pacific Theater.  When Bill was a torpedoman striker on the USS Moale, his father was working on the atomic bomb (Manhattan) project in Hanford, Washington, which developed the “Fat Man” plutonium bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. The USS Moale monitored radiation in Nagasaki.

Bill's mother was connected to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt through the Red Cross. Below are two articles that focus on the letter his mom sent to Eleanor Roosevelt, asking her to encourage her son to write to her more often. Eleanor contacted the commander of Bill's ship, the USS Moale, who then ordered Bill to write to his mom on a regular basis. There is a WWII-era picture of Bill in a US Navy uniform in the articles. 

Son wasn't writing from WWII, so mom tattled to Eleanor Roosevelt

Mother of WCU Grad Tattled to…