Troy Ham worked at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, for the Atomic Power Commission as a government worker. In 1945, he watched the atomic bomb Fat Man being rolled out the door and loaded on a bomber headed for Japan where it was dropped on Nagasaki. Troy and his fellow workers donated a Sunday’s pay to purchase Enola Gay, the bomber that dropped the bomb. Troy worked for the government until he saw a woman get her leg burned off and her face and body disfigured with nuclear radioactive material. He asked for his discharge and it was granted. Troy Ham moved his wife Luna and the young children back to Ashe County where he taught World War 2 veterans trades until all that wanted to learn had the opportunity to attend his classes. Troy didn’t wear a uniform but did his part during and after World War 2. Troy died in 1962 at the age of 62.
-- Written by J.B. Hamm
