This week’s Veteran is Paul Blackmon, who served in the U.S. Army from 1946-1947. And even after the end of hostilities in September 1945, the official United States military service period of World War II did not end until December 1946, so Mr. Blackmon is still considered a WWII Veteran at 97 years old. Paul served as a Military Policeman (MP) during his service, but he didn’t just serve at any regular military post. He guarded the perimeter of the Manhattan Project – Hanford Branch B Nuclear Reactor in Richland, Washington, which was a very important job, because after the Atomic Bombs were dropped in Japan, the nuclear bomb effort did not stop, but became even more important to counter the international threat from the Soviet Union. Following his service Mr Blackmon went on to have an amazing career. He received Masters Degrees in Physics and Mathematics from the Missouri University of Science and Technology. He began work in the early aerospace industry working as a senior scientist and project engineer with Lockheed, and on the Apollo program working at the Johnson Space Center in Clear Lake. Following his engineering career, Paul turned to entrepreneurship owning an auto salvage yard, as well as investing in real estate. He retired to Hawaii, and traveled to all seven continents, including Antarctica in 2005. He moved to Texas in 2019 to be closer to his daughter, a professor at Sam Houston State University, and was recently at the Conroe Symphony Orchestra concert. Good Luck Paul, and Congratulations on being MCNs ‘Veteran of the Week’.