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9781936885305

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Don Kelley comes from a long stock of West Virginia farmers and miners, the kind of people who labor hard and honestly, and often dangerously to put food on the family table and a roof over it. It was routine for young men in the '50s to work in the coal mines until black lung rendered them weak, diseased, and one of the 'cared for' rather than the one caring for others. Don fell into many of the typical story lines from his era, including joining the military during the Korean War and getting married soon after high school. The Air Force used his analytical proclivity as an airframe repairman. Although his lifelong dream was to be a pilot, he was happy enough in that era fixing military airplanes and living meagerly but comfortably with his new bride. His engineering talent and fix-it mentality helped him earn commendations for getting tornado-ravaged aircraft essential to the U.S. anti-nuclear attack strategy back in the air in record time. But getting that notice ultimately earned him more grief than glory. Thanks to that, he and his team volunteered for temporary duty on a remote Pacific island chain, where he was to evaluate, and fix if possible, the airplanes that dropped atomic bombs on those islands. But he also found himself with a front-row seat on nuclear bomb development, and he discovered that the planes were not the only assets being tested for resilience to nuclear damage. His story -- from the bottom rung of the middle class ladder in the post-WWII America...to battling the physical, mental, and social fallout of being a nuclear guinea pig...to becoming head of a major university engineering department - is instructive in several ways. Don's story also demonstrates what a government will do for what is considered a greater good, or at least a necessary evil, and then plead ignorance of the damaged flotsam set adrift by doing so. It's a glimpse into the effects of abuse on unwilling victims and how that emotional instability can drain a psyche and damage careers. Finally, it's a warning about the effects of nuclear materials on the world. I'm no scientist or engineer. I met Don through a long-time and associate, Ian Horvath, founder of an ambitious start-up, Energy Solutions. This company is working on fusion energy, a much safer and more effective method of generating power. Ian is a former engineering student at Arizona State University, where Don taught. As a decades-long journalist and now author, I was helping Ian describe his business to investors and the media, and Ian asked me to help Don tell his story. Don Kelley's story is a tale of a regular man on a traditional path thrust into the center of the most powerful force created (but not entirely harnessed) by humans, who was forced to suffer and learn to overcome its effects. It may make you more suspicious about government (not a bad thing, in my opinion) and science ... and the ethics and problems overlooked when something is considered necessary, or sometimes just convenient. It will also offer an example of how the human spirit and relentless effort can mitigate, and sometimes overcome, being dealt a bad hand. If nothing else, this book is a worthwhile spotlight on the early days of nuclear development from a vantage point that virtually none of us has seen. It's a story well worth the attention of government, scientists, and Americans who care about America living up to its ideals. Hal DeKeyser

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Don Kelley achieved the highest academic rank at Arizona State University, as a Professor of Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology. He served as Department Chair for five-years. He has a distinguished University teaching career spanning twenty years. Don took pride in teaching the Sun Devil Bridge Program at ASU, a free eight-week summer program for minority and underprivileged high school students. He prepared these students to face the rigors of University study. Professor Kelley is a founding member of the Emeritus College at Arizona State University. He is a humanitarian, with ongoing efforts to reduce human suffering for the less fortunate people around the world through Rotary International. He is a Rotary International Past District Governor.

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