There are many people whose achievements and contributions to the world transcend those of ordinary individuals, yet they are largely unknown to most of us. At the same time, their impact on our lives is indisputable. I want to tell you about one of those persons who I knew quite well.

Prior to, and during the early years of World War II, there was a problem with developing a method for detonating a shell near the target. If shells were detonated either too early, or later after the shell had passed through the target, the effect would be minimal. In the earlier days of warfare, many of these shells had been manually timed, which gave the gunner one more thing to contend with, in addition to calculating the correct course, speed, range, bearing, and position angle. Of course, any error in calculations resulted in the target escaping damage. This caused a  serious dilemma for the military.

In the summer of 1940 aircraft technology had improved, and the dire international situation created by Hitler’s invasions made the United States take a look at developing a Fuse which would detonate a projectile when in proximity of an aircraft or other flying object. In July of that year, a group consisting of members of the National Defense Research Committee and the Navy Department Council for Research, decided that the development of such a fuse was possible by using either electronic or photoelectric devices. People for this effort were recruited from all over the United States. The work on the proximity Fuse was top secret. In fact, persons working on the project were forbidden to discuss the matter even with their families. Even after the war was over many of the project participants refused to talk about their work.

The proximity fuse was invented in England in 1940, but developed mainly by the U.S. (with British collaboration) during World War II. Vannevar Bush, who was head of the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD), later to become the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, credits its development with three significant effects. It was important in the defense from Japanese Kamikaze attacks in the Pacific. It was an important part of the radar-controlled anti-aircraft batteries that finally neutralized the German V-1 (Buzz) bomb attacks on England. Third, it was released for use in land warfare just in time for use in the Battle of the Bulge, where it decimated German divisions caught in the open. General George Patton paid tribute to the Fuse developers stating, "I think when all armies get this shell we will have to devise some new method of warfare." Patton’s prophecy might well have come true except that within the year, the success story of the Fuse was dimmed by the development of atomic weaponry. Even this development, however, necessitated the continued use of the proximity fuse in the control of when the ‘A-Bomb’ was to detonate.

The development of the proximity fuse was done primarily by the Crosley Company of Cincinnati, Ohio. At that time, my uncle, Emmery Bussard, was a young engineer working for Crosley on the development of radio wave systems. He was recruited to join OSRD and, within the scientific community, has been generally credited with inventing the technology for the proximity fuse. As a young man, I recall visiting his house in Ohio and seeing the full size model of the fuse for the atomic bomb displayed in his den. When I would ask him about the Fuse and the model, my uncle would often speak proudly of the many lives that were saved in England as a result of defeating the Buzz Bomb. He would tell stories of being on Patton’s staff as a consultant for the use of the technology during the Battle of the Bulge. He would not talk about the A-Bomb. I learned much later that he believed he had been recruited under false pretenses to participate in the Manhattan Project and the development of the Bomb and never fully reconciled his contributions with his personal opinions regarding atomic warfare.

If these contributions were not enough, my Uncle Emmery continued his work on radio wave technology and is considered to be one of the 13 persons who were responsible for the invention of the television set. His specific contribution was the analog tuner. In case you were wondering, the Crosley Company and OSRD had a policy that all patents and the benefits derived from those patents remained the property of Powell Crosley, the founder of the company.

I know this story has nothing to do with Law. You could also say that the work of my Uncle Emmery wasn’t just engineering. His accomplishments saved countless lives and, at least in part, was responsible for the freedom we enjoy today. Now you know.