Nathan W. Churchill, although paralyzed from the waist down, was a key man in Civil Defense during World War II. He served as the Air Raid Warning Officer for the Civilian War Aid and Evacuation Service (CWAE.) The job required a man who was always available for a telephone call from the Fighter Command Center and Mr. Churchill just fit the bill. Nine years earlier, when he was a superintendent at the Henry Mill, Mr. Churchill suffered a broken back in a fall. After working his way back from total to partial paralysis, he turned his bed into an office and made a living as a magazine agent. Pictured with him in his room/office at his home at 404 So. K St. (now Martin Luther King Jr. Way) are M.J. Muckey, left, head of the CWAE and Frank Evans, Tacoma Civil Defense Coordinator. (T. Times 10-17-1942 p.3)

Churchill, Nathan; Muckey, M.J.; Evans, Frank; World War, 1939-1945--Civil defense--Tacoma; People with disabilities; Paraplegics;