William Coffee

William Coffee (1917-1989) received the Commendation for Meritorious Civilian Service in April 1946 for his role in recruiting and leading a group of African-American cryptographers in the Signals Intelligence Service. After the Second World War, Coffee joined the Armed Forces Security Agency, which later became the National Security Agency. Coffee retired from the NSA in 1972. He was inducted into the National Security Agency's Cryptologic Hall of Honor in 2011.