Dave Aiello wrote, "In the Winter 2004 edition of Rensselaer Magazine, I read of the July 2, 2004 passing of William A. Sirrat '41, reportedly the author of the lyrics to the famous song Unchained Melody. This is an extremely famous and popular song recorded in 1955 by Al Hibbler and later recorded by The Righteous Brothers, among many other famous artists. There are 78 different versions of this song in the iTunes Music Store."

"I was able to confirm the fact that William Sirrat was the lyricist of this song. Surprisingly, I also discovered he lived in New Jersey. According to a December 2003 article in the News Transcript he worked at Northrup Grumman in Eatontown and spent his retirement years in Freehold Township."

"This is an amazing story that I stumbled on completely by accident. There are probably many more stories that should be told of Rensselaer alumni from New Jersey and nearby. If you know of one, let us know by submitting it to the RCNJ website or by emailing me at dave_aiello at ctdata.com."