1. Charles William Sweeney was an officer in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II and the pilot who flew Bockscar carrying the Fat Man atomic bomb to the Japanese city of Nagasaki on 9 August 1945.
11 Facts About Charles Sweeney
1. 2.
On 4 May 1945, Charles Sweeney became commander of the 393d Bombardment Squadron, Heavy, the combat element of the 509th, in charge of 15 Silverplate B-29s and their flight and ground crews, 535 men in all.
3.
On 9 August 1945, Major Charles Sweeney commanded Bockscar, which carried the atomic bomb Fat Man from the island of Tinian to Nagasaki.
4.
The crew had been ordered to drop the bomb visually if possible; Charles Sweeney decided to proceed with a visual bomb run.
5.
In November 1945, Charles Sweeney returned with the 509th Composite Group to Roswell Army Air Base in New Mexico to train aircrews for the atomic testing mission, Operation Crossroads.
6.
Charles Sweeney left active duty with the rank of lieutenant colonel on 28 June 1946, but remained active with the Massachusetts Air National Guard.
7.
Later promoted to full colonel, on 21 February 1956, Charles Sweeney was named commander of its 102nd Air Defense Wing and shortly after, on 6 April, was promoted to brigadier general.
8.
Charles Sweeney retired in 1976 as a major general in the Air National Guard.
9.
Charles Sweeney appeared in the 1970s television series The World at War and was seen explaining the USAAF buildup to the mission raids.
10.
In War's End, Charles Sweeney defended the decision to drop the atomic bomb in light of subsequent historical questioning.
11.
Charles Sweeney died at age 84 on 16 July 2004, at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.