Evening star., 1945-08-08
Historic Bomb Attack
Made by Crew Of 8
In Super Fortress
By the Associated Press.

6S lue A6eOCltttu Flcses
GUAM Delayed. - The historic
atomic bomb attack against Hiro-
shima was carried out by a crew of
eight men from widely separated
home States and possessing varied
war records. A naval captain was
an observer.
The pilot of the B-29 which
dropped the immensely powerful
explosive was Col Paul W. Tibbets,
jr., of Miami, Fla. The mission gave
him another first" on his eight
year record with the Army Air
Forces.
Maj. Thomas w. Ferebee of
Mocksville, N. c., served as bonn
bardier and released the missile
which destroyed go per cent of the
southern Honshu city of $4,000.
Col. Tibbets and Maj. Ferebee are
graduates of the BIZ Flying Fort
resseS.
Led Attack on Bizerte.
Col. Tibbetts led the formation
that was the first to bomb in the
invasion of North Africa. This at
tack was against Bizerte on Mo-
vember l6, 1912. Before that he
flew nine missions against the Ger
mans from England and piloted the
first Bit to cross the Channel on
a bombing mission of Nazi-occupied
France.
The colonel wears the Distin-
guished Flying Cross with cluster
the Air Medal with three clusters
and the Purple Heart. He attended
the University of Florida and the
University of Cincinnati He is
married and has two small children.
Maj. Ferebee claims first in
being the bombardier of Col. Tib-
bets BIZ making the initial strike
against occupied Europe from Eng
of Col Tibbets' plane which few
Gen. Eisenhower and Gen. Clark to
Gibraltar to make final plans for
the invasion of North Africa.
Maj. Ferebee holds the Distin-
g,lished Flying Cross, the Air Medal
with 10 Oak Leaf Clusters and five
Bronze Service Stars. He partici- |
pated in is combat missions in Eu-
rope and Africa. The son of Mr.
and Mrs. w. S. Ferebee, he is not
married.
Other Crew Members Veterans.
Capt. Robert A Lewis, Ridgefield,
N. j., served as co-pilot on the Hiro-
shima bombing mission. The son
of Mr.. and Mrs. George w. Lewis
of Ridgefield, Capt Lewis has been
in the service three and half years.
The Enola Gay was navigated
by Capt. Theodore J. Van Kirk,
Northumberland, Pa. He has been
four years in the service and holds
the Air Medal with 10 Clusters. He
navigated the lead plane in the first
bombing attack against occupied Eu-
rope August II, 1942, and continued
to fly out of Europe until october
of that year, when he was trans
ferred to the North African cam
paign. He is married.
The other crew members:
Staff Sergt. Wyatt E. Duzenbury,
Lansing, Mich, flight engineer. A
7eteran of three years in the serv-
zee, he is married and has one son.
Others on Mission. 4
Pfc. Richard N Nelson, Los An
geles, radio operator. His parents,
Mr.. and Mrs. c. P Nelson, live at
the same address. He is single.
Staff Sergt. George r. Caron, Lyn-
brook, NJ Y, tail gunner A gradu-
ate of Brooklyn Polytechnic Insti-
tute, he is married and has q
month-old daughter.
Sergt. Joe A. Stiborik, Taylor,
Tex, radar operator. He attended
Texas A. and M. and is married.
Second 1t. M. U. Jeppson, elec-
tronics officer. His home town and
other details are not available
Observer on the fight was Naval
Capt. william S. Parsons of Santa
Fe N Mex He is married and has