Period 4
The Bombing of Hiroshima
The United States entered World War 2 because Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Eventually there would be a lot of fighting. Franklin Roosevelt then gave permission for the making of an atomic bomb to be dropped somewhere in Japan. As they were making the atomic bomb they had to figure out which plane would hold the atomic bombs. The Enola Gay was chosen to be one of the planes dropping an atomic bomb. The Enola Gay was the name picked because of the pilot, Colonel Tibbets, after his mother. The bombardier of the Enola Gay was Major Thomas Ferebee.
Thomas Ferebee was born on November 9, 1918 in Mocksville, North Carolina. He went to Lees McRae College in Banner Elk, North Carolina. After trying to get a spot with the Boston Red Sox he decided to go to the army. He then got a knee injury and could not be in the infantry anymore. He was then accepted in to flight school. After being in flight school he was finally assigned to be a bombardier. He was seen by Colonel Paul Tibbets and chosen to be on the 509th composite group which was to drop one of the two atomic bombs on Japan. On their ride to Japan the crew of the Enola Gay was unaware of where they would drop the bomb. He was the one who chose the spot for the first atomic bomb on August 9, 1945. He chose to drop the bomb on a bridge in the city of Hiroshima. Although the bombing of Hiroshima was a success the Enola Gay was 15,000 pounds overweight. Thomas Ferebee retired in Windermere, Florida and died on March 16, 2000. Thomas Ferebee still said after he retired from the air force that the atomic bomb was necessary.
I chose this topic because I thought that it was very important in history. Also Colonel Thomas Ferebee is my grandfather’s cousin. I thought it was really cool how someone in my family had influenced so many people in the past. Also he was born and raised in Mocksville which is where my dad and more of my family was born. Also this topic is...