Thomas Wilson Ferebee (November 9, 1918 – March 16, 2000) was the bombardier aboard the

B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fl ...

, ''

Enola Gay The ''Enola Gay'' () is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets. On 6 August 1945, piloted by Tibbets and Robert A. Lewis during the final stages of World War II, it be ...

'', which dropped the

atomic bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

Little Boy "Little Boy" was the type of atomic bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 during World War II, making it the first nuclear weapon used in warfare. The bomb was dropped by the Boeing B-29 Superfortress ''Enola Gay'' p ...

" on

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

in 1945.

Biography

Thomas Wilson Ferebee was born on a farm outside

Mocksville, North Carolina Mocksville is a town in Davie County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 5,051 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Davie County. History Mocksville was incorporated as a town in 1839. The town was named for the original ow ...

, as the third of eleven children raised in a Methodist family. In 1935, at age 17, he attended Lees-McRae College in

Banner Elk, NC Banner Elk is a town in Avery County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,028 at the 2010 census. Banner Elk is home to Lees–McRae College. History The area surrounding the Elk River was inhabited by the Cherokee before weste ...

. Talented in athletics since childhood, he earned awards in

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

. After training for a small position with the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

and not making the team, he joined the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

. A knee injury kept him from service in the

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

but he was accepted into flight training. After two years of

flight school Flight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills. Flight training can be conducted under a str ...

, Ferebee was assigned as a bombardier in the

European theater The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main theatres of combat during World War II. It saw heavy fighting across Europe for almost six years, starting with Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and ending with the ...

, completing more than 60 bombing missions. In the summer of 1944, he was recruited by

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Paul Tibbets Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr. (23 February 1915 – 1 November 2007) was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force. He is best known as the aircraft captain who flew the B-29 Superfortress known as the '' Enola Gay'' (named after his mot ...

to be part of the

509th Composite Group The 509th Composite Group (509 CG) was a unit of the United States Army Air Forces created during World War II and tasked with the operational deployment of nuclear weapons. It conducted the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in ...

which was formed to drop the

. Like Tibbets, Ferebee remained in the military in the years after World War II as the U.S. Army Air Forces became the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

. Ferebee spent most of his USAF career in the

Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile ...

, serving during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

and in Vietnam. He retired from the U.S. Air Force in December 1970 at

McCoy AFB McCoy AFB (1940–1947, 1951–1975) is a former U.S. Air Force installation located 10 miles (16 km) southeast of Orlando, Florida. It was a training base during World War II. From 1951 to 1975, it was a front line Strategic Air Command ...

, Florida, as a master navigator (bombardier) with the rank of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

. He then worked as a real estate agent in and around

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

. Like Tibbets, Ferebee never expressed regret for his role in the bombing, saying "it was a job that had to be done." He died at his home in

Windermere, Florida Windermere is a town in Orange County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 3,030. It is part of the Orlando Metropolitan Statistical Area. History A Post Office opened at Windermere in 1888. The Post Office c ...

, at the age of 81. He was survived by his wife, Mary Ann Ferebee, who donated his collection of military documents and objects to the

North Carolina Museum of History The North Carolina Museum of History is a history museum located in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. It is an affiliate through the Smithsonian Affiliations program. The museum is a part of the Division of State History Museums, Office of Archives ...

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

. Following Thomas Ferebee's death, singer-songwriter

Rod MacDonald Rod MacDonald (born August 17, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, novelist, and educator. He was a "big part of the 1980s folk revival in Greenwich Village clubs", performing at the Speakeasy, The Bottom Line, Folk City, and the "Songwr ...

wrote "The Man Who Dropped The Bomb On Hiroshima," a song directly quoting him from an interview MacDonald did for Newsweek's "Where Are They Now" feature in July 1970. The song, on his album "Recognition," remembers Ferebee as referring to "the one big thing" he'd done, noting he'd visited Japan after the war and, after seeing "planes all tooled for suicide attacks, I left there thinking we'd made that war end sooner." He adds, "Someday when I meet my maker, I'll know then if my one big thing was right."

References

Bibliography

Fletcher Knebel Fletcher Knebel (October 1, 1911 – February 26, 1993) was an American author of several popular works of political fiction. Knebel was born in Dayton, Ohio, but relocated a number of times during his youth. He graduated from high school in Y ...

and

Charles W. Bailey II Charles Waldo Bailey II (April 28, 1929January 3, 2012) was an American journalist, newspaper editor and novelist. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of John Washburn Bailey and Catherine (née Smith), he graduated from Harvard University in ...

(1960), ''No High Ground'', New York: Harper and Row, . * Gordon Thomas and

Max Morgan Witts Max Morgan-Witts (born 27 September 1931) is a British producer, director and author of Canadian origin. Morgan-Witts was a Director/Producer at Granada TV which he joined on January 9, 1956. He directed television shows for Granada, including ''T ...

(1977), ''Enola Gay'', 1978 reprint, New York: Pocket Books, .

External links

*
Annotated Bibliography for Thomas Ferebee from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferebee, Thomas 1918 births 2000 deaths Lees–McRae College alumni People associated with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki People from Mocksville, North Carolina People from Windermere, Florida Recipients of the Air Medal Recipients of the Silver Star United States Air Force colonels United States Army Air Forces officers United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Military personnel from North Carolina

Biography

See also

References

Bibliography

External links