JAPAN: Candles on a River

One cloudy morning in August 1945, the B-29 Great Artiste, commanded by Major Charles W. Sweeney of North Quincy, Mass., was flying over Japan. After 50 minutes' unsuccessful search for his target, Major Sweeney asked a naval ordnance observer, Commander Frederick L. Ashworth of Wenham, Mass., what he should do. Try Nagasaki, said Commander Ashworth. With just enough fuel left for a single bomb run, the navigator, Captain James F. Van Pelt Jr. of Oak Hill, W. Va., hit Nagasaki exactly "on the nose." The bombardier, Captain Kermit K. Beaham of Houston,...

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