Pilot of plane that dropped atomic bomb on Nagasaki dies at 84
The Associated Press
7/17/2004, 4:39 p.m. ET
MILTON, Mass. (AP) -- Charles W. Sweeney, a retired Air Force general who piloted the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki in the final days of World War II, has died at age 84.
Sweeney died Thursday at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, hospital spokeswoman Christine Johanson said. She did not disclose the cause of death. The Associated Press left messages Saturday at phone numbers listed to the Sweeney family in the Boston suburb of Milton.
Sweeney was 25 and had never previously dropped a bomb on an enemy target when he piloted the B-29 bomber that attacked Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945, six days before Japan surrendered. About 70,000 people were killed in the explosion of the bomb, dubbed "Fat Man." The attack came three days after the Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
Years later, Sweeney became an outspoken defender of the bombings, appearing on the Larry King show on CNN and speaking at colleges and universities.
Sweeney also wrote the book, "War's End: An Eyewitness Account of America's Last Atomic Mission," because of what he considered "cockamamie theories" that the bombings were unnecessary.
"I looked upon it as a duty. I just wanted the war to be over, so we could get back home to our loved ones," Sweeney told The Patriot Ledger of Quincy in a 1995 interview. "I hope my missions were the last ones of their kind that will ever be flown."
Sweeney also played a role in the bombing at Hiroshima, where he flew an instrument plane that accompanied the Enola Gay during that attack.
His own B-29, the Bock's Car, is not as well-known in history, although the bombing was harrowing for the crew. The flight had fuel problems from the start, and clouds and smoke were covering the mission's primary target, the city of Kokura.
After making several dangerous passes over the city, Sweeney abandoned the primary target for Nagasaki. Only a break in the clouds allowed the bomb to be dropped, Sweeney said.
"His motto was that the best defense was a strong offense," Sweeney's son, Joseph told The Patriot Ledger for its Saturday editions. "He was very proud of the United States military and he loved the Marines because they took all the islands for him."
Charles Sweeney came from a family of Marines. Three of his brothers and two sons were in the Marine Corps.
Sweeney was a Milton resident and a graduate of North Quincy High School who traced his passion for flying to a local airfield. He became a brigadier general in 1956, at the time, the youngest man in the Air Force to reach that rank. He retired in 1976.
In April, Sweeney's co-pilot on the Nagasaki bombing run, Fred Olivi, died at age 82 in the Chicago suburb of Lemont.
No information was immediately available Saturday on funeral services for Sweeney or his survivors.
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Topic: Pilot of Bock's Car is Dead (Read 1079 times)