Ferebee, then 26 and a veteran of 64 combat missions, was napping and initially did not hear the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets Jr., brief the crew about their top-secret mission. from Tinian Island in the western Pacific. The 12-man crew aboard the B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, took off for Hiroshima at 2 a.m. Army Air Corps bombardier and Mocksville native, dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. He is buried at the Lorraine American Cemetery in France.Įnola Gay Bombadier Thomas Ferebee of Mocksville While flying in pursuit of a German plane during the Battle of the Bulge, Preddy was accidentally shot down by friendly ground fire. In April 1944, his squadron received the P-51 Mustang, and Preddy named his the Cripes A’Mighty. He shot down his first plane in December 1943.
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After a training accident and a three-month recovery, he returned to the United States, and was eventually assigned to a squadron that was sent to Great Britain. In 1940, he joined the National Guard, and he received his wings in December 1941.
![crew of the enola gay bomber crew list crew of the enola gay bomber crew list](https://s3-ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com/psh-ex-ftnikkei-3937bb4/images/2/6/3/4/624362-8-eng-GB/20170806_enolagay_body.jpg)
The Army Air Corps accepted Preddy, placing him on a waiting list for a cadet class. He tried three times to become a naval pilot but was rejected because of health problems. Preddy was a barnstormer pilot before the war.
![crew of the enola gay bomber crew list crew of the enola gay bomber crew list](https://www.atomicarchive.com/media/photographs/tinian/media/bocks-car-crew.jpg)
Preddy Jr., the top P-51 Mustang ace during World War II, downed six planes on a single day, earning a Distinguished Service Cross-the nation’s second highest award-in the process. he Enola Gay and several members of its crew. The ground crew of the B-29 "Enola Gay" which atom-bombed Hiroshima, Japan.