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Claude Eatherly

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Claude Eatherly (born in, Texas) was the pilot of the weather reconnaissance aircraft Straight Flush used to aid in the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, August 6th 1945, and Nagasaki, August 9th 1945.


Claude Eatherly piloted Straight Flush, one of seven planes that took part in the Hiroshima mission. It flew to the Japanese city of Hiroshima to report on weather conditions. It departed Tinian Island at approximately 1:30 on the morning of August 6, 1945, a little more than an hour ahead of the Enola Gay.

Major Eatherly was one of the few members of the U.S.A.F. 509th Compostite Bomb group, that took part in both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki missions.

In later life, Eatherly was arrested for forgery, breaking into a Texas post office, and questioned about a string of armed robberies. He drifted between Veterans' Hospitals and jail. Bearing the burden of being the person who selected the targets of the atomic bombs is seen by some as the reason for Eatherly's later mental collapse.


Awards and Decorations


Arrests and Convictions


http://www.childrenofthemanhattanproject.org/COLLECTIONS/CG-JPAP/Pages-2/CGP-JPAP-189.htm

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