Jacob Beser
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| Jacob Beser | |
|---|---|
| March 15, 1922 – June 16, 1992 (aged 70) | |
| Place of birth |  Baltimore, Maryland |
| Place of death | Pikesville, Maryland |
| Allegiance |  United States of America |
| Service/branch | United States Army Air Forces |
| Rank | Lieutenant |
| Unit | 509th Composite Group |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | Distinguished Flying Cross Silver Star Air Medal |
Jacob Beser, (March 15, 1921 – June 16, 1992), was a lieutenant in the United States Army Air Forces who served during World War II. Beser was the radar specialist aboard the Enola Gay on Aug. 6, 1945, when it dropped the "Little Boy" atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Three days later, Beser was aboard Bock's Car when "Fat Man" was dropped on Nagasaki. He was the only person to have crewed the attack aircraft of both missions.[1]
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[edit] Background
Jacob Beser grew up in Baltimore, Maryland where he attended the Baltimore City College high school graduating in 1938. Beser then studied mechanical engineering at Johns Hopkins University but dropped out the day after Pearl Harbor to enlist in the Army Air Forces. He was Jewish and extremely restless to get into the fight against Hitler.[2] Because of his training and educational background Beser was sent to Los Alamos and worked on the Manhattan Project in the area of weapons firing and fusing.
[edit] The Mission
The unit that dropped the atomic bombs, 509th Composite Group, was activated at Wendover Army Air Field, Utah, August. 6, 1945. The crews trained with practice bombs called “pumpkins” because of their size and shape, which was the same as “Fat Man” atomic bomb. The 509th deployed to Tinian in the Marianas in May 1945. It was a self-contained unit, with personnel strength of about 1,770 soldiers, mechanics, specialists and aviators. It consisted of the 393rd Bomber Squadron, the 320th Troop Carrier Squadron, the 390th Air Service Group, the 603rd Air Engineering Squadron, the 1027th Air Materiel Squadron, the 1395th Military Police Company, and the First Ordnance Squadron (in charge of handling the atomic bombs).[3]
On August 6, 1945, the first atomic bomb to be used in warfare was dropped over the Japanese city of Hiroshima, instantly killing 90,000 civilians and military personnel. The thirteen-hour mission to Hiroshima began at 0245 Tinian time. By the time the Enola Gay rendezvoused with its accompanying B-29s at 0607 over Iwo Jima, the group was three hours from the target area. Little Boy was to detonate over the city triggered by radar calculations that measured the bomb's distance from the ground as it fell. Beser's job was to monitor those calculations and also to ensure that no other radars interfered with the Little Boy's radar frequency. Such interference could have caused a premature detonation. The bomb fell away from the aircraft at 0915:17 Tinian time. Beser never saw the real-time detonation of the bomb but did observe the explosion on radar and witnessed the intense light generated by its detonation.
He is survived by his wife Sylvia, their four sons, and nine grandchildren.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Goldfarb, Bruce. Over Hiroshima, Missing the Target by 500 Feet Was Kind of Academic. Retrieved on 2007-06-14.
- ^ Commentary: A pair of Baltimore boys who became World War II heroes | Daily Record, The (Baltimore) | Find Articles at BNET.com
- ^ The Smithsonian and the Enola Gay: The Crew. the AirForce Association. Retrieved on 2007-06-14.
[edit] Additional reading
Also see: The Enola Gay: the Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb (1980)(TV)[1]
Hiroshima: Hubertus Hoffmann meets the only U.S. Officer on both A-Missions and one of his Victims
