Thomas Ferebee
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| Col. Thomas Wilson Ferebee
United States Air Force |
|
|---|---|
| November 9, 1918 – March 16, 2000 (aged 81) | |
 Van Kirk,Tibbets, and Thomas Ferebee (Right) |
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| Place of birth | Mocksville, North Carolina |
| Place of death | Windermere, Florida |
| Allegiance |  United States of America |
| Service/branch |  United States Air Force |
| Years of service | 1942–1970 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Unit | 509th Composite Group |
| Battles/wars | World War II Vietnam War |
| Awards | Silver Star Air Medal |
Thomas Ferebee (November 9, 1918-- March 16, 2000) was the bombardier aboard the B-29, Enola Gay, that dropped the atomic bomb, "Little Boy", on Hiroshima.
[edit] Biography
Thomas Wilson Ferebee was born on a farm outside Mocksville, North Carolina, as the third of eleven children. In 1935, at age 17, he attended Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, NC. Talented in athletics since childhood, he earned awards in track, basketball, and football. After training for a small position with the Boston Red Sox and not making the team, he joined the Army. A knee injury kept him from service in the infantry but he was accepted into flight training. After two years of flight school, Ferebee was assigned as a bombardier in the European theater, completing more than 60 bombing missions. In the summer of 1944, he was recruited by Colonel Paul Tibbets to be part of the 509th Composite Group which was formed to deliver the atomic bomb. After the war, he remained in the Air Force until the 1970s. After he retired from the Air Force, he worked as a real estate agent in and around Orlando, Florida. Like Tibbets, Ferebee never expressed regret for his role in the bombing, saying, "it was a job that had to be done."[1]
He remained in the military in the years after World War II, eventually serving in Vietnam and retiring in the rank of colonel. He died in Windermere, Florida home at the age of 81.[2] He was survived by his wife Mary Ann Ferebee of over 19 years who donated his collection of military documents and objects to the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh.[3]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Enola Gay by Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan Witts, epilogue
- ^ Thomas Ferebee
- ^ "Ferebee's collection at history museum", Salisbury Post, 2007-03-17. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
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