Kermit Beahan

Kermit King Beahan (August 9, 1918 – March 9, 1989) was a career officer in the United States Air Force and its predecessor United States Army Air Forces during World War II. He was the bombardier on the crew flying the Boeing B-29 Superfortress Bockscar on August 9, 1945 (his 27th birthday), that dropped the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. He also participated in the first atomic mission that bombed Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Flying as part of the crew of The Great Artiste which was a reference to him, purportedly because he could "hit a pickle barrel with a bomb from 30,000 feet" or he was "good with the fairer sex," his aircraft acted as the blast instrumentation support aircraft for the mission. Beahan attended Rice University on a football scholarship during the 1930s. He completed his B.S. degree in 1940. In July 1940, Beahan joined the Army Air Forces as an aviation cadet but washed out of pilot training, becoming a bombardier instead. He was assigned to the 97th Bombardment Group and took part in the first B-17 raids in Europe by Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses. He flew 13 missions over Europe, 17 missions over North Africa, and five credited combat missions in the Pacific with the 509th Composite Group (including the Nagasaki sortie). He was shot down and crash-landed four times (twice in Europe and North Africa). September 7th, 1942 - Airplane was damaged beyond repair by fighters and flak, barely managing to return to its home base with wounded and killed personnel aboard. October 2, 1942 - Airplane was severely damaged by flak and fighters, barely returning to friendly territory with severely wounded personnel aboard. Dec 18th, 1942 - Airplane was damaged by flak and continuous attack by fighters causing a crash landing near...