War's End
An Eyewitness Account of America's Last Atomic Mission
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
On August 9, 1945, on the tiny island of Tinian in the South Pacific, a twenty-five-year-old American Army Air Corps major named Charles W. Sweeney climbed aboard a B-29 Superfortress in command of his first combat mission, one devised specifically to bring a long and terrible war to a necessary conclusion. In the belly of his bomber, Bock's Car, was a newly developed, fully armed weapon that had never been tested in a combat situation. It was a weapon capable of a level of destruction never before dreamed of in the history of the human race, a bomb whose terrifying aftershock would ultimately determine the direction of the twentieth century and change the world forever.
The last military officer to command an atomic mission, Major General Charles W. Sweeney has the unique distinction of having been an integral part of both the Hiroshima and the Nagasaki bombing runs. Now updated with a new epilogue from the co-author, his book is an extraordinary chronicle of the months of careful planning and training; the setbacks, secrecy, and snafus; and the nerve-shattering final seconds and the astonishing aftermath of what is arguably the most significant single event in modern history: the employment of an atomic weapon during wartime.
The last military officer to command an atomic mission, Major General Charles W. Sweeney has the unique distinction of having been an integral part of both the Hiroshima and the Nagasaki bombing runs. His book is an extraordinary chronicle of the months of careful planning and training; the setbacks, secrecy, and snafus; and the nerve-shattering final seconds and the astonishing aftermath of what is arguably the most significant single event in modern history: the employment of an atomic weapon during wartime.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sweeney begins this riveting chronicle by reminiscing about his childhood days, when school officials would drag in "some poor old guys" to talk about what they had done during the Spanish-American War. "Now I'm the old guy doing the telling," Sweeney says--and what a story he has to tell. As a 25-year-old Army Air Corps captain, Sweeney was the only pilot to fly on both U.S. atomic missions against Japan, over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Here, he does a fine job of capturing the spirited atmosphere of life on a wartime flight line. Writing with a wit that is sometimes lacking in military memoirs, he presents the dramatic events surrounding the development of the awesomely powered B-29 bomber, which would eventually deliver the atomic weapons. His portrayal of legendary general Curtis LeMay, who would later become Air Force chief of staff, is masterful. The bombing missions themselves are relayed with tension and drama, including the startling revelation that the men delivering the first bomb did not know if they would be able to fly clear of the explosion. Emphasizing that he hopes that such destructive weapons are never again deployed, Sweeney argues forcefully that the decision to use the weapons against Japan was the correct one. This memoir should be required reading for all students of WWII. Photos not seen by PW.