Richard F. Cannon

Radar Operator on Big StinkNagasaki Mission

Tinian IslandWendover, UT

509th Composite GroupManhattan Project VeteranMilitary VeteranNagasaki Mission

Richard F. Cannon served as a corporal in the 393rd Bombardment Squadron. He was assigned as the radar operator in the Necessary Evil, but flew in the Big Stink in the 1945 bombing mission on Nagasaki.

C-14 Crew on Tinian. Cannon is kneeling in the middle row, fourth from the left. Photo courtesy of Richard H. Campbell and the Janet Chapman Pence Collection from the Air Force Museum.

Related Profiles

Joel S. Canby

Tinian Island

Joel S. Canby served in the 509th Headquarters and Base Services Squadron.

Joseph G. Hamilton

University of California, Berkeley

Joseph Gilbert “Joe” Hamilton (1907-1957) was a physician who directed biomedical research at the Berkeley site of the Manhattan Project.

J. W. Adams

Oak Ridge, TN

Omar C. Strickland

Tinian Island

Omar C. Strickland served as a technical sergeant in the 393rd Bombardment Squadron. He was the regularly assigned radio operator for the Big Stink, and he and his crew were later reassigned to Luke the Spook.