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National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

Charles F. McKnight

Commander on Laggin’ DragonNagasaki Mission

Hiroshima MissionTinian IslandWendover, UT
509th Composite GroupHiroshima MissionManhattan Project VeteranMilitary VeteranNagasaki Mission
McEachern Yearbook photo

Charles F. McKnight served as a captain in the 393rd Bombardment Squadron. He was regularly assigned to the B-29 Top Secret. He participated in the mission to bomb Hiroshima as the airplane commander of the Big Stink, which was the backup strike plane on Iwo Jima. He flew as the airplane commander of the Laggin’ Dragon, the weather reconnaissance plane, during the mission to Nagasaki.

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