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National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

Roderick F. Arnold

Flight Engineer on The Great ArtisteNagasaki Mission

Tinian IslandWendover, UT
509th Composite GroupManhattan Project VeteranMilitary VeteranNagasaki Mission
Bockscar Original (C-13) Crew

Technical Sergeant Roderick F. Arnold (1917-1998) was a Flight Engineer assigned to the Bockscar’s original crew. He was a member of the 393rd Bombardment Squadron, a segment of the 509th Composite Group. Before the Nagasaki mission, a mechanical complication forced Major Sweeney and the crew of the Great Artiste to comandeer the Bockscar to carry Fat Man. During the Nagasaki Mission, Arnold flew as the Flight Engineer on the Great Artiste, which acted as an observation ship, along with the rest of the original Bockscar crew.

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