Nuclear Museum Logo
Nuclear Museum Logo

National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

William B. Downey

ChaplainTinian Island

Hiroshima MissionWendover, UT
509th Composite GroupHiroshima MissionManhattan Project VeteranMilitary Veteran
Chaplain Bill Downey Delivers Sermon at Protestant Victory Service Listen to William B. Downey’s Oral History on Voices of the Manhattan Project

Captain William Downey served as the Protestant chaplain for the 509th Composite Group and led the crew of the Enola Gay in prayer before they departed for Hiroshima. Throughout his life, Downey maintained a relationship with the members of the group.

William Downey. Courtesy of the Joseph Papalia Collection.

Related Profiles

M.L. Smith

Hanford, WA

C. F. Chambers

Tinian Island

C. F. Chambers served in the 390th Air Service Group.

Ernest O. Lawrence

University of California, Berkeley

Ernest O. Lawrence (1901-1958) was an American scientist and 1939 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics for his invention of the cyclotron.

Garrett Hagan

Oak Ridge, TN

Hagan worked in the United States Engineer District Office.