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

B.T. Rossiter

Hanford, WA

Etta Wooward

Los Alamos, NM

Etta Woodward was a project worker at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project.

E. E. Swensson

Hanford, WA

George H. Conen

Tinian Island

Conen served as a first lieutenant in the 393rd Bombardment Squadron. He participated in the mission to bomb Hiroshima as a flight engineer for the Top Secret.