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

Alfred Simon

Chicago, IL

Alfred Simon was a research associate at the Metallurgical Laboratory in Chicago during the Manhattan Project.

W. S. Massey Jr.

Hanford, WA

C. E. Benton

Hanford, WA

Carl Helmholz

University of California, Berkeley

Carl Helmholz (1915-2003) was an American physicist involved with the Manhattan Project.  Helmholz was born on May 24, 1915 in Evanston, Illinois.