Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Two Personal Stories from the Mushroom Cloud
August 8th marks 80 years since the dawn of the atomic age. This is a story about two cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and two remarkable men: Jacob Beser and Tsutomu Yamaguchi. Beser, a First Lieutenant in the US Army Air Corps at the time, was the only crewmember aboard both planes that dropped the atomic bombs. Tsutomu Yamaguchi, meanwhile, is famously known as the only person officially recognized by the Japanese government to have survived both bombings.
The first bomb was dropped on August 6, 1945, at 8:15 a.m. local time, when the B-29 bomber Enola Gay released an atomic bomb called Little Boy over Hiroshima. Just three days later, on August 9 at 11:02 a.m., another B-29 named Bockscar dropped the second bomb, Fat Man, over Nagasaki. The Enola Gay is the name of the pilot Paul Tibbets’ mother, a name now forever tied to the first nuclear attack in history.
The planes used for these missions were specially modified B-29s, known as the Silverplate version. To carry the massive atomic bombs, their defensive guns were removed to lighten the load, and their bomb bays were redesigned. They also had more powerful engines, extra fuel tanks, and upgraded electrical and fuel systems, all designed to meet the unique challenges of delivering nuclear weapons.
These missions took off from Tinian Island in the Marianas, a strategic base captured from the Japanese earlier in the war. Tinian had been transformed into a high-security hub, with expanded airfields and specialized facilities for assembling and handling atomic bombs. Secure bunkers and restricted zones ensured that every step of the operation remained under tight control.
Jacob Beser, a mechanical engineer from Baltimore with a deep knowledge of radar and electronics, was chosen for the Manhattan Project. He helped develop the bomb’s radar detonation systems, crucial for making sure the bombs exploded at just the right altitude. Because of his expertise, Beser was then assigned to the 509th Composite Group on Tinian and played a vital role as the only person on both bombing missions. If a third mission targeting Koromo had taken place, Beser would have been the only crew member to fly all three. Koromo was the intended second target but was replaced by Nagasaki because of poor weather.
Tsutomu Yamaguchi was a naval engineer trained in naval architecture at the Japanese Navy’s technical school. He worked at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Nagasaki. On August 6, he was in Hiroshima inspecting a Mitsubishi shipyard when the first bomb exploded roughly three kilometers away. Miraculously, he survived despite severe burns and temporary deafness, largely thanks to his being inside a reinforced concrete building that absorbed much of the blast’s force. After returning home on August 9, Yamaguchi was telling coworkers about his experience when the second bomb detonated about two kilometers away.
After the war, Jacob Beser returned to civilian life and built a successful career at Westinghouse, working on radar and missile defense projects during the Cold War. He was married and raised a family but kept a low profile. In 1988, four years before he passed away at age 71, he published a memoir called Hiroshima and Nagasaki Revisited.
Tsutomu Yamaguchi went back to work at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries after the war. He and his wife, Hisako—who also survived the Nagasaki bombing—raised their children, though his wife faced health problems believed to be connected to radiation exposure. Yamaguchi retired in 1970 and spent his later years passionately advocating nuclear disarmament. Just before his death at age 93 in 2009, he was officially recognized as a nijū hibakusha, meaning a survivor of both atomic bombings.
In a surprising twist of fate, years after both men had retired, their former employers, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Westinghouse, joined forces in a peaceful nuclear energy development agreement. Even more touching is the friendship that blossomed between Yamaguchi’s granddaughter, Kosuzu Harada, and Beser’s grandson, Ari. Together, they co-wrote Tales Above and Below the Mushroom Cloud and are set to speak at the International Symposium for Peace in Hiroshima this August.
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