Pages 174-183 from Box 174 President's Secretary's Files

This is a press release from September 9, 1945, describing an eye-witness account of the atomic bomb mission to Nagasaki, Japan. The release discusses the assembly and loading of the atomic bomb, the preparation and briefing of the mission, the crew members and their roles, the flight to the target area, and the observation of the bomb's explosion. The account describes the intense light and blast of the explosion, the formation of a towering pillar of fire, and the subsequent mushroom cloud rising into the sky.