Fuchs

One of my grandfather, Nathan Fuchs’, proudest moments was seeing his name on the WWII Veteran Wall of Honor in Eisenhower Park, on Long Island. Now 87, he lives on Long Island with his wife, my grandma Sally. I knew he could talk all day about the war, so when I went to interview him I expected a lot of great details. He did not disappoint me. My grandpa Nat was so enthusiastic about helping me that he actually sent me a copy of every single photo he had taken during his service! He served for 3 ½ years in the U.S. Air Force.

Joining the War/Training:

At just 19 years of age, Nathan Fuchs received a letter “of greeting” from the government telling him that his services would be required in the armed forces. First, though, he attended Brooklyn College and majored in teaching, specifically English and Physical Education. On December 23rd, 1942, at the age of 21, he joined the Air Force. He was sent to Camp Upton, N.Y. where he trained and became a Private. Nathan was then transferred to a Non Commission Officers Physical Training Instructing Group for people who exhibited leadership skills. A college football star, Nathan was chosen to be a Military Occupation Specialty Training Officer for physical fitness. He spent one year in Greensboro, N.C. training Air Cadets who were shipped off all around the globe. My grandfather then went to Officer Candidate School to become a 2nd Lieutenant. He was a “90-day wonder,” which meant a civilian who learned in 90 days what a West Point graduate learned in four years. Nathan was then assigned to the 20th Air Force’s B29 group, and sent to the Pacific.

The Islands:

Nathan’s time in the Pacific was spent on many islands, like Guam, Saipan, Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Tinian. These islands were very important to the United States's strategy of "Island Hopping." The plan was to gain control of specific strategic islands, one after another, until Japan was in reach of American bomber planes (Island). Nathan spent the most time on Tinian, engineering runways that had to be exactly 3 miles long and patrolling the island. He, along with other men, patrolled the caves and tropical forests. Nathan said, “Whenever we heard a shot or a scream, we were instructed to shoot. We didn’t know if it was our own men shooting or a screaming bird, but we shot at them.” As many times as he heard fighting, he only witnessed real horror once. He saw “Japanese men sprayed with fire from hoses, burning up.” It was a terrible sight. American "fire bombs," containing the deadly chemical mixture called Napalm, had been dropped on the Japanese soldiers from low-flying planes. These bombs were often used on Tinian Island to burn forests, but they were also devastating to soldiers (Harwood).

While my grandfather was stationed on Tinian, many high-ranking officers and important people suddenly began to arrive on the Island. At first, the soldiers didn’t know what was going on but they were eventually told that the world’s first atomic bomb had been shipped there in two parts and it was to leave Tinian in a B29 Superfortress plane. The reason Tinian was chosen was because it was roughly 1,500 miles from Japan, which is the length a B29 can fly without stopping to refuel. Also, Tinian was home to North Field, the world’s largest Air Force base at the time (Tinian).

The B29 Superfortress:

The B29 Superfortress was the largest type of plane flown in World War II. It had four propellers. About 3,900 B29’s were built, but only 17 were modified to carry atomic weapons (Sherrow). My grandfather was fortunate enough to fly 15 missions in B29 planes. He was a navigator, and was able to use a lot of special equipment to keep in touch with the Major or Colonel in charge of the mission. Also, when crew members were injured by anti-aircraft fire, he took over as the operator of a 50-caliber machine gun. He described using the machine guns as “scary, ” because they were so powerful and dangerous to operate. Nathan remembered that the B29’s used to drop the two atom bombs were called “Enola Gay” and “Bocks Car.” He also mentioned that the “Enola Gay” was named after the mother of its pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets Jr. Colonel Tibbets was part of the 509th Composite Group, which was made up of men specially qualified to use atomic weapons (Fact). My grandfather called him "a very good man."

The Decision to Use Atomic Bombs:

In the $2 billion Manhattan Project, two atomic weapons were developed by hundreds of scientists working together over a long period of time (Sherrow). Such weapons were used as a way to end the war in the Pacific. Without using atomic weapons, it has been argued that about 750,000 allied soldiers would have had to invade Japan, and many more lives would have been lost. If over 200,000 people were killed during the invasion of the tiny island of Okinawa, nobody could have been sure how many would have died had a larger invasion occurred (Island). Nathan Fuchs could have been among those casualties. He said, when asked whether he supported the use of the bombs, “I felt it was very good because I didn’t want to see thousands upon thousands of my soldier friends, my buddies, being hurt. If the atomic bomb was not used, we would have had to, of course, attack them [Japan].” However, not everyone shared his way of thinking. Many opposed the use of the bombs, thinking that Japan was ready to surrender anyway and that such drastic measures were unnecessary. Even some scientists working on the Manhattan Project had doubts about actually using the bombs.

When it came down to the final decision, U.S. President Harry Truman was in favor of the plan. His decision followed a meeting of many powerful leaders, called the Potsdam Conference. The Conference took place near Berlin, from July 17th to August 2nd, 1945. The leaders of the Allied countries agreed that they wanted an unconditional surrender from Japan, since the war in Europe had already ended in May. The United States was the only country in possession of a weapon powerful enough to guarantee this surrender. However, a plan to invade Japan was still devised because nobody knew for sure what the actual effects of the bombs would be on Japan and the morale of the country. Earlier non-atomic bombings had killed hundreds of thousands and brought on hardly any reaction from Japan. The invasion plan was never actually used because atomic weapons produced the desired reaction (Harry).

“Little Boy” and “Fat Man”:

Two atomic bombs were built for use in Japan in WWII. The first one was delivered to Tinian, as my grandfather said, in two parts. It was a uranium bomb, called “Little Boy.” “Little Boy,” however, was not so little. It weighed roughly 9,000 lbs. The second bomb weighed 10,000 lbs and was called “Fat Man.” “Fat Man” had a plutonium core, and scientists were much less sure of its effects than those of the uranium bomb. “Fat Man” was much more powerful than “Little Boy.” Little Boy was dropped on Hiroshima from the Enola Gay on Aug. 6th, 1945. Three days later, Fat Man was dropped from Bock’s Car on the city of Nagasaki. Its original target was Kokura, but the location was changed to Nagasaki due to a thick cloud cover over the city (Burr). Tens of thousands of people were killed by the explosions, and thousands more died later due to exposure to radiation left behind. The blasts were devastating and the heat they generated was unimaginable. One mile from Hiroshima, the air temperature was hot enough to set wood on fire. Human bodies were literally vaporized and buildings were destroyed. Nathan Fuchs flew over the bomb sites afterwards with Photographic units that were documenting the destruction. He called it “a horrible scene, houses were literally melted” (Sherrow).

The Japanese Surrender:

As devastating as the bombs were to Japan, they achieved the goal of ending the war. An Aug. 9th my grandfather and his fellow soldiers heard the Emperor of Japan broadcast over the radio that they were to stop fighting immediately. On Sept. 2nd, 1945, the Japanese officially surrendered, ending World Wr II. Nathan, along with thousands of other military personnel from all the allied countries, stood aboard the U.S.S. Missouri on that fateful day. They witnessed the surrender as Japanese men, carrying roses, stepped in front of the crowd. He remembers seeing General MacArthur, with his “big corncob pipe.” World War II was officially over, but Nathan stayed in the Army Reserves until he was honorably discharged on Feb. 8th, 1954.

After The War:

At home in Brooklyn at last, Nathan taught Junior High School, eventually becoming an assistant principal and principal. He married Sally on April 5th, 1954 and they had three sons. The middle son is my father, Michael Fuchs. Today, Nathan has four grandchildren, two of whom live nearby on Long Island and my brother and I, whom he gets to see less often. Towards the end of our interview he told me, “Those of us who came back were really not the heroes, but those of us who came back just happened to be lucky and got married, had children, grandchildren, but the 18, 19, 20 and 21-year –olds who remained behind and were either killed or lost, they were the real heroes. Those who came back were lucky. These are the guys who never came back, they were the real heroes of the war.” He also added a few more words of wisdom, saying, “I think that military training is good for every child, every person.” Today, he loves to wear a hat that says “WWII B29 Superbomber” on it and enjoys telling war stories to anyone who asks.

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