Morris R. Jeppson
| 2LT Morris R. Jeppson | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
June 23, 1922 Logan, Utah |
| Died | March 30, 2010 (aged 87) Las Vegas, Nevada |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Service/branch | United States Army Air Forces |
| Rank | Second Lieutenant |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | |
| Other work | Physicist |
Morris Richard Jeppson (June 23, 1922 – March 30, 2010) was born in Logan, Utah and was a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. He served as assistant weaponeer on the Enola Gay, which dropped the first atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945.
Jeppson studied physics at the University of Nevada, Reno. After enlisting in the United States Army Air Corps in 1942 at the age of 19 and basic training in Florida, he received electrical engineering training at Yale University, Harvard University and MIT. He then worked on bomb firing mechanisms with Los Alamos scientists at Wendover Air Force Base, Utah.
Second Lieutenant Jeppson, along with then Captain William "Deak" Parsons of the U.S. Navy were responsible for arming the atomic bomb "Little Boy" on the Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber during the flight from Tinian to Japan. The bomb was protected from premature in-flight detonation by inserting three safety plugs into the electrical connection from its internal battery to the firing mechanism. This was designed to prevent a firing voltage from reaching the mechanism. Each plug was about the size and shape of a car cigarette lighter (approximately three inches in length), with a green cap for the safety plug and a red cap for the arming plug. Jeppson's role was to climb into the bomb bay and remove the three green safety plugs from the bomb and to replace them with the three red plugs just before the aircraft climbed to high altitude close the target area, a job that later caused controversy.
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