Las Vegan will receive American Legion honor

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Tuesday, Dec. 3, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Morris Jepson, a Las Vegan who was a crew member on the Enola Gay bomber, which dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, will receive the American Legion's highest honor Dec. 14.

The 9 a.m. ceremony at American Legion Post 8, 737 Veterans Memorial Drive, is part of a nationwide effort to honor members of the famed bomber crew.

Jepson will receive the Distinguished Service Medallion from Department Commander John Stingerie.

The Aug. 6, 1945, mission -- along with the bombing of Nagasaki three days later -- forced Japan to finally surrender. Jepson was the assistant bomb specialist on the Hiroshima flight.

The Enola Gay crew was honored at the 1995 American Legion National Convention in Indianapolis, where Paul Tibbets, commander of the flight, ceremoniously accepted the medals for all the crew members.

Since then, efforts have been made to locate all the crew members or their next of kin for presentations in their own communities.