Charles Sweeney was born on December 27, 1919, in Lowell, Massachusetts. He enlisted in the Aviation Cadet Program of the U.S. Army Air Corps on April 28, 1941, and was commissioned a 2d Lt and awarded his pilot wings on December 12, 1941. Sweeney served at the Jefferson Proving Grounds in Indiana from December 1941 to July 1943, and then as a test pilot at Eglin Field, Florida, from July 1943 to June 1944. He then transferred to Grand Island, Nebraska, where he served as a B-29 Superfortress instructor pilot until being selected for the Atomic Bomb Project in September 1944, and transferring to Wendover AAF, Utah. He joined the 509th Composite Group in December 1944 and was named commander of the 320th Troop Carrier Squadron in January 1945. Maj Sweeney next became commander of the 393rd Bomb Squadron in May 1945, and deployed with the 509th to Tinian Island in June 1945. He dropped the second atomic bomb "Fat Man" on Nagasaki, Japan, on August 9, 1945, from a B-29 named "Bockscar". He transferred to Roswell AAF, New Mexico, in November 1945, and trained crews for the atomic bomb tests in the Pacific. Col Sweeney left active duty on November 10, 1946, and served in the Officers Reserve Corps of the Air Corps until November 15, 1947, when he joined the Massachusetts Air National Guard. He served as Director of Operations, Chief of Staff, and Commander of the 102nd Air Defense Wing (later redesignated the 102nd Tactical Fighter Wing) until June 1963, when he became Deputy Chief of Staff of the Massachusetts Air National Guard. During this time, he was activated with the 102nd and served in Europe during the Berlin Crisis from October 1961 to August 1962. Gen Sweeney was made Chief of Staff in October 1967, and he retired from the Massachusetts Air National Guard as its Commander on December 27, 1979. He died on July 16, 2004, and was buried at the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne, Massachusetts.