Letter to the Editor: Old Mocksville High football injury paves the way for famous bombardier

Published 10:58 am Tuesday, August 5, 2025

By Kim Craven
For the Enterprise

On Sunday, Sept. 21, 2003, I visited my mom and dad, Melza and CC Craven, at their home in Mocksville. That day turned out to be an exceptionally educational one, and the following are excerpts of the notes I made immediately after the visit.
When I arrived, Dad mentioned that his friend Bill had called and wanted to come by with his wife to visit. Mom and Dad agreed and welcomed their visit.
Dad seemed excited about seeing Bill. Each commented about how they grew up in large families. Dad had six brothers and three sisters. At this time, he is the only surviving brother and Carolyn Craven Thompson and Martha Lee Craven Short are the only surviving sisters. I believe I heard Bill say he grew up in a family of 11 children. Bill said anytime a pickup football or baseball game occurred, their two families made up about half of the players.
Bill’s wife, Ophelia, mentioned that she had taught school for a long time. She said she taught from 1944-1978, with a few breaks. She liked teaching in Cooleemee and Farmington and second grade was her favorite.
A mention was made about athletics which reminded her of a story about another teacher at Cooleemee. An athletic student was not doing well enough to pass, but the teacher was instructed to give them a passing grade. The teacher, a lady, said she would, but that she would also give a passing grade to every student. Bill mentioned that student’s name, but Ophelia quickly said the name didn’t matter, and she finished her story. She had attended a school with one teacher for seven grades. Fifty students weren’t considered too many for a teacher in the early 1900s, especially since most were well behaved … during class.
Bill and Dad began to tell old football stories from Mocksville High. Bill was first used as an offensive and defensive lineman. He told the coach he was going to quit if he didn’t become a running back. He got that job, but spent most of the time blocking for other runners. He made significant yardage the one time he got the ball. He said the crowd would yell “Give the ball to Bill.”
He then talked about one of his brothers, Joe, a football player who earned three letters at Lenoir-Rhyne, the only player to ever do so. He became a well-known and successful baseball coach. Joe was sick during this visit, and Dad mentioned they were close friends growing up.
Then Bill began to tell about another brother, Tom. Tom also played football and was a star player at Mocksville High. He said that in about 1940, word was received that a team from Cleveland (NC) had the strategy of taking out Mocksville’s best player, Tom. As Tom grabbed a pass, defenders hit him high and low, tearing ligaments in a knee. He did go on to play sports at Lees-McRae College and later tried out for the Boston Red Sox.
Tom joined the Army, wanting to be a fighter pilot. The Air Force did not yet exist. But he didn’t do well in pilot school, having trouble operating a rudder from that high school football injury. He became a bombardier and completed many missions in Germany, making friends with Paul (Tibbits) and Theodore (“Dutch” Van Kirk). A while later, Tom got a call from Paul wanting to get the three back together for strategic bombing. Since the war was becoming focused in the South Pacific, Tom was sent there.
Paul flew the disguised plane while Theodore provided navigation. There were no fighter escorts, but two other bombers without bombs followed for technical support. There was not much to do until the time came: Theodore indicated they were close; Paul transferred flight controls to Tom, who was also in charge of the Norden bombsight; Tom identified the target and positioned the plane. Then the bomb was released at 8:15 a.m. Paul immediately took back control of the plane.
It was interesting that Tom could never become a military pilot because of his football injury, but for just a few minutes, he flew one of the most famous planes in history, the B-29 named Enola Gay, and dropped the most famous bomb in history, “Little Boy.”
It happened on Aug. 6, 1945.
This opportunity would have never happened if Davie County’s Tom Ferebee had not been injured playing football in Mocksville.