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MAYODAN - Generations have grown up reading about the day the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb.

But it was only recently that Asheboro Airman John McGlohon received credit for taking a photo from his B-29 airplane that showed the huge mushroom cloud rising over Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945.

McGlohon recounted his story in a videotaped interview played July 3 during the fifth annual “God Bless America Day” at Woodbine Baptist Church.

The event drew several hundred people.

“Over the years, I have talked about this,” McGlohon said,  “I’ve had some people question it. ... At times, I doubted it myself.”

But a North Carolina researcher, Ken Samuelson, spent years tracking down information that proved McGlohon’s crew was indeed over Hiroshima that day.

“Our crew did take these pictures, looking straight down on top of the atomic bomb,” McGlohon said.

He said he was not extraordinary for his role in the war.

“We were doing the job assigned to us,” he said.

His health kept him from attending the service, but church members videotaped his account.

McGlohon sent a thank you letter to the church for the recognition, which he wrote is “undeserved but appreciated.”

“If he would have been 10 seconds later ... (the mushroom cloud) would have risen to the height of the plane and killed them all,” said Marilyn Swinson, who organized the event.

McGlohon now gets credit for the photo on display in a Texas aviation museum.

Swinson brought the idea of a “God Bless America Day” to her church after seeing a similar ceremony at her son’s church in Concord. Swinson said it is a natural fit to thank God for his blessings while recognizing the service of veterans.

“We’re trying to reach out to let them know how much we appreciate them,” she said.

The church filled its hallway with pictures, medals and newspaper accounts as a memorial for Mayodan residents and family members who served in the military. Some photos dated to the Civil War.

The memorial included a photocopy of McGlohon’s shot of Hiroshima.

Every year, the contributions have grown, said David Bowman, 47, a church member from Madison. He brought photos of family members who served in the Civil War, World Ware II and Vietnam War.

This year’s service included recognition of Marine Col. J. Shelton Scales of Martinsville, Va. He is one of the three last surviving battalion commanders who served on Iwo Jima.

He lamented that such a technologically savvy world still resorts to war to solve differences.

“Why can’t we settle it peacefully?” he wondered.

Swinson read from her soon-to-be released book “Scars of War,” which chronicles the experiences of Mayodan veterans.

She recounted part of the tale of one veteran who survived the Bataan Death March, where about 78,000 American and Filipino soldiers were marched across the Philippines during WWII. Those who survived — about 11,000 were killed or died during the six-day, more than 60-mile march — became prisoners of war.

At the end of the service, everyone filed outside where the National Guard’s 732nd Unit, Forward Support Company in Reidsville concluded the ceremony with a 21-gun salute and taps.

Bob Porter stood with his hand raised in a military salute.

“I just don’t have the words,” said Porter, 83, a Mayodan resident and Air Force veteran. He served during the Korean and Vietnam wars. “You could not be here and it not be special.”

Gwynne Kallam, 40, of Stoneville sees the annual ceremony as both a church outreach and a chance to educate. She brought her two sons, Richard, 10, and Houston, 7.

“This gives them a taste of where we’ve come as a country,” Kallam said. “If we don’t remember this, I think as a race of people we’re prone to make the same mistakes.”

Contact Jennifer Fernandez at 373-7064 or jennifer.fernandez@news-record.com