His longevity might single McNabb out for recognition among the 16.1 million Americans who served in World War II. But McNabb, ever humble and modest of his service and achievements, earned his spot on front pages around the country shortly after the war came to a close in 1945. Though in his telling of the oft-reported tale, it was a matter of chance, not heroics, for the then-23-year-old fighter-bomber pilot from Newtown, Pa.

McNabb, as usual, flew “tail-end Charlie” as the last F6F Hellcat fighter-bomber in his squadron on an equally hot August day 70 years ago on yet another of his 33 bombing missions in World War II. Two days earlier, he had completed his 1000th hour of flight.

Because he was the last plane of the 16 flying in the mission, including 12 bombers and four photography planes, he was also the last to fire, the last to drop the bomb his plane carried. That was a 500-pound bomb that would turn out to be the very last one dropped on Japan in World War II.

“It was 70 years ago this week — Aug. 15, 1945, in Japan, Aug. 14 back in the states — when I put a 500-pound period to the most destructive war in history by dropping World War II’s last bomb,” he explained while turning a timeworn scrapbook for a better view of news clippings and black and white photographs. “I wasn’t thinking of last bombs or anything that grand as our flight of Hellcats thundered off the carrier USS Ticonderoga and headed towards Japan, though, I can tell you that.”