I don't want to hear any discussion of morality. Answer (1 of 2): The Hiroshima bomb, code-named Little Boy, also known as the Mk 1 Atomic Bomb, was a very heavy weapon, almost 10,000 lb. Three days later it flew again, this time towards Nagasaki, supporting the second atomic bomb drop with weather reconnaissance. The exhibit, 'The Crossroads: The End of World War II, the Atomic Bomb and the Cold War' was drafted by the Smithsonian's. "I remember the shock to our nation that all of this brought. This was the bomber's thirteenth mission and third combat mission, following raids on Kobe and Nagoya during the last eight days of July. Enola Gay became the center of a controversy at the Smithsonian Institution in 1994, when the museum put its fuselage on display as part of an exhibit commemorating the 50th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
I remember Pearl Harbor and all of the Japanese atrocities." He was a radarman on the Enola Gay and performed the same duties on Bockscar.īeser would later write that "No, I feel no sorrow or remorse for whatever small role I played. Paul Tibbets, the pilot of the B-29 bomber Enola Gay that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, died at his home in Columbus, Ohio after suffering a number of health problems. Jacob Beser would be the only one to see the aftermath of both explosions. The B-29 SuperfortressEnola Gay, piloted and commanded by Colonel. nuclear attack mission, on August 6, 1945.
9, when a B-29 called "Bockscar" dropped another atomic bomb on Nagasaki.Īrmy Air Forces 2nd Lt. Hiroshima was the primary target of the first U.S. The crew also hoped that the bomb would never be used again but it was, three days later on Aug. Such a terrible waste, such a loss of life." Theodore "Dutch" Van Kirk, of Northumberland, Pa., later said that "I honestly believe the use of the atomic bomb saved lives in the long run, but I pray no man will have to witness that sight again. Lewis during the final stages of World War II, it became the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb in warfare. troops who were then preparing for the invasion of Japan.Ĭapt. On 6 August 1945, piloted by Tibbets and Robert A. It had hastened the end of the war and saved the lives of U.S. Lewis, Caron and the others, however, would later say they had no regrets about dropping the bomb. "I honestly have the feeling of groping for words to explain this or I might say, my God, what have we done?" Everyone on the ship is actually dumbstruck even though we had expected something fierce." ''If I live a hundred years, I'll never quite get these few minutes out of my mind. He was keeping a log of the flight, scribbling on the backs of old War Department forms. It was about that time that Tibbets turned the airplane around, so that everybody could get a look at it." Flames in different spots would be springing up. "And fires, I could see fires spring up through this undercast, or whatever you would call it, that was covering the city. It looked like bubbling molasses, let's say, spreading out and running up into the foothills, just covering the whole city." I could see the city, and it was being covered with this low, bubbling mass. Touching on the early days of the Manhattan Project and the first inkling of an atomic bomb, investigative journalist Gordon Thomas and his writing partner Max Morgan-Witts take WWII enthusiasts through the training of the crew of the Enola Gay and the challenges faced by pilot Paul Tibbets.Ī must-listen audiobook that offers "minute-by-minute coverage of the critical periods" surrounding the mission, Enola Gay finally separates myth and reality from the planning of the flight to the moment over Hiroshima when the atomic age was born ( Library Journal)."As we got further away, I could see the city then, not just the mushroom, coming up.
From diplomatic moves behind the scenes to Japanese actions and the US Army Air Force's call to action, no detail is left untold. Wars End: an Eyewitness Account of Americas Last Atomic Mission. Painstakingly researched, the story behind the decision to send the Enola Gay to bomb Hiroshima is told through firsthand sources. The Enola Gay is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets. From the New York Times best-selling coauthors comes a "fascinating.unrivaled" history of the B-29 and its fateful mission to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima ( New York Times Book Review ).