AdamSmith Posted July 29, 2014 Posted July 29, 2014 Timely, with EXPAT's post on new TV series built around the Manhattan Project. Theodore Van Kirk, last crew member of Enola Gay, dies in US aged 93 The last member of the American crew that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima during the second world war died in Georgia Associated Press in Atlanta Tuesday 29 July 2014 17.47 EDT The last surviving member of the US crew that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima has died. Theodore Van Kirk died Monday of natural causes at the retirement home where he lived in Georgia, his son Tom Van Kirk said. He was 93. Van Kirk was the navigator of the Enola Gay, a B-29 Superfortress aircraft that dropped Little Boy the worlds first atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. The bomb killed 140,000 in Hiroshima. Van Kirk was 24-years-old at the time. Tom Van Kirk said he and his siblings are very fortunate to have had such a wonderful father who remained active until the end of his life. "I know he was recognized as a war hero, but we just knew him as a great father," he said in a telephone interview with the Associated Press on Tuesday. In a 2005 interview with the AP, VanKirk said his second world war experience showed that wars and atomic bombs dont settle anything, and he'd like to see the weapons abolished. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/29/enola-gay-atomic-bomb-crew-van-kirk-dies-93 Quote
AdamSmith Posted July 29, 2014 Author Posted July 29, 2014 Reminiscence by Van Kirk from 2010: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/may/20/hiroshima-enola-gay-last-crew-member Quote
Members RA1 Posted July 30, 2014 Members Posted July 30, 2014 It is too bad that this event in WWII has had so many ups and downs. At various times the crew has been vilified and even the Enola Gay has been vilified. Whether we personally agree with this undertaking or not, it is a part of history and the main person to blame or honor is Harry Truman. The buck stopped there. It was a task with a great many unknowns and with a good deal of risk. The technological and military aspects should be recognized, if nothing else. I happened to be in Oshkosh at the last fly-in during which they portrayed the attack. A B-29 flew down the flight line and simulated dropping a bomb shortly after which a mushroom cloud appeared on the ground. It was a relatively small show and meant to honor the technology and military aspects of this even some 30 years afterward. The Japanese complained bitterly and this event was cancelled, never to be seen since. Pity. My personal opinion was in no way was this meant to dishonor the Japanese or have them remember an unpleasant happening. Should we stir up bad feelings about the Japanese when the attack on Pearl Harbor is portrayed in a movie? Most of the current citizens of both the US and Japan were not alive then and are most willing to go forward, not backward. Thanks for the link. Best regards, RA1 Quote
Members boiworship Posted July 31, 2014 Members Posted July 31, 2014 Japan was ready to surrender before the bombs were dropped. Truman wanted to let Stalin know that we had the Bomb. Quote
AdamSmith Posted July 31, 2014 Author Posted July 31, 2014 Japan was ready to surrender before the bombs were dropped. Truman wanted to let Stalin know that we had the Bomb. General Groves explicitly said that before the bombing. But there was also serious thought among some of the Los Alamos scientists, among others, that this limited combat use on Japan would be essential to forestall future use. Past interesting threads on this topic: http://www.boytoy.com/forums/index.php?/topic/17477-the-day-after-trinity/ http://www.boytoy.com/forums/index.php?/topic/15118-hiroshima-was-it-necessary/ Quote
Members RA1 Posted July 31, 2014 Members Posted July 31, 2014 We did have a pretty good previous discussion, didn't we? Right or wrong, whatever we did has more or less worked since then, meaning there has been no nuclear war or even one nuclear bomb dropped in anger or widespread war for that matter. That certainly does not mean all of our world citizens have been good little boys and girls. Far from it. Plenty of them seem ready to start firing at the drop of an economic problem, religious problem, water problem, energy problem, food problem, jobs problem and on and on. We don't seem to be able to get a grip on how to moderate ego and greed with initiative and furthering the human race, all of which are closely related characteristics. Best regards, RA1 Quote
