Three days after Hiroshima, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.
The blast and its aftereffects killed 140,000 in Hiroshima. It seemed a lot longer than 43 seconds," VanKirk recalled. "I think everybody in the plane concluded it was a dud. They counted - one thousand one, one thousand two - reaching the 43 seconds they'd been told it would take for detonation and heard nothing. They didn't know whether the bomb would actually work and, if it did, whether its shockwaves would rip their plane to shreds. As the 9,000-pound bomb nicknamed "Little Boy" fell toward the sleeping city, he and his crewmates hoped to escape with their lives. He guided the bomber through the night sky, just 15 seconds behind schedule, he said. The mission went perfectly, VanKirk said in a 2005 interview. He was teamed with pilot Paul Tibbets and bombardier Tom Ferebee in Tibbets' fledgling 509th Composite Bomb Group for Special Mission No. He was 24 years old when he served as navigator on the Enola Gay, the B-29 Superfortress that dropped the first atomic bomb deployed in wartime over the Japanese city of Hiroshima on Aug. VanKirk flew nearly 60 bombing missions, but it was a single mission in the Pacific that secured him a place in history. Theodore VanKirk, also known as "Dutch," died Monday of natural causes at the retirement home where he lived in Stone Mountain, Ga., his son Tom VanKirk said. (AP Photo) HOPD Show More Show LessĪTLANTA - The last surviving member of the crew that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, hastening the end of World War II and forcing the world into the atomic age, has died in Georgia. Tom VanKirk says his 93-year-old father, the last surviving member of the Enola Gay crew, died at the retirement home where he lived in Georgia on Monday, July 28, 2014. At foreground left, seated at the corner of the table, is Capt. Army, the crew of the Enola Gay is debriefed in Tinian, Northern Mariana Islands after returning from their atomic bombing mission over Hiroshima, Japan. 6, 1945 file photo made available by the U.S. (AP Photo) HOPD Show More Show Less 5 of5 FILE - In this Aug. Tom Van Kirk says his 93-year-old father, the last surviving member of a crew that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, died in Stone Mountain, Ga. Army, the crew of the Enola Gay is debriefed in Tinian, Northern Mariana Islands after returning from their mission over Hiroshima, Japan. (AP Photo/Max Desfor) Max Desfor/STF Show More Show Less 4 of5 FILE - In this Aug. Tom VanKirk says his 93-year-old father, the last surviving member of the Enola Gay crew, died in Stone Mountain, Ga. atomic bombing mission against the Japanese city of Hiroshima. 6, 1945 file photo, the "Enola Gay" Boeing B-29 Superfortress lands at Tinian, Northern Mariana Islands after the U.S. Max Desfor/STF Show More Show Less 3 of5 FILE - In this Aug. (AP Photo/The Macon Telegraph, Beau Cabell, File) Beau Cabell/MBO Show More Show Less 2 of5 Theodore VanKirk guided the "Enola Gay" Boeing B-29 Superfortress to Tinian, Northern Mariana Islands, after the U.S. He was the last surviving member of a crew that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Tom Van Kirk says his 93-year-old father died in Stone Mountain, Ga. The navigator for the Enola Gay spoke about his experience guiding the aircraft that dropped the first atomic bomb. Many people viewed the crew as war heroes who saved the lives of Americans by sparing them an invasion of the Japanese mainland.Ī funeral for Mr Van Kirk has been scheduled for August 5 in his hometown of Northumberland, Pennsylvania.1 of5 FILE - In this file photo, Theodore "Dutch'' Van Kirk visits a veteran's group at the Golden Corral in Macon, Ga.
Enola gay crew from ga how to#
"They don't study it enough to know why we dropped the bomb, and why we dropped the bomb was there was a war going on and the only way I know how to win a war is to force the enemy to submit." "Everyone condemned it, especially the young people," Mr Van Kirk said. In an interview long after the historic moment, Mr Van Kirk defended the bombing. Soon after Japan surrendered, ending World War II. The second was three days later at Nagasaki, where some 80,000 were killed. It was the first time in history an atomic bomb was used in combat. Mr Van Kirk, the crew's navigator, was 24 years old when the B-29 dropped "Little Boy" on Hiroshima at 8:15am on August 6, 1945, 69 years ago next month.Ībout 78,000 people were killed instantly, a number that almost doubled by the end of the year. Theodore Van Kirk, also known as "Dutch", died on Monday of natural causes at the Park Springs Retirement Community in Stone Mountain, Georgia. The last surviving crew member of the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan near the end of WWII, has died aged 93.