This story first appeared as an interview from PRI's The Takeaway, a public radio program that invites you to join the American conversation. Almost to a man, they admitted they would do it again if the circumstances were the same. None of them liked it, but all believed it preserved life by ending a terrible war where a lot more killing was expected. "It gave him empathy for who he looked at as the enemy." For years after the war, the crew of the Enola Gay never wavered in their belief they did what they had to do. "It made him think: What if he were to come home and find his home in that kind of condition?" Dietz says. While he was there, he met a Japanese soldier who, upon returning from war, was devastated to find his home destroyed. He was a father, a contributor to society, working for DuPont for over 30 years. I don't think it was a focus of his life, but it was obviously part of who he was."Īfter Japan surrendered, Van Kirk returned to the country to meet with scientists and survey the damage. "It was something that he did as part of serving in World War II. "It was not only saving American lives, but it saved Japanese lives," Dietz argues. "He believed it was the right thing to do - he had no regrets," says Dietz. "He believed it helped to shorten the war and it helped to save lives."Īccording to Dietz, the US military had ordered 470,000 body bags for the planned land invasion of the Japanese home islands, which was known to be fraught with danger. The plane, a B-29 bomber, flew a six-hour, 2,000-mile trip from an American air base on. Suzanne Dietz, Van Kirk's biographer who chronicled his military life in the book, "My True Course," says Van Kirk saw the mission as simply part of his service in World War II. Nelson was the youngest among the 12-member crew of the Enola Gay on its mission on Aug. 0914:17- Hiroshima’s Aioi Bridge, the target point, comes into view. 0912- Enola Gay bombardier Thomas Ferebee takes control of the aircraft as the bombing run begins. 0809- Air raid sirens begin in Hiroshima. On August 6, 1945, the B-29 bomber Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. The bomb killed 140,000 people, and history tells us that the decision to drop the bomb was a game changer, ending the war and starting a big debate about the future use of nuclear bombs. 0730- Enola Gay Captain Paul Tibbets announces to the crew: We are carrying the world’s first atomic bomb. The Crew of the Enola Gay on Dropping the Atomic Bomb. Theodore Van Kirk was 93 years old.Īt 24, Van Kirk was the navigator of the Enola Gay, a B-29 Superfortress that dropped the world’s first atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. crew that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima during World War II died earlier this week.