![what happened to the crew of enola gay what happened to the crew of enola gay](https://i.cbc.ca/1.2728732.1407320097!/fileImage/httpImage/enola-gay.jpg)
"I remember the shock to our nation that all of this brought. 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. Jacob Beser would be the only one to see the aftermath of both explosions. The delivery system for these bombs, the Superfortress, represented the latest. Another atomic attack on Nagasaki followed three days later. 9, when a B-29 called "Bockscar" dropped another atomic bomb on Nagasaki.Īrmy Air Forces 2nd Lt. On August 6, 1945, the crew of a modified Boeing B-29 Superfortress named Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb used in warfare, called Little Boy, on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. 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. troops who were then preparing for the invasion of Japan.Ĭapt. It had hastened the end of the war and saved the lives of U.S.
![what happened to the crew of enola gay what happened to the crew of enola gay](https://www.politico.com/dims4/default/60bfafd/2147483647/strip/true/crop/605x328+0+0/resize/630x342!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fs3-origin-images.politico.com%2F2014%2F07%2F29%2Ftheodore_vankirk_enola_gay_ap_605.jpg)
The bomb they carried, dubbed Little Boy, was the world's first. Lewis, Caron and the others, however, would later say they had no regrets about dropping the bomb. Which leaves Van Kirk as the only living crew member of the Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber that set out from Tinian on 6 August 1945. "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. The crew of the B-29 called the Enola Gay had no regrets about dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, but prayed that the horrific weapon would never be used again. 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." Didn't see what happened afterward, either.
![what happened to the crew of enola gay what happened to the crew of enola gay](https://www.sltrib.com/resizer/nbw5j-f4SKCGrrt4uqiTjaXpk1g=/1024x650/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-sltrib.s3.amazonaws.com/public/U7A3KVDLYRECTAMXJL32ILZHFI.jpg)
Flames in different spots would be springing up. Don't look after you have opened the door, the crew of the Enola Gay was told. "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. At the same time, it is clear that even these elite troops were shocked by the power of the atom bombs and the devastation that they had caused."As we got further away, I could see the city then, not just the mushroom, coming up.
What happened to the crew of enola gay professional#
Both are clearly extremely able, professional servicemen. Perhaps the most interesting thing about these two interviews is the insight we get into the character of the two crewmen. Interesting or important points about the film When they did not, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing around 40,000 people and wounding 60,000. The president of the USA, Harry Truman, warned the Japanese to surrender. The heat of the blast was so intense that people at the centre of the explosion were simply vaporised. Many who survived the blast died later from the radiation. More than 70,000 people died and many more were injured. More than 70,000 people died and many more were injured. Normal life in the crowded Japanese city of Hiroshima came to a sudden and terrifying end when a US plane dropped an atomic device on to the city. On the morning of 6 August 1945, an atomic bomb was used in war for the first time. The next interviewee is Commander Frederick Ashworth, who was part of the crew that dropped the second atom bomb on Nagasaki. The Colonel then describes his experiences in a very calm way. The clip opens with an interview with Colonel Paul Tebbits, the officer in charge of the bomb group that dropped the Hiroshima Bomb.