Pilot of Enola Gay Had No Regrets for Hiroshima : NPR

Contents:

• WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ENOLA GAY AFTER IT DROPPED THE ATOMIC BOMB
• TAKE A TOUR OF THE ENOLA GAY, THE U.S. PLANE THAT BOMBED HIROSHIMA
• WHAT WAS THE NAME OF THE PLANE THAT WAS ENOLA GAY’S BACKUP?
• ENOLA GAY: THE B-29 AIRPLANE THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
• HIROSHIMA’S ENOLA GAY RRIED 12 MEN, HOPE AND THE WORLD’S ADLIT WEAPON
• ENOLA GAY: WHAT EXACTLY WAS IT AND WHO USED IT?
• WHERE IS THE ENOLA GAY TODAY?
• THE CREW OF THE ENOLA GAY ON DROPPG THE ATOMIC BOMB
• TOURG THE SMHSONIAN AIR AND SPACE MM’S ENOLA GAY EXHIB
• THE ENOLA GAY'S HISTORY LIV ON
• EXHIBG THE ENOLA GAY
• BOEG B-29 SUPERFORTRS "ENOLA GAY"
• PILOT OF ENOLA GAY HAD NO REGRETS FOR HIROSHIMA

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ENOLA GAY AFTER IT DROPPED THE ATOMIC BOMB

Enola Gay, the B-29bomber that was ed by the Uned Stat on Augt 6, 1945, to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, the first time the explosive vice had been ed on an enemy target. ” The Enola Gay—Tibbets had a matenance man pat that name on the aircraft’s nose shortly before takeoff—was acpanied by var other plan.

Tibbets flew the Enola Gay back to Tian, where he was award the Distguished Service Cross.

Three days later the Enola Gay nducted weather rennaissance the lead-up to the bombg of Nagasaki, Japan. Japan officially surrenred on September 2, Enola Gay remaed service for several years before beg given to the Smhsonian Instutn on July 3, 1949. The Enola Gay is a B-29 Superfortrs, which pilot Pl Tibbets named after his mother, and which had been stripped of everythg but the necsi, so as to be thoands of pounds lighter than an ordary plane of that make.

TAKE A TOUR OF THE ENOLA GAY, THE U.S. PLANE THAT BOMBED HIROSHIMA

While did not drop the bomb on Nagasaki, the Enola Gay did take flight to get data on the weather the lead-up to the send strike on Japan.

WHAT WAS THE NAME OF THE PLANE THAT WAS ENOLA GAY’S BACKUP?

In the aftermath of World War II, the Army Air Forc flew the Enola Gay durg an atomic tt program the Pacific; was then livered to be stored an airfield Arizona before beg flown to Illois and transferred to the Smhsonian July 1949. The Commtee for the Rtoratn and Display of the Enola Gay now has 9, 000 signatur of prott. Adams, who is leavg his job after 10 relatively ntroversy-ee years, sent back a three-page answer stiffly turng down her requt for the Enola Gay.

ENOLA GAY: THE B-29 AIRPLANE THAT CHANGED THE WORLD

Demonstrators prott at the Enola Gay exhib at the the Smhsonian Natnal Air and Space Mm's Steven F. And as long as is on display, the qutns rais are likely to ntue — after all, they have been wh the Enola Gay sce first beme a hoehold name. Tibbets, Jr., mand of the Superfortrs Enola Gay, dropped a highly enriched uranium, explosn-type, "gun-fired, " atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.

HIROSHIMA’S ENOLA GAY RRIED 12 MEN, HOPE AND THE WORLD’S ADLIT WEAPON

The airplane's last flight end on December 2 when the Enola Gay touched down at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. On Augt 6, 1945, the crew of a modified Boeg B-29 Superfortrs named Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb ed warfare, lled “Ltle Boy, ” on the cy of Hiroshima, Japan. As a new and adly weapon, an atomic bomber, Enola Gay facilated a turng pot human history as hered the dawn of the Atomic Age and the threat of nuclear war.

Upon visual lotn of Hiroshima, Tom Ferebee aimed for the cy center and Enola Gay dropped the “Ltle Boy” bomb om 31, 000 feet at 9:15 am. After “Ltle Boy” left the forward bomb bay, Enola Gay lurched upward, and Tibbets iated a high angle evasive manver to get as far away om Hiroshima as possible. Enola Gay tail gunner Bob Caron took this picture of the cloud of smoke billowg 20, 000 feet above Hiroshima after the explosn of the Ltle Boy atomic bomb on Augt 6, 1945.

ENOLA GAY: WHAT EXACTLY WAS IT AND WHO USED IT?

The history and memory of Enola Gay and s part the atomic attacks on Japan, and their effect on endg the war the Pacific and the nuclear tensns of the Cold War, reflects differg viewpots. The Smhsonian has been at the center of bat over those differg perspectiv terms of the terpretatn and public display of Enola Gay.

Enola Gay was to be the central artifact a planned exhibn at the Mm examg the atomic bombgs durg the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II. In a revised exhibn, Enola Gay’s forward felage and bomb bay, two eng, a propeller, and other ponents, cludg a activated Ltle Boy bomb, went on display the Natnal Mall Buildg om June 1995 to May 1998.

WHERE IS THE ENOLA GAY TODAY?

Udvar-Hazy Center opened December 2003, the fully-assembled Enola Gay went on permanent display the World War II Aviatn display area the Boeg Aviatn Hangar.

The display of the Enola Gay has generated a variety of rpons rangg om public protts  1995 and 2003 to opposg pots of view exprsed  alternative exhibns, petns, and reports, and ntu to serve as a se study  prentg history the public sphere that is vigoroly discsed and bated to this day. The flight of the Enola Gay on Augt 6, 1945, signifi an end and a begng terms of our evolvg unrstandg of technology and warfare the twentieth century.

13 died last weekHiroshima bombg anniversaryTake a tour of the Enola Gay, the aircraft that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima 69 years agoOn Augt 6, 1945 the U. Natnal Air and Space the vio above, the CBC’s Meagan Fzpatrick gets a tour of the Enola Gay at the Steven F. (Associated Prs)At the time of s missn, the Enola Gay was among the most sophistited, propeller-driven bombers the sky durg the Send World War, acrdg to the Smhsonian.

THE CREW OF THE ENOLA GAY ON DROPPG THE ATOMIC BOMB

While this exhib is now closed, Mm specialists ntued to rtore the remag ponents of the airplane, and after an addnal ne years the fully assembled Enola Gay went on permanent display at the Natnal Air and Space Mm’s Steven F. This past exhibn, cidg wh the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, told the story of the role of the Enola Gay securg Japane surrenr. It ntaed several major ponents of the Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber ed the atomic missn that stroyed Hiroshima, Japan.

TOURG THE SMHSONIAN AIR AND SPACE MM’S ENOLA GAY EXHIB

A vio prentatn about the Enola Gay's missn clud terviews wh the crew before and after the missn cludg missn pilot Col. Another portn of the exhib tailed the pastakg efforts of Smhsonian aircraft rtoratn specialists who had spent more than a rtorg parts of the Enola Gay for this exhibn. What was the name of the back up B-29 that flew to Iwo Jima and remaed on standby durg the Hiroshima missn the event that the Enola Gay had to abort and transfer Ltle Boy for pletn of the atomic bomb missn.

On permanent display at the Natnal Air and Space Mm’s Udvar-Hazy Center Chantilly, Virgia, the Enola Gay was donated to the Smhsonian Instutn by the U. Although missg a few parts, the Enola Gay is now rtored so generatns of Amerins n see the plane that left an lible mark the annals of time.

THE ENOLA GAY'S HISTORY LIV ON

But you have to be that wh the missn of the Enola Gay, which brgs the dimensn of the role of technology war. As the Enola Gay ma s fal approach to Hiroshima that day, Tibbets ascend to 31, 000 feet, then turned over ntrols to Ferebee.

The Enola Gay was then buffeted vlently when stck by two shock wav—one direct and the other reflected om the ground. In 1995, a 50th anniversary exhibn of the end of World War II, anized by curators and the director at the Natnal Air and Space Mm and displayg the felage of the Enola Gay, met wh unprecented cricism after veterans groups cricized the exhibn’s script for beg overly sympathetic to the Japane and the mm’s historians for beg misleadg and unpatrtic.

EXHIBG THE ENOLA GAY

The Enola Gay was the bt aircraft of s era, but the velopment of that technology me wh a price.

When the rtored Enola Gay went on permanent display 2003 at the Udvar-Hazy Center, attracted que a b of attentn.

BOEG B-29 SUPERFORTRS "ENOLA GAY"

The rtored Enola Gay is now on view at the Smhsonian's Udvar-Hazy Center Chantilly, Virgia. For years after the war, the crew of the Enola Gay never wavered their belief they did what they had to do.

B-29 Superfortrs 'Enola Gay' (left); Firtorm-cloud that formed followg the Hiroshima bombg (right). The plane rryg Pl Tibbets, his crew and most importantly the bomb was a Boeg B-29 Superfortrs named ‘Enola Gay’. Thoands were created, but arguably only one is known by name by the general public – ‘Enola Gay’.

PILOT OF ENOLA GAY HAD NO REGRETS FOR HIROSHIMA

Pl Tibbets wavg om the ‘Enola Gay’s’ ckp before takg off for the bombg of Hiroshima (left); Brigadier General Pl W. The B-29 Bomber was named after Pl Tibbets mother Enola Gay Tibbets, wh whom he had a close relatnship wh. Left to right: ‘Big Stk’, ‘The Great Artiste’, ‘Enola Gay’Image Cred: Harold Agnew on Tian Island 1945, Public doma, via Wikimedia Commons.