Ensign Gee H. Gay's Fateful Day, June 4, 1942 > The Sextant > Article View

Contents:

• WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ENOLA GAY AFTER IT DROPPED THE ATOMIC BOMB
• HOW THE GAY AIRLE STEWARD BEME A STEREOTYPE
• US ARY GO FULL SPEED AHEAD TOWARD MAX LGBT CLN WH ‘DIVERSY’ PANELS, ALL-GAY HELIPTER CREW
• ENSIGN GEE H. GAY'S FATEFUL DAY, JUNE 4, 1942
• ENOLA GAY
• THE GAY-FRIENDLIT AIRL THE SKI
• HIROSHIMA’S ENOLA GAY RRIED 12 MEN, HOPE AND THE WORLD’S ADLIT WEAPON
• THE INLIBLE ENOLA GAY
• TAKE A TOUR OF THE ENOLA GAY, THE U.S. PLANE THAT BOMBED HIROSHIMA
• MARVEL ANNOUNC FIRST GAY CAPTA AMERI
• FIRST OPENLY GAY MAN COULD SOON TRAVEL TO SPACE
• ONE OF N.L.'S FIRST MARRIED GAY UPL LOOK BACK WH PRI
• KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

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

The historic flight took off on the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Inn raids, which are nsired one of the first major events of the gay rights and liberatn movement the flight parted Philalphia Internatnal Airport (PHL) for New York-LaGuardia (LGA) and was operated wh an Embraer E-190.

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. 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. 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.

HOW THE GAY AIRLE STEWARD BEME A STEREOTYPE

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. 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. Some mentary on Pedro Almodóvar’s new edy I’m So Exced has noted that rerc gay stereotyp, particularly the characters of s sassy male flight attendants, who are all gay. Some stewards were hired back after returng om World War II—often out of a sense of loyalty or patrtic duty—but bee they performed what was nsired “women’s work, ” they were thought to be effemate and were therefore spected of beg homosexual, acrdg to the bias of the time.

This perceptn was further rerced when the killg of a gay male flight attendant a “lover’s lane” Miami brought the stereotype to the headl of sensatnal stori the Miami Daily News.

US ARY GO FULL SPEED AHEAD TOWARD MAX LGBT CLN WH ‘DIVERSY’ PANELS, ALL-GAY HELIPTER CREW

In the macho, homophobic years of the 1950s, this provoked a crackdown on the cy’s unrground gay muny, and stori like the were seen as evince that gay people were “perverts. ” Many airl (some of which traed their stewards Miami) turn quietly did away wh hirg stewards, both gay and straight. Ever sce, men have generally prised about 15 percent of flight attendants, pendg on the airle, and a high percentage of the men returng to the ranks of the flight attendant rps the 1970s were gay.

ENSIGN GEE H. GAY'S FATEFUL DAY, JUNE 4, 1942

For gay men, there were many reasons to bee a flight attendant— wasn’t jt the willgns of many to do stereotypilly feme work. As Tiemeyer wr, “the aisl and galleys of airplan, as well as crew hotels and crash pads, served the same role that other gays and lbians found bars: a place where they uld meet others like themselv and even embrace their same-sex sir for the first time.

ENOLA GAY

And I’d walk through termals, and I knew if there were gay men, they’d be lookg at me. They timated that “between 30 and 50 percent of male flight attendants were gay the 1950s, and between 50 and 90 percent the 1970s. May 6, 2021 (LifeSeNews) – Unr the Bin-Harris admistratn, the normalizg of homosexualy and transgenrism wh the ranks of the U.

THE GAY-FRIENDLIT AIRL THE SKI

Navy helipter crew, ” tweeted veteran Navy Intelligence Officer and left-wg activist Travis Akers, along wh pictur of the homosexual flyers.

Air Force (USAF) announced that a Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenr and Queer/Qutng Iniative Team (LIT) had been formally tablished unr the umbrella of s Barrier Analysis Workg Group (BAWG). 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.

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

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. 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.

THE INLIBLE ENOLA GAY

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.

Wh knowledge of a large Japane vasn fleet movg towards Midway Island outnumberg the assembled Amerin naval force, Gay did not sleep well.

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

The attack by VT-8 on the Japane rrier battle group that morng would be the first bat missn for the squadron, and the first time Gay or any of the squadron's ensign pilots had ever flown a missn - much ls wnsed a takeoff? Gay abandoned his ial torpedo n and began to manver his aircraft while his rear gunner/radman, Aviatn Radman Third Class Robert K.

30 liber mache gun, Gay fired at anythg that flew ont of him and managed to h and damage one Zero fighter until the gun jammed. Soon Huntgton lled over the ter that he was h and then the rad went silent; Gay was on his own. At a distance of 800 yards om the ship, Gay dropped his torpedo and managed to hop his Devastator over the rrier.

Dpe havg his dr and aileron ntrols shot out, Gay managed to somewhat ntrol the crash of the Devastator to the sea, rtwheelg on impact Dpe the ckp ame jammg on impact, Gay smashed out of the nopy and unsuccsfully attempted to extrite Huntgton.

MARVEL ANNOUNC FIRST GAY CAPTA AMERI

As the plane sank away, Gay bid his ra goodbye and swam to the surface, bumpg to his unflated life raft that floated ee of the skg aircraft. Bobbg the ocean nsirable pa while ridg the life raft between his legs, Gay spotted a black chn om the plane floatg nearby. Regnizg as the chn loted the crawl space beneath the pilot's seat, Gay grabbed to put over his head an verted V shape to provi him some mouflage om the enemy while still havg some semblance of visibily.

Wh a grandstand seat for the ensug actn, Gay watched and cheered as the Kaga, Akagi, and S? In the ver of night, Gay flated his yellow life raft, clambered aboard and disvered three of the four air partments had bullet hol.

In the ld of the night, Gay shivered the darkns wh the sounds of the Japane scuttlg the burned-out rriers too close for fort. On June 5, a Navy PBY Catala flyg boat spotted Gay and returned the afternoon to rcue him after 30 hours adrift.

FIRST OPENLY GAY MAN COULD SOON TRAVEL TO SPACE

Durg his examatn, doctors found a bullet agment his left hand which the chief surgeon managed to extract whout any damage to Gay's hand.

Pacific Fleet, and a group of officers me to vis Gay and hear his acunt of the battle. Pleased wh Gay's acunt, Nimz and his staff parted at which pot a hospal attendant me wh a wheelchair. Groggily, Gay found himself wheeled outsi and hand an afternoon edn of the Honolulu Star-Bullet wh the headle "Japane at Midway SMASHED" as news meras clicked away.

ONE OF N.L.'S FIRST MARRIED GAY UPL LOOK BACK WH PRI

The followg morng, papers across the natn featured Gay's photo and his acunt of the battle and subsequent survival. After his ath on October 21, 1994, the Navy sttered Gay's remas at sea by the Midway battle se to jo his lost ras of 52 years prr. ”The Stonewall rts are wily acknowledged as havg sparked the mastream gay rights movement, wh the first gay pri march takg place across the US the followg Stonewall 50 edn of WorldPri NYC will feature more than 50 events, cludg march, parti, talks, performance, film and more durg June 2019, culmatg the Pri march on 30 month, female drag act Lacey Lou (real name Lacey McFayn) claimed she was dropped om the Virg Atlantic ad for the pri flight bee she’s a woman.

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.

KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

” 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.