Pilot of Enola Gay Had No Regrets for Hiroshima : NPR

Contents:

• THE ENOLA GAY'S HISTORY LIV ON
• WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ENOLA GAY AFTER IT DROPPED THE ATOMIC BOMB
• PILOT OF ENOLA GAY HAD NO REGRETS FOR HIROSHIMA
• HIROSHIMA’S ENOLA GAY RRIED 12 MEN, HOPE AND THE WORLD’S ADLIT WEAPON
• WATCH U.S. B-29 SUPERFORTRS ENOLA GAY CIMATE HIROSHIMA WH A NUCLEAR BOMB THE PACIFIC WAR
• ENOLA GAY AND THE ATOMIC BOMBG OF JAPAN

THE ENOLA GAY'S HISTORY LIV ON

6, 1945, an Amerin B-29 bomber lled the Enola Gay arrived at s target above the heart of Hiroshima, Japan. On Augt 6, 1945, the Enola Gay dropped Ltle Boy on the Japane cy of Hiroshima. The Begng or the End claimed the Amerin ary dropped warng leaflets about the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and that the Enola Gay me unr attack om Japane antiaircraft missile fire on s bombg n.

Did not drop leaflets warng of the atomic bomb specifilly, though pilots may have dropped more general notic of impendg attacks on Hiroshima, and the Enola Gay did not e unr antiaircraft fire. Seventy-five years ago, the Uned Stat dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, brgg an end to a long and vastatg World War II and makg the Enola Gay, the B-29 that livered , one of the most famo history.

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

The Enola Gay, known only as No. He handpicked the plane the night before the missn, to the surprise of s crew, and had his mother’s name -- Enola Gay -- pated on s si. 6, 1945, the Enola Gay took off for Hiroshima, an important Japane ary center.

It was a moment for which none of the Enola Gay’s crew -- away by then, but still rocked by the blast -- was que prepared. What some don’t know is that the Enola Gay flew that missn, too.

PILOT OF ENOLA GAY HAD NO REGRETS FOR HIROSHIMA

Some fly ahead to check the weather to see what ’s like at the actual target, and Enola Gay was part of that for Nagasaki, " Kney said. After the bombgs and the war’s quick end, the Enola Gay remaed wh the Army Air Forc, takg part the Biki Atoll atomic tts before beg shipped to the Smhsonian 1960.

The origal patg of the words “Enola Gay” n still be seen on s si. While no members of the crew that flew the Enola Gay rema to tell s story, the aircraft liv on for visors. "Enola Gay is a regnized airplane of World War II, and people want to see , " Kney said.

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

"They want to see the spachip Disvery, they want to see the [SR-71] Blackbird, and they want to see the Enola Gay. 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. Tman was rmed of the velopment while attendg the Potsdam Conference, and he turn told Soviet lear Joseph Stal that the Uned Stat had “a new weapon of unual stctive force.” On July 26 the Allied lears lled for Japan to unndnally surrenr or face “prompt and utter stctn.” After Japan ignored the mand, the cisn was ma to bomb Hiroshima.At approximately 2:45 am on Augt 6, 1945, Tibbets—who was now a full lonel—and a crew of 11 took off om Tian island rryg a uranium bomb that was known as “Ltle Boy.” 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.

WATCH U.S. B-29 SUPERFORTRS ENOLA GAY CIMATE HIROSHIMA WH A NUCLEAR BOMB THE PACIFIC WAR

Japan officially surrenred on September 2, 1945.The Enola Gay remaed service for several years before beg given to the Smhsonian Instutn on July 3, 1949. In 2003 the fully rtored Enola Gay was put on display at the NASM’s Steven F.

This movie explored the story of Hiroshima om the perspective of Enola Gay pilot Pl Tibbets (played by Robert Taylor). After the Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug.

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.

ENOLA GAY AND THE ATOMIC BOMBG OF 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. But even unr the ctody of the mm, the Enola Gay remaed at an air force base Texas. 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.