BOCK'S CAR CREW (FRED OLIVI) - AUTOGRAPHED INSCRIBED PHOTOGRAPH - HFSID 285212

BOCK'S CAR CREW: FRED J. OLIVI

Photo of himself at the controls of the B-29 Great Artiste, in an inscribed 6x9 photo image (8x10 sheet)

Photograph inscribed and signed: "To John Ivan/Huscha -/Much Happiness and/Health/Fred J. Olivi/Co-pilot B-29/'Bockscar'/9 August 1945/1945/Lt. Fred J. Olivi/at the Controls of B-29/'Great Artiste'/Over Tinian Island/South Pacific". B/w,6x9¼ image, 8x10 overall. Olivi (1922-2004) was the co-pilot on Bock's Car, the B-29 bomber that dropped the world's second and last atomic bomb used in war on Nagasaki, Japan on Aug. 9, 1945, hastening the end of WWII. Japan officially surrendered on Sept. 2, 1945, V-J Day. Olivi left the military in 1947 and was hired by as a draftsman with the city bridge commission in Chicago, Illinois, rising to manager of bridge operations anbd maintenance until his retirement in 1986. He also wrote a book on the Nagasaki raid, Decision At Nagasaki: The Mission That Almost Failed. Like the rest of the Bock's Car crew, he never regretted the bombing, but also spoke out against American anti-Japanese sentiment. Olivi died on April 8, 2004 at the age of 82. The B-29 Great Artiste accompanied both atomic bomb missions to measure the effects of the blasts. It was to have flown the Nagasaki mission, but a delay in removing the special instrumentation caused the crews of Bock's Car and Great Artiste to switch planes for the actual mission. Return address label affixed to verso. Fine condition.