ENOLA GAY CREW (GEORGE R. CARON) - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 03/15/1989 - HFSID 85428

ENOLA GAY CREW: GEORGE R. CARON
The tail gunner known for his role in the infamous Enola Gay mission pens a letter to Todd Axelrod, C.E.O. of the Gallery of History
Autograph Letter Signed: "George R. Caron". 3p, 6x9. March 15, 1989. Written to “Dear Mr. Axelrod”. In part: "I would like to thank you for purchasing my signed 100 yen note. I sure hated to part with it but as B.C. said my financial situation has been at a low ebb. It probably went up in value last week as there was a story in the paper that Kermit Beaham, the Nagasaki bombardier, passed away. I was sorry to hear it as he was a nice guy, friendly to the enlisted men./ A WWII aviator buff here in Denver wanted enlargements of the crew and Enola Gay pictures. I had them made at a custom photo shop. They came out good but weren't cheap and I got $50 for the set./ Since I haven't been able to attend the 509th A Bomb group reunions in quite some time, I thought I could raise the necessary funds by selling the sets. I made up the enclosed flyer and am sending them to friends who might be interested. Maybe you would like a set or know of someone who would./ My sole remaining items of Enola Gay memorabilia is my ash tray which I kept when we came back to the states. It's invaluable to me but considering my financial situation, I might consider selling it if the price was right. I do wonder if it would be a problem since it's really Gov't property-even 44 years later. The Washington Post ran a long story about the restoration of the Enola Gay and it mentioned a couple of missing items, a clock and an ash tray...". George R. "Bob" Caron was the tail gunner on the Enola Gay who took part in its historic mission to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945. Seated in the rear of the B-29, he was the first to see the mushroom cloud. Caron had been given a camera at the last moment and snapped a roll of photographs as the mushroom cloud ascended. His photographs of the explosion were printed on millions of leaflets that were dropped over Japan the next day. Caron died in 1995. Lightly toned. Otherwise, fine condition.