ENOLA GAY CREW (PAUL W. TIBBETS) - AUTOGRAPHED SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH 08/06/1945 CO-SIGNED BY: ENOLA GAY CREW (THEODORE VAN KIRK) - HFSID 279144

ENOLA GAY CREW: PAUL W. TIBBETS, THEODORE VAN KIRK
B/w photo of the Enola Gay, which dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, with pilot Paul Tibbets standing near the open front wheel well!
Photograph signed "Paul Tibbets, PILOT/ 6 Aug. 1945" and "Dutch Van Kirk/Navigator Enola Gay/ 6 Aug 1945", both in blue ink. B/w, 9½x7½ photograph (visible) in 13x11 brown-and-black frame. TIBBETS (1915-2007, born in Quincy, Illinois)was the pilot of the B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay, named after Tibbets' mother, that dropped the first atomic bomb (nicknamed "Little Boy") on the city of Hiroshima, Japan on Aug. 6, 1945. The blast, equivalent to 20,000 tons of TNT, destroyed a four square-mile area, and killing an estimated 70,000 people. Japan surrendered less than one month later, on Sept. 2, 1945). Tibbets was a colonel when Hiroshima was destroyed and became a technical adviser on the United States' nuclear bomb tests. He retired a brigadier general in 1966 and worked in commercial aviation until 1986. VAN KIRK (1921-2014), born in Carson City, Nevada, was the navigator of the Enola Gay during the world's first atomic bombing over Hiroshima, Japan. Before this, he flew 58 B-17 bomber missions over occupied France and Germany before returning to the United States as a navigational instructor. He left the Army Air Corps a major and went on hold various positions in DuPont for 35 years. Not framed in Gallery of History style. Items not inspected outside of frame. Frame is lightly scratched and chipped. Otherwise in fine condition.