ENOLA GAY CREW (THEODORE VAN KIRK) - AUTOGRAPHED SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH - HFSID 167672
Price: $200.00
ENOLA GAY CREW: THEODORE VAN KIRK
The last surviving member of the mission which dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima,
Japan signed his picture of the entire flight and ground crews, posed in front of the
bomber.
Photograph signed: "Theodore J. Van Kirk". B/w, 10x8. Shown with the flight and ground
crews, Van Kirk signing on his image. Theodore "Dutch" Van Kirk (1921-2014) was the
navigator of the Enola Gay during the world's first atomic bombing over Hiroshima,
Japan. He had flown 58 B-17 bomber missions over occupied France and Germany before
returning to the United States as a navigational instructor. On 6 August, 1945, the crew of the
specially modified B-29 Enola Gay, piloted by Col. Paul Tibbets and named after his mother,
released the first atomic weapon nicknamed 'Little Boy'. Forty-three seconds later, Hiroshima
(Japan's seventh largest city) was obliterated and the course of warfare changed forever. Over
78,000 people were killed by the searing heat and gamma rays, and the city, and subsequent
deaths from radiation poisoning were similar. This action, and the dropping of another atomic
bomb on the city of Nagasaki three days later, were credited with hastening the end of
World War II. Japan surrendered on August 14, 1945. Van Kirk left the Army Air Corps a
major and went on hold various positions in DuPont for 35 years.Fine condition.
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