PRESIDENT HARRY S TRUMAN - COLLECTION WITH BOCK'S CAR CREW , BRIGADIER GENERAL JAMES H. "JIMMY" DOOLITTLE, ENOLA GAY CREW - HFSID 350594

HARRY S TRUMAN, JAMES “JIMMY” DOOLITTLE, ENOLA GAY CREW AND BOCK'S CAR CREW
Extraordinary collection comprised of those who were instrumental in bringing an end to World War II.

Framed collection consisting of:

1.) President Harry S Truman - Inscribed Illustration Signed
Illustration signed and inscribed “To Ted Du Bay/Harry S Truman”. 6½ x 8, color reproduction of a bust view painting of Truman by Ernest Hamlin Baker. Fine condition.

2.) James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle - Autographed Inscribed Photograph
Signed and inscribed “To George R. Saunders/with kindest personal regards/and every good wish/J.H. Doolittle”. In black ink, 6¾ x 8½ b/w. Fine condition.

3.) Enola Gay Crew - Autographed Photograph
9¾ x 8, b/w, horizonal group photo of the crew assembled in front of the Enola Gay plane, signed in blue ink diagonally across each image by "T. J. Van Kirk/Paul W. Tibbets and Jacob Beser" in black ink by "Thomas W. Ferebee" on lower left corner in black ink by "Morris R. Jeppson" on lower center "George R. Caron" and in blue ink diagonally on lower right center "Richard H. Nelson" in all 7 signatures. Fine condition.

4.) Bock's Car Crew - Autographed Photograph
9¾ x 8, b/w, horizonal group photo signed by the following crew members as follows: in black ink vertically on left center "Frederick Johnrith/Commander US Navy/"Weaponeer"/Nagasaki/9 Aug '45"; in blue ink on upper left corner "Capt Kermit Beahan/Bombardier"; in black ink upper left center diagonally "James F. Van Pelt/Navigator"; in blue ink on upper center "Capt. C.W. Albury/Pilot/Nagasaki/Aug. 9. 1945" in blue ink on upper right center "Lt. F.J. Olivi/co-pilot"; in black ink on upper right center "Charles/Sweeney"; in blue ink on lower left center "John D. Kuharek" and in black ink on lower center "Sgt. Ray Gallagher" in all 8 signatures. Fine condition.

Framed to an overall size of 36½ x 33½. Framing has minor scratches and wearing at corners.

Enola Gay and Bock's Car:
The Beginning of The End of World War II

Following the defeat of the Axis powers in Europe, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, American President Harry S Truman, and Russian Commissar Joseph Stalin met near Potsdam, Germany to establish peacetime foreign policy. The conference issued the Potsdam Declaration of July 26, 1945, demanding Japan's prompt and unconditional surrender. Although it was clear that Japan was defeated, many of its top diplomatic and military leaders were willing to continue the fight. Truman had previously given General George Marshall permission for a landing on Kyushu, scheduled for November 1, but both were concerned about potential American casualties. Consequently, when he learned on July 18 that the United States Army Manhattan Engineer District Project would have two atomic bombs available for use in late July, Truman gave his permission for their use.

Piloting the B-29 Superfortress bomber, named Enola Gay for his mother, U.S. Army Air Force colonel Paul W. Tibbets Jr. and his crew lifted off Tinian Island at 2:45 a.m. on August 6, 1945, for Hiroshima, Japan. The payload was Little Boy, a uranium-255 core-fissionable atomic bomb weighing 9,000 pounds: 71,000 people were killed or assumed dead, 68,000 injured and 60,000 buildings destroyed. Hiroshima had been the site of an army garrison from which Japanese troops had embarked during the War.

A B-29, named Bock's Car, piloted by Major Charles W. Sweeney dropped the second bomb, called Fat man, on Nagasaki, Japan on August 9, 1945. It was an implosion bomb using plutonium (Pu-259) and weighed 10,000 pounds. In an air-raid shelter on the grounds of the Imperial Palace the night after Nagasaki was bombed, Emperor Hirohito urged that the terms of the surrender be accepted with the stipulation that he be allowed to remain as head of state. World War II was at an end. General Douglas MacArthur accepted the formal surrender of Japan (from Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu) aboard the USS Missouri on September 2, 1945.