The last surviving crew member, Theodore Dutch Van Kirk, died in 2014 at 93. Tibbets died at the age of 92 on November 1, 2007, in Columbus, Ohio. Theodore Van Kirk was 24 when he served as navigator on that mission, and already a seasoned combat veteran, having flown 58 bombing missions in Europe. None of the 12 crew members of the Enola Gay are alive today. A flash of light that Van Kirk likened to a photographer's flashbulb engulfed the cabin. Well, the last surviving member of the Enola Gay, the bomber that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima 69 years ago, has died at 93. Tibbets executed a diving turn to avoid the blast effects, but the Enola Gay was buffeted by a pair of shock waves. The bottom line, as my uncle said many times, was that he slept well at night knowing that he helped save more lives than he killed by bringing the war to a. The bomb wiped out 90 percent of the city and instantly killed an estimated 80,000 people. Concerned that the Enola Gay might crash and cook off the atomic bomb, Parsons decided to arm the bomb in flight. Im very proud of the fact that my uncle was not only a member of the Enola Gay that dropped 'Little Boy' on Hiroshima, the first atomic bomb in history, but he was actually the bombardier. On Saturday evening, Parsons watched as bombs and ammunition exploded when a B-29 crashed on takeoff. His navigating skills had brought the Enola Gay to its target only a few seconds behind schedule at the conclusion of a 6½-hour flight.įerebee released the bomb, known as Little Boy, and 43 seconds later, at 1890 feet above ground zero, it exploded in a nuclear inferno, leaving tens of thousands dead or dying and turning Hiroshima into scorched devastation. The Enola Gay would fly as Dimples Eight-Two. Van Kirk, who had also familiarised himself with Hiroshima's landmarks, leaned over Ferebee's shoulder and confirmed he was correct.
The bombardier, Major Thomas Ferebee, said, "I got it," announcing that the Enola Gay was over his aiming point, the T-shaped Aioi Bridge. At 8.15 am Japan time, it reached Hiroshima, a city of 250,000 and the site of an important army headquarters. When the Enola Gay reached Iwo Jima as the sun rose, it began an ascent to 31,000 feet. Enola Gay was flown by a modified Crew B-9 for the Hiroshima mission and Crew B-10 for the Nagasaki mission. Theodore Van Kirk, navigator of the Enola Gay, pictured here in 2010. Enola Gay, Regular Crew (Crew B-9) Crew B-9 flew five combat missions, including the Hiroshima bombing mission.