Like so many of his generation, he got married and went to college on the G.I. It has been estimated that the government placed an order for a staggering 500,000 Purple Heart medals, all in anticipation of the invasion of Japan.ĭutch, who was only 24 years old at the time, had no hesitation about his part in dropping the first atomic bomb because "they (Japanese) would not give up."ĭutch left the service as a major in 1946 with a Silver Star and Distinguished Flying Cross for his part in the mission. Yet, these members of the greatest generation gambled their lives, hoping their mission would be successful so that thousands of Soldiers, Sailors, Airman and Marines would not have to die attempting to invade Japan. Their chances of surviving this mission was slim. But what left me in awe was what Dutch was told by Tibbets.
He recounted the real-life story of the crew, as well as the senior leaders, who planned and organized the mission. Any infraction would mean harsh discipline and a transfer to the Aleutians islands. He told me about the solemn secrecy of the mission. "I had flown missions with him in Europe and when we returned home he told me, 'You are volunteering to fly with me again,'" he remembered. "I volunteered to fly with Paul," recalled Dutch. I greeted him and, for about an hour, we spoke about that mission as though it has occurred yesterday. No one recognized the source of his fame, though there was a sign with his name. The last surviving member of the Enola Gay crew, Van Kirk died on July 27, 2014.ĭutch was nearing 90 when I met him as he sat in a hangar, selling a book titled, "The 509th Remembered, A History of the 509th Composite Group as told by the Veterans Themselves At A Recent Reunion."
We met at the Greenwood Lake airshow a few years ago. My connection with the Enola Gay was meeting the navigator on that mission, Theodore "Dutch" Van Kirk. The anniversary garnered some media interest, mostly about the survivors and how the city rebuilt itself from the ashes after the first use of the atomic bomb.īut there was little mention of the crew of the B-29, hastily named the Enola Gay after the mother of the pilot, Col. This past August 6 was the 70th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, which hastened the Japanese surrender during World War II.