On 6 August 1945, during the final stages of World War II, it became the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb. The Enola Gay (/ɪˈnoʊlə/) is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets. Martin Company (later part of Lockheed Martin ) at its Bellevue, Nebraska, plant, located at what is now known as Offutt Air Force Base.
SURVIVING MEMBERS OF THE ENOLA GAY SERIAL NUMBER
The Enola Gay (Model number B-29-45-MO, Serial number 44-86292, Victor number 82) was built by the Glenn L. At 89, Theodore Van Kirk is the last surviving crew member of the Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber that dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan, 65 years ago. The last surviving member of the crew that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima has died.
![surviving members of the enola gay surviving members of the enola gay](https://cdn14.picryl.com/photo/2004/10/23/the-last-three-surviving-crew-members-of-enola-gay-pose-after-pose-for-a-photo-0723dc-640.jpg)
Who were the crew members on the Enola Gay?Īmong others personally recruited by Tibbets for the 509th were the Enola Gay copilot, Lewis, Caron, tail gunner, Duzenbury, flight engineer, radar specialist Beser, and four members of the Bockscar flight crew: aircraft commander Chuck Sweeney, copilot Don Albury, bombardier Kermit Behan, and navigator James Van Pelt. Theodore (Dutch) Van Kirk, the navigator and last surviving crew member of the Enola Gay, the B-29 Superfortress that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in the last days of World. The Enola Gay dropped the bomb “Little Boy” on Hiroshima. The BOCKSCAR dropped the bomb “FAT MAN” on Nagasaki. What was the name of the plane that dropped Fat Man? The Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay is now on display at the Steven F. The aircraft was named after the mother of pilot Paul Warfield Tibbets, Jr.
![surviving members of the enola gay surviving members of the enola gay](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2018/08/06/1777123_vert-93fc229e1378b4f5916f0127c311c3625bdbdd45-s1100-c50.jpg)
His funeral ceremony included a 15-gun salute, a round of taps, a flyover by a B-17 bomber and ended with his interment at Riverview Cemetery on. What was the Enola Gay and what part did it play in the war?Įnola Gay, the B-29bomber that was used by the United States on August 6, 1945, to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, the first time the explosive device had been used on an enemy target. Van Kirk was the last living Enola Gay crew member. Van Kirk is the last surviving member of the crew. Tibbets retired from the Air Force in 1966 and died in 2007, at 92.
![surviving members of the enola gay surviving members of the enola gay](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/KPtJK2Pb2WjOX9TGT4jHvA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTY0MDtoPTQyNw--/https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/DL.gSHk_zwp_eIgUr3mO.g--~B/aD0yMDAwO3c9MzAwMDthcHBpZD15dGFjaHlvbg--/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/afp.com/1195d338731f5b49669fcb9176c69977dc978fa9.jpg)