enola gay
 

last crew member of enola gay dies at age 93...may he have that last peaceful flight...these were MEN......charlie

Wonder if any "Bock's Car" crew are still with us...?

That would have been one hell of a flight. I understand they had to take a hard turn immediately after they dropped the bomb in order to get out of the blast zone. My dads father and moms father and moms uncle all use to work at the base here in Nevada. My moms dad was in charge of taking the bomb parts off of the planes as they arrived on base, apparently the bomb and trigger mechanism arrived separately. My dads father use to build the buildings, pig pens, corals, and model towns that they would blow up during tests. My moms uncle use to have pictures of the mushroom clouds, he was a WWII vet and a real American hero in my book he used to capture wild horses in Utah and then sell them once he tamed them. He is gone now as well. I have been watching a show on the civil war and they were talking about the last veterens alive in the 30-40's I believe, and now we are seeing the same thing with the WWII vets it is an end of an era for sure.

Dad was stationed on Tinian flying B29's and was the squadron navigator/bombardier for 6th Bomb Group. He flew the photo op over Hiroshima on the day after the bomb. Many of the pic copies you'll see on E Bay etc were taken on that mission. Dad knew Tibbetts, Ferebee and Van Kirk although he didn't fly with them. I was able to get Paul Tibbetts to autograph his 2002 book on the 509th Group with a personal message to Dad and I gave him the book on Father's Day two years before he passed. As I write this his book is on the sofa with me and I can still see his eyes light up when he opened its wrapping and read the writing. Dad never talked much about his war experiences except when I asked but he was so very proud of what those MEN did.

I actually met and shook hands with Maj. Gen. Frank Sweeney, pilot of "Bocks Car". He gave a talk about both atomic missions, their training etc. That was over 35 years ago, I wish I could remember all the details he provided but I do remember his resolve remained strong, he had no regrets and he believed it was the right thing to do to end the war.

"Bocks Car" is on static display at the USAF museum at Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio. I have been there. It was a bit surreal to look up into the empty bomb bay and think about what it carried and what it did.

My father also flew in the 6th Bomb Group (VH) as an aircraft commander (pilot in command). There is one surviving crew member of his B-29 and I stay in close contact with him. I have never met anyone in the B-29 community that spoke warmly of Tibbets. Respect- perhaps; affection- no.

Jeff, thanks for your reply. I'm sure know this; your Dad was in the 40th Squadron and is listed as commander of the B29 "Little Jeff", what an appropriate name.

The 6th Bomb Group planes had the Jean Lafitte Pirate on their nose and usually a personalized name and painting, often a racy one. My father usually flew in the lead plane and he often mentioned the "Wolf Pack" and the "Lady Be Good". Here he is, second from left, with some of the Wolf Pack's crew.

http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/...ps67636267.jpg

My own airplane in 1972. 108 500 pounders external and internal or 24 750's internal and 24 500 pounders external. We would be dropping them in a couple hours.

Some of the guys I few with were WWII vets and Korean War vets.

Ooohhh, I really like that tail gun Bruce! What a monster.

Four 50 cal MA-2 Browning machine guns, effective range 4500 ft. Radar or manually directed. When shooting off to the side, it would yaw the tail.

The wrinkles in the skin appear when the aircraft was supported by landing gear and stretch out in the air. The aircraft was able to take substantial battle damage and stay in the air.