The issue will be hard to duck on 6 August when Keijiro Matsushima, 76, a survivor of the Hiroshima bomb, visits Tinian Island, the US base in the Pacific, to commemorate the Enola Gay's flight 60 years before. Whether they would have done the same as Tibbets in his position is a question some cannot, or will not, answer. Yet many acknowledge that in 1945 they were ready to fight to the death with bamboo spears, and dreamt of joining Japan's military machine, perhaps as Zero fighter pilots, kamikaze suicide bombers. As might be expected, nearly all of them condemn the use of the A-bomb as unethical. Many of the Japanese children who felt the wrath of the bomb, Little Boy, when it exploded are still alive, too.
![enola gay pilot suicie enola gay pilot suicie](https://i0.wp.com/think.iafor.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Enola-Gay-1945-Photograph.jpg)
The Enola Gay's mission over Hiroshima was so secret that Tibbets was given cyanide pills, one for each of the crew, so they could commit suicide if they fell into Japanese hands. First under Air Mobility Command and then Air Education and Training Command the wing operates the only heavy mobility and air refueling schoolhouse in the Air Force.General Paul Tibbets, who commanded the Enola Gay, the B-29 Superfortress he named after his mother, is now 90 and living in Columbus, Ohio. The Wing participates in the Arc Light and Linebacker missions and serves as the lead formation during the first Linebacker missions into North Vietnam.Īugust 1990 - March 1991 - In support of Operation Desert Storm the wing operates from England flying bombing missions into Iraq and Kuwait.Īpril - September 1992 - The 97th Bombardment Wing inactivates at Eaker AFB and reactivates at Altus AFB as the 97th Air Mobility Wing, the first of its kind. It is also the first group to fly 300 combat missions.ġ945 - 1951 - Following the war, the Mighty 97th transfers to Kansas, then Alaska, before settling at Biggs AFB, Texas where it helps develop the American boom style of aerial refueling.ġ July 1959 - The wing transfers to Blytheville AFB, Arkansas and deploys B-52 Stratofrotresses to Southwest Asia during the Vietnam War. Besides being the first to bomb Europe from England, the group is also the group the first to bomb Germany from Africa, led the first raid on Rome, and the first to land in Russia. Lieutenant Kingsley is currently the only member of the 97th to earn the award.ġ942 - 1945 - During World War II the 97th served as the lead group in several key campaigns. Kingsley, a bombardier assigned to the 97th, earns the Medal of Honor for sacrificing himself for a wounded crewmember following a raid on the oil fields near Ploesti, Romania. The lead co-pilot is Major Paul Tibbets - later the pilot of the Enola Gay dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.Ģ3 June 1944 - Lt David R.
#Enola gay pilot suicie movie#
Armstrong, Jr later portrayed by Gregory Peck in the movie Twelve O'clock High. March - May 1942 - The Group trains with the B-17 Flying Fortress for combat operations, flying anti-submarine patrols of the Florida coast.ġ3 June 1942 - The Group arrives at Polebrook, England with the first American B-17s.ġ7 August 1942 - Twelve B-17s from the 97th fly the first high altitude daylight, heavy bomber mission on occupied Europe.
![enola gay pilot suicie enola gay pilot suicie](http://acepilots.com/pto/enola-gay-crew.jpg)
3 February 1942 - The War Department activated the 97th Bombardment Group at MacDill Field, Florida.