It's really hard to talk about morality and war in the same sentence. We were fighting an enemy that had a reputation for never surrendering, never accepting defeat. "Under the same circumstances - and the key words are 'the same circumstances' - yes, I would do it again. Van Kirk told he was often asked, "given a choice about his role in the Hiroshima bombing, would he do it again?": According to the 1995 New York Times interview by Gustav Niebuhr Mr. Van Kirk later participated in Operation Crossroads, the first Bikini Atoll atomic bomb tests. The bomb fell away from the aircraft at 09:15:17 Tinian time. As they approached the target Van Kirk worked closely with the bombardier, Tom Ferebee, to confirm the winds and aimpoint. By the time they rendezvoused with their accompanying B-29s at 0607 hrs over Iwo Jima, the group was three hours from the target area. The thirteen-hour mission to Hiroshima began at 02.45 hrs in the morning Tinian time. From November 1944 to June 1945 they trained continually for the first atomic bomb drop, which occurred 6 August 1945. The group flew the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, with Tibbets as commander and Van Kirk as the group navigator. Van Kirk returned to the States in June 1943 after flying a total of 58 missions overseas. He served as an instructor navigator until reuniting with Tibbets and Ferebee in the 509th Composite Group atWendover Field, Utah, in late 1944. He died four years later on July 28, 2014. With the death of fellow crewman Morris Jeppson (who died on March 30, 2010), Van Kirk was the last surviving member of the Enola Gay crew. Theodore Van Kirk (Febru– July 28, 2014) was a navigator of the United States Army Air Forces, best known as the navigator of the Enola Gay when it dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
Print is matted to include a piece of B29 metal skin relic. Print is personally signed by Enola Gay Navigator Theodore "Dutch" Van Kirk. The bomb, code-named "Little Boy", was targeted at the city of Hiroshima, Japan, and caused extensive destruction. On August 6, 1945, during the final stages of World War II, it became the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb as a weapon of war. This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.Enola Gay is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, mother of pilot Paul Tibbets. The logbook by the co-pilots of the Enola Gay sold at Christie's for $350,000 in 2002. Being that a later copy of Einstein's relativity manuscript, rewritten in his hand 40 years after the original, sold for over 5 million dollars, we feel this log also has an historic value. This one, here offered, is not the original log used on the plane, but a later handwritten version, also entirely in the hand of Dutch Van Kirk, with all the original entries of the original log. The original Enola Gay Log made on Augwas auctioned in 2007, with an estimate of $350,000 to $450,000.
Dutch Van Kirk, Navigator Enola Gay 6 Aug. As you can see on the log, the atomic bomb was dropped at 9:15 AM, Tinian time when we were at an altitude of 31,060 feet over Hiroshima. The log served its purpose as we dropped the atomic bomb both on time and on target. The target was the Aioi Bridge in Hiroshima. The purpose of the log was to record flight data I used during the flight to keep the plane on course and on time. On the first of three pages, Van Kirk has written, "This Navigator's log has been filled out entirely in my own hand as I did during our historic flight over Hiroshima to drop the first Atomic Bomb on August 6, 1945. Van Kirk led the Enola Gay leftward on to a 345-degree heading and began the climb to 30,800 feet. Each page has successive entries from the time of take-off to the return to base. On August 6, 1945, the Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Document Signed, “Dutch Van Kirk”, as Navigator - Enola Gay, 3 pp., in graphite, August 6, 1945, Hiroshima, 23” x 9”, being a navigator's log of the Enola Gay. Navigator’s Flight Log of the Enola Gay Atomic Bomb Mission to Hiroshima Entirely Filled Out in the Hand of Dutch Van KirkĮNOLA GAY.