Theodore Van Kirk
Encyclopedia
Theodore Van Kirk is a former United States Army Air Force
navigator
. He is famous as the navigator of the Enola Gay
when it dropped the first atomic bomb
on Hiroshima. With the death of fellow crewman Morris Jeppson
(who died on March 30, 2010), Van Kirk is the last surviving member of the Enola Gay crew.
, the first operational B-17 Flying Fortress unit in England. The crew of the "Red Gremlin" also included pilot Paul Tibbets
and bombardier Tom Ferebee
. Van Kirk would later fly with these men on the Hiroshima mission.
From August to October 1942 the crew flew 11 missions out of England. They were the lead aircraft, responsible for group navigation and bombing. In October 1942 they flew General Mark Clark to Gibraltar
for his secret North African rendezvous with the French
prior to Operation Torch
. In November they ferried General Eisenhower
to Gibraltar to command the North African invasion forces. After German reinforcements began pouring into the port of Bizerte, Tunisia, posing a serious threat to Allied strategy, a new mission emerged. On 16 November 1942 the crew led their group in an attack that took the Germans by surprise at Sidi Ahmed Air Base at Bizerte.
at Wendover Field, Utah, in late 1944. The group flew the Boeing
B-29 Superfortress
, with Tibbets as commander and Van Kirk as the group navigator. From November 1944 to June 1945 they trained continually for the first atomic bomb drop, which occurred 6 August 1945.
The thirteen-hour mission to Hiroshima began at 0245 hrs Tinian
time. 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. As they approached the target Van Kirk worked closely with the bombardier, Tom Ferebee, to confirm the winds and aimpoint. The bomb fell away from the aircraft at 0915:17 Tinian time. Van Kirk later participated in Operation Crossroads
, the first Bikini Atoll
atomic bomb tests.
According to the 1995 New York Times interview by Gustav Niebuhr Mr. Van Kirk told he was often asked, "given a choice about his role in the Hiroshima bombing, would he do it again?":
In October 2007, Van Kirk auctioned off the flight log he kept on board the Enola Gay during the atomic bombing of Hiroshima for $US358,500 in a public auction. Van Kirk stated he decided to sell the log because he wants it to be kept at a museum. The auction house did not reveal the name of the successful bidder, although admitted it was a U.S. citizen.
, the Distinguished Flying Cross
and 15 Air Medal
s. Van Kirk went on to receive his Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Chemical Engineering
from Bucknell University
in 1949 and 1950. For the next 35 years he held various technical and managerial positions in research and marketing with DuPont
. Van Kirk was present at the 2008 Thunder over Michigan Air Show.
On August 21, 2010 Van Kirk appeared at a gun and knife collector's show in Dallas, TX where his autograph was obtained dedicated "To Wikipedia."
On September 3, 2010 Major Van Kirk, accompanied by his wife, appeared at the model air show "Warbirds Over Atlanta 2010" in Ball Ground, Georgia where he signed his books and photographs as a replica of the B-29 flew overhead.
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
navigator
Navigator
A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation. The navigator's primary responsibility is to be aware of ship or aircraft position at all times. Responsibilities include planning the journey, advising the Captain or aircraft Commander of estimated timing to...
. He is famous as the navigator of the Enola Gay
Enola Gay
Enola Gay is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, mother of the pilot, then-Colonel Paul Tibbets. 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...
when it dropped the first atomic bomb
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
on Hiroshima. With the death of fellow crewman Morris Jeppson
Morris R. Jeppson
Morris Richard Jeppson was born in Logan, Utah and was a Second Lieutenant in the Army Air Forces during World War II. He served as assistant weaponeer on the Enola Gay, which dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945.-Early life:Jeppson studied physics at the University...
(who died on March 30, 2010), Van Kirk is the last surviving member of the Enola Gay crew.
Early US Army career
Van Kirk joined the Army Air Force Aviation Cadet Program October 1941. On 1 April 1942 he received both his commission and navigator wings and transferred to the 97th Bomb Group97th Operations Group
The 97th Operations Group is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Mobility Command 97th Air Mobility Wing. It is stationed at Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma...
, the first operational B-17 Flying Fortress unit in England. The crew of the "Red Gremlin" also included pilot Paul Tibbets
Paul Tibbets
Paul Warfield Tibbets, Jr. was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force, best known for being the pilot of the Enola Gay, the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb in the history of warfare. The bomb, code-named Little Boy, was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima...
and bombardier Tom Ferebee
Thomas Ferebee
Thomas W. Ferebee was the bombardier aboard the B-29 Superfortress, Enola Gay, that dropped the atomic bomb, "Little Boy", on Hiroshima in 1945.-Biography:...
. Van Kirk would later fly with these men on the Hiroshima mission.
From August to October 1942 the crew flew 11 missions out of England. They were the lead aircraft, responsible for group navigation and bombing. In October 1942 they flew General Mark Clark to Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
for his secret North African rendezvous with the French
French Army
The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...
prior to Operation Torch
Operation Torch
Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942....
. In November they ferried General Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
to Gibraltar to command the North African invasion forces. After German reinforcements began pouring into the port of Bizerte, Tunisia, posing a serious threat to Allied strategy, a new mission emerged. On 16 November 1942 the crew led their group in an attack that took the Germans by surprise at Sidi Ahmed Air Base at Bizerte.
Atomic bombing of Japan
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 Group509th Composite Group
The 509th Composite Group was a United States Army Air Forces unit created during World War II, and tasked with operational deployment of nuclear weapons...
at Wendover Field, Utah, in late 1944. The group flew the Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
B-29 Superfortress
B-29 Superfortress
The B-29 Superfortress is a four-engine propeller-driven heavy bomber designed by Boeing that was flown primarily by the United States Air Forces in late-World War II and through the Korean War. The B-29 was one of the largest aircraft to see service during World War II...
, with Tibbets as commander and Van Kirk as the group navigator. From November 1944 to June 1945 they trained continually for the first atomic bomb drop, which occurred 6 August 1945.
The thirteen-hour mission to Hiroshima began at 0245 hrs Tinian
Tinian
Tinian is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.-Geography:Tinian is about 5 miles southwest of its sister island, Saipan, from which it is separated by the Saipan Channel. It has a land area of 39 sq.mi....
time. By the time they rendezvoused with their accompanying B-29s at 0607 hrs over Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...
, the group was three hours from the target area. As they approached the target Van Kirk worked closely with the bombardier, Tom Ferebee, to confirm the winds and aimpoint. The bomb fell away from the aircraft at 0915:17 Tinian time. Van Kirk later participated in Operation Crossroads
Operation Crossroads
Operation Crossroads was a series of nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946. It was the first test of a nuclear weapon after the Trinity nuclear test in July 1945...
, the first Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll is an atoll, listed as a World Heritage Site, in the Micronesian Islands of the Pacific Ocean, part of Republic of the Marshall Islands....
atomic bomb tests.
According to the 1995 New York Times interview by Gustav Niebuhr Mr. Van Kirk told he was often asked, "given a choice about his role in the Hiroshima bombing, would he do it again?":
Under the same circumstances -- and the key words are 'the same circumstances' -- yes, I would do it again. We were in a war for five years. We were fighting an enemy that had a reputation for never surrendering, never accepting defeat. It's really hard to talk about morality and war in the same sentence. In a war, there are so many questionable things done. Where was the morality in the bombing of Coventry, or the bombing of Dresden, or the Bataan death march, or the Rape of Nanking, or the bombing of Pearl Harbor? I believe that when you're in a war, a nation must have the courage to do what it must to win the war with a minimum loss of lives.
In October 2007, Van Kirk auctioned off the flight log he kept on board the Enola Gay during the atomic bombing of Hiroshima for $US358,500 in a public auction. Van Kirk stated he decided to sell the log because he wants it to be kept at a museum. The auction house did not reveal the name of the successful bidder, although admitted it was a U.S. citizen.
Later life
In August 1946 Van Kirk completed his service in the Army Air Force as a Major. His decorations include the Silver StarSilver Star
The Silver Star is the third-highest combat military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United States armed forces for valor in the face of the enemy....
, the Distinguished Flying Cross
Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)
The Distinguished Flying Cross is a medal awarded to any officer or enlisted member of the United States armed forces who distinguishes himself or herself in support of operations by "heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight, subsequent to November 11, 1918." The...
and 15 Air Medal
Air Medal
The Air Medal is a military decoration of the United States. The award was created in 1942, and is awarded for meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.-Criteria:...
s. Van Kirk went on to receive his Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Chemical Engineering
Chemical engineering
Chemical engineering is the branch of engineering that deals with physical science , and life sciences with mathematics and economics, to the process of converting raw materials or chemicals into more useful or valuable forms...
from Bucknell University
Bucknell University
Bucknell University is a private liberal arts university located alongside the West Branch Susquehanna River in the rolling countryside of Central Pennsylvania in the town of Lewisburg, 30 miles southeast of Williamsport and 60 miles north of Harrisburg. The university consists of the College of...
in 1949 and 1950. For the next 35 years he held various technical and managerial positions in research and marketing with DuPont
DuPont
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company , commonly referred to as DuPont, is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. DuPont was the world's third largest chemical company based on market capitalization and ninth based on revenue in 2009...
. Van Kirk was present at the 2008 Thunder over Michigan Air Show.
On August 21, 2010 Van Kirk appeared at a gun and knife collector's show in Dallas, TX where his autograph was obtained dedicated "To Wikipedia."
On September 3, 2010 Major Van Kirk, accompanied by his wife, appeared at the model air show "Warbirds Over Atlanta 2010" in Ball Ground, Georgia where he signed his books and photographs as a replica of the B-29 flew overhead.
See also
- White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and NagasakiWhite Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and NagasakiWhite Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is an HBO documentary film that was directed and produced by Steven Okazaki and was released on August 6, 2007 on HBO, marking the 62nd anniversary of the first atomic bombing...
(2007)
External links
- Annotated Bibliography for Theodore Van Kirk from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues
- White Light/Black Rain Official Website (film)
- Interview with Theodore "Dutch" Van Kirk from National Public Radio "All Things Considered" program, 04 August 2005
- 'I'd drop atomic bomb on Hiroshima again if needed' - Enola Gay last living member
- Georgia Public Broadcast Interview Oral HIstory Project
- Video interview in August 2010 from the BBC