Paul W. Tibbets, Jr., Thomas Ferebee, and Theodore "Dutch" J. Van Kirk, Enola Gay Crew Members, Signed Photograph. 10 x 8 ...

Description

Paul W. Tibbets, Jr., Thomas Ferebee, and Theodore "Dutch" J. Van Kirk, Enola Gay Crew Members, Signed Photograph
10 x 8 inches

This 8 x 10-inch photographic print shows three crew members of the Enola Gay, which dropped the first atomic bomb named "Little Boy" on the city of Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945, effectively ending World War II. Signed in blue ink by Theodore J. "Dutch" Van Kirk, who was navigator for the mission, Paul W. Tibbetts, who was pilot of the infamous bombing mission, with the inscription "8-6-45" commemorating the date of the sortie, and Thomas Ferebee, who served as the bombardier during the mission, this represents a serious piece of military history. It is noteworthy that the B-29 bomber was nicknamed after the pilot's mother Enola Tibbetts. The image has all three crewmen in uniform and standing on the runway in front of the Boeing aircraft, which would go down in history. The paper with standard bordering and slight yellowing overall displays "RI 5-91" in pencil, on the back, which could be indicative of a signature date of 5/91. As an added note, the last living crew member of the Enola Gay - Van Kirk - died in 2014. The Enola Gay is on display at the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. where it arrived in 1949.

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