The silvery streamlined plane was designed with a tubular fuselage, three pressurized cabins, tricycle landing gear, modern avionics and an analog computer-controlled weapons system that allowed one gunner to direct fire from four remote machine-gun turrets. It was unlike any other bomber-indeed, any propeller-driven aircraft-of World War II. At the apex of aviation technology at the time, the aircraft was a B-29 Superfortress, one of a few dozen that were specially modified for the express purpose of delivering atomic weapons.
![lost crew of the enola gay lost crew of the enola gay](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/07/30/us/VAN-KIRK-1-obit/VAN-KIRK-1-obit-jumbo-v2.jpg)
It was the fire.”Ī single airplane delivered the new weapon of mass destruction-the Enola Gay. It was not primarily radiation that killed and burned the people of Hiroshima, like I think many people assume. “The bomb ignited a massive fire all over the city instantly that led to a classic firestorm, where this chimney of heat is sucking in air from around the edges and increasing the intensity of the fire. “The primary cause of death in Hiroshima that day was fire,” says Rhodes. Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images All told, at least 100,000 people died from the explosion and resulting firestorm that leveled a four-square-mile section of Hiroshima.Īll told, at least 100,000 people died from the explosion and resulting firestorm that leveled a four-square-mile section of Hiroshima.
![lost crew of the enola gay lost crew of the enola gay](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xrL-53nqgno/maxresdefault.jpg)
Some were vaporized by the initial blast others were charred beyond recognition by the incredible heat. Thousands of Japanese died immediately following the detonation of Little Boy, the nickname of that first atomic bomb. Then there was a flush of neutrons from the fireball that followed, and that was the primary killing mechanism.” “It was like a gigantic sunburn over the entire area. “There was a 10,000-degree flash of intense light,” says historian Richard Rhodes, who received the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 for his book The Making of the Atomic Bomb. Seventy-five years ago, on August 6, 1945, the world entered the nuclear age with the detonation of the first atomic bomb in warfare over Hiroshima, Japan. The next, a brilliant flash of light blinded everyone and altered the course of history. One moment, it was a warm summer’s day with a few clouds in the sky. “We’ll miss him.Everything changed in an instant. “He should be remembered as a great person, great warrior, great American,” Starnes said. Nearly 69 years later, Starnes said it was a fitting send-off for an American hero and friend. “We both thought it was very unusual that two people, through no choice of our own really, happen to be at a very historical place in history and we happen to live together,” Starnes said.
![lost crew of the enola gay lost crew of the enola gay](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2018/08/06/1777122_slide-43d2294a29092868f9cb19f33c78e9eb317e9c1a.jpg)
He was the officer on deck of the USS Missouri and greeted Japanese leaders as they officially surrendered.
![lost crew of the enola gay lost crew of the enola gay](https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/140730014957-pkg-van-kirk-dies-at-age-93-00012408-story-top.jpg)
Starnes and Kirk lived in the same Stone Mountain community. “I told him, I said, ‘Dutch, I understand you were 12 seconds late, that’s not a good navigator you know?’ And he said, ‘I made a little mistake and it worked.’” Kirk, who everyone called Dutch, was the navigator on the Enola Gay, the B-29 that dropped the atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan effectively ending World War II. “He was one of many people who was willing to give everything to save our freedom.” “I know we fought a good war, World War II,” James Starnes said. Channel 2’s Erin Coleman sat down with one of his good friends who said the nation lost a great American.