Visitors will see the restored B-29 maintenance hangar that housed the aircraft, along with other restored buildings and other training equipment displays. Situated less than a mile from Wendover, Utah along the Nevada border, the original Wendover Air Force Base was where the Enola Gay crew trained for their mission to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end the second World War. See the B-29 Enola Gay Aircraft Hangar on a Wendover Airfield Tour Soon, some of the most qualified airmen came to Wendover to begin training for combat missions during World War II, working with prototype bombs called Little Boy and Fat Man bombs-code names for nuclear bombs that would later detonate over Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August of 1945. During that same year, the Wendover Airfield began studying and operating atomic bombs-the B-29 aircraft was selected to deliver the weapon. By 1942, the Wendover Army Airfield became the Air Force’s largest bombing and gunnery range, and became an important location for the research and development of guided missiles, pilotless aircraft, and remotely controlled bombs.īy 1943, the tiny community of West Wendover that had mostly been employed by the railroad, but swelled to nearly 20,000 military personnel and their families. The tiny, extremely remote town of Wendover fit all the criteria the United States military was after: low population, uninhabited surrounding landscapes, excellent year-round flying weather and close proximity to the larger metro area of Salt Lake City. He became the last surviving member of the Enola Gay crew. from the ground) hit the plane, the crew looked back at Hiroshima.
The Wendover Airfield and training site you can visit and tour today first operated from 1940 to 1969. Enola Gay Facts - 35: Air Force captain Theodore 'Dutch' Van Kirk (Febru July 28, 2014) was the navigator of the Enola Gay.Van Kirk later participated in Operation Crossroad, the first Bikini Atoll atomic bomb tests. Hiroshima time the Enola Gay released Little Boy, its.
See some of the most remarkable military history in Nevada at the Historic Wendover Air Field museum, where you can tour masterfully restored World War II-era buildings like the Enola Gay B-29 hangar, atomic bomb loading pits, and see uniforms, medals, propellers and more. Today, military history lovers will discover a nearly complete historic Wendover Air Force Base-turned-Historic Wendover Airfield Museum, detailing the active base training site that operated here from 1940 to 1969, including the fully restored B-29 maintenance hangar that housed this historic aircraft. This remote desert landscape was a specialized training base for B-17 and B-24 bomber crews, including the 509th Composite Group and B-29 Enola Gay unit who carried the atomic bombs dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The debate over how the war was won has continued.The desert oasis of West Wendover may be best known today for land speed records attempted on the nearby Bonneville Salt Flats, but this state straddling community first used this world-renowned, otherworldly landscape as a top secret military training site during World War II. However, each event is experienced one person at a time, and each person has an individual story to tell. 6, 1945, the Enola Gay's tail gunner Bob. Shortly after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on Aug. The Enola Gay before the bombing mission. War affects governments and groups of people on such a large scale that it can be overwhelming. Enola Gay Crew Recalled First Use of Atomic Bomb. World War II was the largest human-made catastrophe in history, affecting almost every country in the world and touching the lives of every family in the United States. It was a Second Lieutenant in the first unit. I think we saved thousands and thousands of lives." - Vince Ortman. Who Were The Enola Gay Crew A radar countermeasures officer, First Lieutenant Jacob Beser served two nuclear bombings as the only pilot.
We would have had to kill off all the Japanese, and there would have been a lot of Americans killed in the meantime. The Japanese were never going to give up unless we had something like that. "I thought at the time and I still do, that we saved an awful lot of lives. (Germany, of course, had surrendered months earlier.) Nebraskans celebrated V-J Day wholeheartedly on August 15. Notice a space has been left for the name of the city. Excerpt from announcing the dropping of the atomic bomb.