I am going to puncture a few of them right now. There are a lot of myths that have grown up about the Enola Gay and about the dropping of the atomic bomb. Van Kirk would be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Silver Star, and 15 Air Medals for his service.
Six and one-half hours later, they deployed the first atomic bomb in history over the city of Hiroshima. On August 6, 1945, Van Kirk, Tibbets, and Ferebee, now aboard a B-29 Superfortress called the Enola Gay, took off from Tinian for mainland Japan. While serving in Europe, the crew of the Red Gremlin was given a number of important missions, including transporting Generals Mark Clark and Dwight D. He was soon assigned to the 97th Bomb Group, the first operational B-17 Flying Fortress unit in England, where he served as navigator aboard the Red Gremlin along with pilot Paul Tibbets and bombardier Tom Ferebee.
By Major Theodore “Dutch� Van Kirk, Navigator of the Enola Gay Theodore “Dutch� Van Kirk joined the Army Air Corps in 1941.
