European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 7, 1945, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Yank the army weekly september 1945 atomic bomb away by Robert Schwartz y2c yank staff correspondent the was 0245 when the colonel eased Forward on the the b29 with Nenoto Gay printed in big Block letters on her nose vibrated and began to Roll she reached 100 Mph in a then picked up additional Speed More she used up half the and she was still bearing Down hard on her spinning the Tail George up near the Waist for the began to sweat it Robert who usually piloted the Enola would have had her off the ground by this but Cap Lewis was Only Copilot on this trip and Caron didst know the Paul old Bull Tibbets who had the controls the Enola Gay neared the end of the runway and was almost on the gravel when she lifted gently into the dark Caron realized Sud Denly that the colonel had been fighting to hold the ship on the ground the whole length of the runway just to be absolutely and Caron remembered the the men knew about the it was something they didst know it was the atomic it was they for in addition to Tibbets taking Over for the there was a William Par sons of the Navy he was a bomb expert of some kind and had come along As an of Joe radar a dark husky texan who was almost uncannily adept at operating his precision called the Pilot on the intercom and told him he would find a Large Cloud North of the next better stay away from he its pretty fifteen minutes later the colonel Carne to the rear to use the before the trip was Over he was to make a dozen More such was All he would drink so Damn much of Richard a Boyish redhead who looks like every kid in every breakfast Cereal advertisement Ever settled Down to read watch out for Willie a boxing Nelson was teased pretty constantly about his just As he was teased about almost the youngest Man on the Crew been 20 for Over two he had been nicknamed Junior by the four other men of the plane before the flight was Over Junior finished the Willie Carter the flight Wyatt Duzenbury of a quiet 32yearold thin faced fellow with big sat at his control panel Reading innumerable a undiluted flight deuces Only concern Dur ing the flight was to wonder How the big explosion would affect his Hes dial say the up front sat a Young 33 Man with an accumulation of War flying he was the Pilot of the first b17 to Fly Over the English Channel on a bombing Mission he flew Mark Clark to he flew Eisenhower to and then he flew Doolittle to Gibraltar he flew Clark and Canadas Mcnaughton to Landing on a Field he knew would be and which was actually under before he stopped taxiing he led the first Mission to bomb North Africa returned to the he flew the first b29 on test missions he was made co of the atomic bomb outfit forming at Utah and sitting at the controls of the Enola he was on his Way to drop the first atomic bomb in the Copilot was Cap the planes usual he had flown four missions against Japan in the Enola Gay with this the crewmen All Call him and he is an easy Man to know and an easy one to the navigator was red dutch Van a Young pennsylvanian with a Crew hair Cut that gives him a collegiate Van Kirk is a Good Friend of Tom the and they had flown together in North Africa and usually As navigator and Bombardier for they were in on most of the colonels and he brought them into his atomic unit As soon As he got the flight was Well along and the Tail remembering Cap Lewis prodigious crawled Forward through the Tunnel to get to the food before the Copilot ate it Caron found six apples Amon the food up for Ward and threw these the length of the Tunnel to hoping that they would Roll out of the Tunnel and fall on a sleeping lieutenant who was flying this Mission As special he was an electronics Caron wanted to Wake him and get him to sit thus taking less space in the but none of the apples went the length of the and the lieutenant kept on the flight to the target was and Only the thought of what they were going to see kept them they ate and talked a Little and said nothing More historic than move you and give me some which must have been said on every plane ride since Orville said it to Wilbur at Kitty occasionally they consulted the various charms and of which the Enola Gay had an inordinate these in addition to carols baseball hat and Shumard the following items three pairs of silk from stowed in one Corner with a Book let on one picture of Wendover a group companion during training in wend Over Mary had on a pair of High heeled one Good conduct fastened on the radio set and owned by six prophylactic divided equally Between Van Kirk and Ferebee and presented by the ground Crew in Case of forced Landing in territory where the natives Are one ski Cap purchased in Salt Lake City and worn by one picture of the lobby of the hotel Utah at Salt where Ferebee formed Many All of limited length but definite one lip stick kiss print on the signed Dottie and bearing a placed there by a civilian girl who worked at an Omaha air base it had been she lacked Over promptly for of the Crews common one More these things were All very important to the Enola Gay Community and were a binding a series of Good drunks together in the states had helped Weld them into a and they were All very close they were getting near the target and Caron went Back to the taking his k20 the plane began to and they pressurized the the Bombardier and the veterans of 54 and 63 we rent worried about their imminent though it dawned on the Van that id be the biggest ass in the air Force if i missed the they passed Over several secondary targets and found them then continued into they saw lined it opened the bomb Bay made the bomb and let the bomb the plane banked sharply to the right and every one craned to look Back at the right Waist Bob the assistant flight turned his polaroids to full intensity and prepared to take advantage of the fact that he had the Best seat for the when the bomb went off it looked Blue through his but he noted that the Interior of the plane lighted up As though Flash bulbs had been set off inside the he adjusted his polaroids to mild in Tensity and looked Down at a Large White Cloud was spreading rapidly Over the whole obscuring everything and rising very Shumard shouted into the intercom there it and its coming right Back at looking Way Down he noted that outside the smoke Circle and racing ahead of it were three Large concentric these appeared to Shumard to be heat since they looked like the transparent Wavy Vapours seen coming off hot he craned to see what happened to but the lieutenant who had been asleep was now awake and was climbing All Over Shu cards he lost the rings during this interval and could not find them the Engineer noted that his instruments were still functioning and then he looked out his Little he said nothing when Stiborik got no instrument reaction to the he looked Jesus said if people knew what we were doing we could have sold tickets for Van Kirk said though newspaper re ports later called him a Battle hardened vet eran who exclaimed my god when he saw the the Crew still kid him about the Felt Only one reaction he was Damn glad to be rid of the then he set to work filling out the strike report form which to be radioed Back in the Tail Caron noted the turbulence and called to the Pilot its coming to wards us he got no but the plane changed its course and outdistanced the they looked after it As Long As they could see a great ringed cumulus Type Shaft rising higher and higher through the then they flew on and it was the Tail gunner called to the Pilot that was Worth the 25c ride on the Cyclone at Coney the colonel called Back and ill collect the two bits when we youll have to wait till pay said the Tail Ferebee filled out the strike report and gave it to Parsons who had been in charge of the Parsons took it to this said the is going directly to the the Navy Captain wondered aloud How can you destroy so much and sacrifice so Little we didst even damage a some of the men wondered How it would take to make Japan surrender everyone won dered if the one bomb would end the finally they dozed off a talked a Little and ate a Little and engaged in Brief flurries of but the Enola the plane that had been named by the Crew for the colonels Mother As a gesture for the flew on and she they say with the deep Pride that airmen feel for a ground Crew that can make a plane Deuce worried about but Cap kidded him out of time everyone got but then they saw the and they were Alert i looked at the old says Cap and his eyes were bloodshot and he looked awful he looked like the past 10 at and and new and had come up and hit him All at i says to after such a Beautiful you better make a Beautiful and he