Just met a WW II B-29 navigator.

[Straightshooter2]

But not just any B-29 navigator. I met Ted "Dutch" Van Kirk who was the navigator of B-29 AAF Serial Number 44-86292 better known as the Enola Gay on 6 August, 1945. One of the crew who dropped "Little Boy" on Hiroshima that day. He is the last surviving crew member of that flight. Pretty spry old boy for 91.

CW

[HalfStack]

KEWL !!

Bet he got some stories.

[chud333]

Not many gentlemen around that are left from those days.
Americas Best. We owe so much to him and others that we're
"There". Would have liked to been a fly on his shoulder during
that mission.


chuck

[ogilvyspecial]

Interesting timing on this thread. Our son, who is a pilot, was out & about earlier today and while at Kinko's waiting to send a fax got into a conversation with an older fellow about how windy it was. When my son mentioned that it wouldn't be a good day for flying the old fellow mentioned that he had been a B24 Bomber Pilot back in WWII.

My son said he and that former pilot stood there and talked flying for over half an hour.

[TIMETRIPPER]

CW,
Would you know if "Dutch" was from Pa? Or if he went to Bucknell University?
My father was a naval "aviator" during WWII. After the war he attended Bucknell on the GI bill and while there met one of the Enola Gay's crewmen. I'm pretty sure dad said it was the navigator and that at the time he didn't like to talk about the bombing. Dad is no longer with me so I can't confirm who it was. Funny how this came up. I haven't thought about it for years.
Dad also met Ed McMahon, Johnny Carson's sidekick on the Tonight Show, and Ted Williams while at Pensacola. Williams was an instructor. Ed was in the more advanced classes at the time.
John

[Straightshooter2]

John, he was from Northumberland, Pennsylvania and from the info I can find on him, he did attend Bucknell in 1949-50. So it probably was him your dad met. He was at the gun show today at the South Atlanta Expo signing autographs (for a fee of course).

[Jim NNN]

My Dad's old boss was a B-29 pilot in the war. He passed away about 10 or 15 years ago.

My brothers father in law was in the infantry in WW2, and to commemorate the anniversary, he went up in one of the last flying B-17's. My 7 year old boy and I got to take a tour through the plane after it landed .

Also met one of the remaining Tuskegee Airman a couple of years ago. There were some things about the T.A. story that didn't reflect well on a few of the fliers (embellished records), but they were all brave guys who served their country despite some very difficult barriers. It was an honor to meet him.

Great to hear about this stuff. Maybe in 80 years they'll be talking about US - "Yeah, way back when my grandpa actually met a guy who flew on a B-29!"

[Bell Charter Oak Holsters]

What a tremendous privilege to meet that fellow. Millions of people can thank him for helping to end a horrible period of history. It's unfortunate innocents were casualties, but that's the way wars are won.

Cheers;
Lefty

[loknload]

I've always enjoyed talking with those gentlemen as well.
Ted "Dutch" Van Kirk came to a WWII weekend here in Reading PA. I happen to have an Enola Gay mug signed by him! Interesting gentlemen.
One thing though as much as I like speaking with those guys, has anyone ever had the opportunity to speak with someone from WWI? I did when I was younger and there were quite a few stories I remember from those gents.
Unfortunatly those guys are all gone now but as I was grewing up I had two of them that were neighbors. They very rarely talked about The Great War, but when they did they had some real horrible stories which I was surprised they even repeated. The one old gent would go off in a daze and relive it! I learned quite a bit from those two.

[TIMETRIPPER]

Straightshooter2,
Thank you for getting back to me with that confirmation. It gave me a good feeling to remember the story. I have Dad's college yearbooks and will have to look through them.
I work in the X-ray department of a local hospital and while I have not met any notables, I do meet old WWII veterans regularly. Come to think of it, they are all notable, regardless of fame.
Two come to mind easily. The first was a navy vet who had tattoos of three different ships on his chest. I had to ask and he said that they were all destroyers he served on in the Pacific. Two were sunk and he went for a swim each time. The way he explained it, the third one was a charm and saw him through to wars end. He had a great attitude towards life.
The second gentleman was a very spry farmer who came in for an MRI study. We routinely do skull x-rays for those who have a history of metal working or similar history to rule out the possibility of embedded metal fragments. Seems as though this old farmer flew 35 missions as a ball-turret gunner in a B17 over Europe. During one, he caught a piece of flak across his face from the right side that neatly shaved off his left eye brow. The docs also pulled out a bunch of small metal splinters before sending him back to work. He couldn't understand what all the fuss was about, said it happened over 60 years ago. The reason for the MRI was a fall from a hay wagon while stacking bales... his neck was bothering him. In my mind, they are all heroes.
John

[QuercusMax]

A very dear friend of mine (who sadly passed away last year) was a Spitfire pilot in the RAF from 1943-47. He grew up in Essex (British county just to the north of London), and was a teenager who went to the airfields during the Battle of Britain to watch his heroes fly against the Luftwaffe.

He became a pilot soon thereafter, learning to fly in a Gypsy Moth before he got his Spitfire.

My favorite story that he told me was when he was stationed in Egypt right after the war, and he would sometimes fly his MK XIV Spitfire at very low altitude down the Nile, knocking over the Arab dhows with his prop wash, and chuckling as they would shake their fists at him in anger.

I never was able to do anything like that.

[armenius]

While at "AirSho ' 76" put on by the former Confederate Air Force at Harlingen,Texas I was fortunate enough to meet Paul Tibbits who was the pilot of "Enola Gay".At that show he flew the only existing restored B29,the first in 30 years.A very nice and great American.

[Straightshooter2]

In a way, it was kind of ironic meeting him because my family has a little bit of a connection to him (and the rest of the crew). My uncle was held in Hiroshima POW Camp 6B and was tasked to work in the Sanyo coal mine. Fortunately for the POWs, they were upwind from the blast. If you want to know how bright a nuclear explosion is, the entrance to the coal mine faced away from Hiroshima on the back side of a mountain. According to my uncle, they still saw the flash inside the mine.

CW

[chief38]

PRETTY COOL!! I would have loved to have met him.

I met and had a lengthy conversation with Col. Robert Morgan years back (since has passed). He was the first Pilot to complete the obligatory 25 missions and the Pilot of the famous Memphis Belle. Thankfully my Son was also with me and it was a day he will never forget. I did take a few pictures that are now hanging in a collage frame. I can therefore relate to your experience.

Chief38

[dant]

Good to hear 'Dutch' is still up and about, he is the LAST of the crew from the Enola Gay when they bombed Japan.....He, Tom Farrabee and our Ohio boy, Paul Tibbets have been at our OGCA meetings in the past and the three of them came to the VFW post here in Eastlake ,Ohio many years (around 1990) .last we heard from Dutch he spoke to a college group in Atlanta....fascinating and yes, we could listen to them talk for hours...God Bless them

[sheepdawg]

My Dad worked with a guy that was a tail gunner in a B-17. Talk about a job with a short life expectancy. His favorite story was a mission over Berlin late in the war and the ME 262 that came through their formation. We owe these guys alot.