It took its last flight in 1953, arriving on Dec. As the Smithsonian recounts, it stayed there until August of 1960, until preservationists grew worried that the decay of the historic artifact would reach a point of no return if it stayed outside much longer. Smithsonian staffers took the plane apart into smaller pieces and moved it inside. The display, say the vets, is tilted against the U.S., portraying it as an unfeeling aggressor, while paying an inordinate amount of attention to Japanese suffering. Too little is made of Tokyo’s atrocities, the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor or the recalcitrance of Japan’s military leaders in the late stages of the war - the catalyst for the deployment of atomic weapons. Correll, editor in chief of Air Force Magazine, noted that in the first draft there were 49 photos of Japanese casualties, against only three photos of American casualties. By his count there were four pages of text on Japanese atrocities, while there were 79 pages devoted to Japanese casualties and the civilian suffering, from not only the atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki but also conventional B-29 bombing.
The Committee for the Restoration and Display of the Enola Gay now has 9,000 signatures of protest. as if their participation in the war were morally equivalent.” The Air Force Association claims the proposed exhibition is “a slap in the face to all Americans who fought in World War II” and “treats Japan and the U.S. Politicians are getting in on the action. A few weeks ago, Kansas Senator Nancy Kassebaum fired off a letter to Robert McCormick Adams, secretary of the Smithsonian. She called the proposal “a travesty” and suggested that “the famed B-29 be displayed with understanding and pride in another museum. Any one of three Kansas museums.”Īdams, who is leaving his job after 10 relatively controversy-free years, sent back a three-page answer stiffly turning down her request for the Enola Gay. The proposed script, he says, was in flux, and would be “objective,” treat U.S.
airmen as “skilled, brave, loyal” and would not make a judgment on “the morality of the decision. Meanwhile curators Tom Crouch and Michael Neufeld, who are responsible for the content of the display, deny accusations of political correctness. Crouch claims that the critics have a “reluctance to really tell the whole story. They want to stop the story when the bomb leaves the bomb bay.” Crouch and Neufeld’s proposed display includes a “Ground Zero” section, described as the emotional center of the gallery. Fine condition.Among the sights: charred bodies in the rubble, the ruins of a Shinto shrine, a heat-fused rosary, items belonging to dead schoolchildren. Pencil note (unknown hand) at lower right edge. Ferebee's watch must have been set to GMT+10. So why has Ferebee set the bombing at 09:15 (military time)? The most likely answer is that Japan is located one Time Zone west (GMT+9) of Tinian Island, in the Marianas, where the Enola Gay was based. The time usually given for the dropping of the first atomic bomb was 8:15 AM. Ferebee remained in the service after World War II, serving mostly with the Strategic Air Command until the early 1970s. As bombardier of the Enola Gay, Ferebee released the atomic bomb which struck Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945. Thomas Ferebee (1918-2000) flew 60 bombing missions in Europe before being recruited to the 509th Composite Group to be specially trained for the dropping of atomic bombs. A ten-dollar note issued by Japan for use in occupied territories during World War II., signed by Ferebee in the margin. Ferebee - Enola Gay - over Hiroshima - Aug. Ferebee says the bombing occurred at 09:15, an hour later than most accounts, suggesting that his watch was set to the time of his base on Tinian.Ĭurrency signed: "Thomas W. Japanese occupation currency note, signed by Ferebee with details of the Hiroshima bombing.