Printed on heavy archival Satin giclée Gold Fibre paper, this beautiful new print depicts the famed B-29
Enola Gay undergoing final preparations the day preceding the first atomic mission, August 6, 1945. Three months earlier, the war in Europe had finally ended; Germany had surrendered, but now a war-weary world continued to hear increasing grim news in the Pacific…Japan refused to surrender and a massive Allied land invasion seemed inevitable. In this horrific scenario, the continued loss of life was estimated to be in the millions, and war would continue indefinitely. In a maximum effort to bring World War II to an end, President Truman was faced with an awful and fateful choice. Most historians agree that this difficult decision to utilize the atom would ultimately save countless lives. Still a controversial subject more than 75 years after the end of WWII, the fully assembled B-29 Enola Gay went on permanent display at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in December 2003.
In this scene, Col. Paul Tibbets, two of his closest crew members, Capt. Dutch’ Van Kirk (navigator) and Maj. Tom Ferebee (bombardier), discuss final plans for the next morning’s historic mission. Its top-secret cargo already loaded, the massive B-29 sits in its hardstand, just having had the words “Enola Gay” (the name of Paul Tibbets’ mother) painted on its nose. As Military Police, other members of the flight and ground crews go about their duties, none are certain what the next few days will hold, yet all are aware that they will be playing a role in changing the course of history, hopefully resulting in peace, and the end of the most terrible war in history.
Printed on heavy archival Satin giclée Gold Fibre paper, this beautiful new print depicts the famed B-29 Enola Gay undergoing final preparations the day preceding the first atomic mission, August 6, 1945. Three months earlier, the war in Europe had finally ended; Germany had surrendered, but now a war-weary world continued to hear increasing grim news in the Pacific…Japan refused to surrender and a massive Allied land invasion seemed inevitable. In this horrific scenario, the continued loss of life was estimated to be in the millions, and war would continue indefinitely. In a maximum effort to bring World War II to an end, President Truman was faced with an awful and fateful choice. Most historians agree that this difficult decision to utilize the atom would ultimately save countless lives. Still a controversial subject more than 75 years after the end of WWII, the fully assembled B-29 Enola Gay went on permanent display at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in December 2003.
