Stories tagged Hiroshima

Anniversary of Hiroshima bombing

by mdr on Aug. 06th, 2008

Hiroshima after the atomic bomb
Courtesy WikipediaSixty-three years ago today, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The event marked the first of only two times atomic weapons were used in warfare (Nagasaki would be hit three days later). The Hiroshima bomb was released from the B-29 bomber Enola Gay about 8:15AM (Hiroshima time) and 57 seconds later detonated 2000 feet above the city. It's estimated that 140,000 people were killed directly and indirectly from the event. Japan officially surrendered to Allied Forces within a matter of days.

On this day

Hiroshima bombing pilot dies

by mdr on Nov. 01st, 2007

Brig. General Paul W. Tibbets: Public Domain photo.Paul Warfield Tibbets, Jr, the man who during World War II piloted the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan, died today at his home in Columbus, Ohio. He was 92 years old.

The bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 was followed three days later by a second nuclear bombing of the city of Nagasaki and marked the beginning of the end of war in the Pacific. Japan announced its surrender to Allied Powers on August 15, 1945.

Over the years, Tibbets has maintained no regrets about dropping the bomb. On the 60th anniversary of the event, he and two other survivors of the mission called it “a necessary moment in history.”

The Enola Gay: The historic aircraft that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima is on display at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington's Dulles Airport. Photo by Mark Ryan.Recognizing the historic importance of his mission, Tibbets named the B-29 Superfortress that he piloted to deliver the bomb, Enola Gay, after his mother.