George Zabelka, reportedly the chaplain who blessed the flight crew of the Enola Gay before it took off Aug. Forty-three seconds later, after the bomb detonated at 1,890 feet, the city was decimated 71,000 were killed or assumed dead, 68,000 were injured and 60,000 buildings were destroyed. According to the wire story, one of the guest speakers was the the Rev. At 17 seconds past 8:15 a.m., "Little Boy", a 9,000-pound uranium-235 core-fissionable atomic bomb was released over Hiroshima, Japan. radar specialist Beser, and four members of the Bockscar flight crew: aircraft commander Chuck Sweeney, copilot Don Albury, bombardier Kermit Behan, and navigator James Van Pelt. FEREBEE was the bombardier and Captain THEODORE VAN KIRK (1921-2014) was the navigator on the historic flight that lifted off from Tinian Island at 2:45 A.M. Tibbets (pilot and CO of the 509th Group) Maj. The Enola Gay, a modified B-29, dropped the world's first atomic bomb used in war. The crew of the Enola Gay on that fateful Monday morning were: Flight crew. dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, 75 years ago, bringing an end to World War II and making the Enola Gay one of the most famous B-29s in history. Reynoldsburg, Ohio: Buckeye Aviation Book Company, 1989, paperback. Each has signed beneath his image on the portrait page. The Enola Gay Crew signs a book titled Flight of the Enola Gay.īook signed: "Theodore J. ENOLA GAY CREW: PAUL TIBBETS, THOMAS FEREBEE and THEODORE VAN KIRK