Last Surviving Member Of The Hiroshima Mission Crew

Theodore "Dutch" VanKirk, who was the last surviving member of the Enola Gay crew which dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, has Gone West at the age of 93.

VanKirk died Monday, July 28th, at his home in Stone Mountain, GA, according to his son Tom.

VanKirk was the navigator on the famous mission. The Associated Press reports that during an interview, VanKirk described the mission which led to the end of the war in Japan. He said that in his view, the use of atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was necessary and significantly shortened the war. Some 220,000 people were killed by the bombing and the resulting radiation.

But he also said that the experience led him to believe that wars don't settle anything, and that he would prefer to see all nuclear weapons dismantled. But, he said, "if anyone has one, I want to have one more than my enemy."

Tom VanKirk said that he did not know that his father had been part of the Hiroshima mission until he was nearly 10 years old. The elder VanKirk reportedly rarely talked about his war experience, and his son learned about his place on the Enola Gay crew when he read some newspaper clippings he found in the attic of his parents' home.

Funeral services for Theodore VanKirk were held Tuesday in his hometown of Northumberland, PA.

(U.S. Army Image of Enola Gay crew)

FMI: http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?object=nasm_A19500100000