Dutch gave me a facsimile of his actual Hiroshima log, and it was invaluable in terms of reconstructing the mission.
In 20, I interviewed Dutch Van Kirk extensively. In the late 1960s, I served briefly with then-Col. Air Force navigator-bombardier and still-rated commercial pilot, I had been trained in much the same way. Having been born into an aviation family and as a former U.S.
I also realized that a comprehensive biography of the three men as a unit, if you will, had never been written. My confidence in attempting to speak for the men was bolstered by my own background. Two of my three subjects, Tom Ferebee and Ted “Dutch” Van Kirk, were non-pilot flying officers. Harder: I have long been interested in writing about the neglected historiography of non-pilot, officer aircrewmen: the observers, navigators, bombardiers, and electronic warfare officers. Harder is the author of The Three Musketeers of the Army Air Forces, which chronicles how the lives of Paul Tibbets, Tom Ferebee, and Ted Van Kirk changed after they flew a mission that dropped an atomic bomb on Japan on August 6, 1945, helping to end World War II.Īir & Space: Why did you want to write this book? This story is a selection from the June-July issue of Air & Space magazine BuyĪ B-52 navigator-bombardier in the Vietnam War, Robert O.
