EDITOR: I do appreciate the article written by the Morgan Hill
Times in the Pride section of the March 30 edition on the dropping
of the atomic bomb and reviewing our history and the story of our
men and women in uniform.
EDITOR:
I do appreciate the article written by the Morgan Hill Times in the Pride section of the March 30 edition on the dropping of the atomic bomb and reviewing our history and the story of our men and women in uniform.
However, I cannot take credit for being a crew member of the Enola Gay that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. I did serve with the pilot General Paul W. Tibbets and navigator Captain Theodore “Dutch” Van Kirk of the Enola Gay when we flew together as crew members with the 97th Bomb Group in Europe. Paul Tibbets was our flight leader and Van Kirk was the navigator on the B-17 bombers on every mission and also in North Africa.
Tibbets and Van Kirk left the 97th Bomb Group on a special assignment after serving many missions in North Africa. They were both assigned to a special secret base in New Mexico where they developed the B-29 bomber to carry the atomic bomb. Col. Tibbets was head of this project. Never was I ever a crew member on the famed Enola Gay. However, I was privileged to have served with both while flying the Veteran 97th Bomb Group. I only flew 55 missions in Europe and 53 in the Pacific, but that’s another story.
And a correction to the account of the bomber that was cut in half. A Nazi fighter attacked a B-17 from the 414th Squadron. The Nazi fighter pilot was shot and killed by the flight engineer gunner. The fighter collided with the bomber and left a wing in the fuselage of the bomber. The fatal mistake was attacking the bomber head-on and into the engineer’s gunsight. This happened after our bombing raid on Brezete. The B-17 piloted by Kenny Baker did make it back to Briskra, our base in North Africa. In the picture of our B-17 crew, I am in the back row standing fifth from left to right.
I apologize for any mis-communication. My sincere thanks to the writer and photographer who made it possible for this story that now can be told.
Chip Chiappetta, veteran,
Morgan Hill
