Sign Guest Book for Last Crew Member of Enola Gay

Submitted by City of Snellville

SNELLVILLE – A funeral guest book in honor of Theodore VanKirk, the last surviving crew member of the Enola Gay which dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, is currently in the lobby of City Hall for visitors to sign.

VanKirk passed away peacefully on July 28, 2014 near Snellville. He was 93.

“We invite people to come here to sign the guest registry that will be given to his family,” said Christopher Banks of Tom Wages Funeral Home.

The book will be available to sign until Tuesday afternoon.

VanKirk was born on Feb. 27, 1921 in Northumberland, Pa. He attended Susquehanna University but dropped out to join the Army Air Force Aviation Cadet Program in October 1941. In 1942, he received his commission and navigator wings and transferred to the first navigational B-17 Flying Fortress unit in England. While with that unit, he teamed with pilot Paul Tibbets and bombardier Tom Ferebee and participated in 57 bombing missions primarily over Germany in the B-17; the same crew also ferried Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower to Gibraltar to command the North African invasion forces.

VanKirk returned to the U.S. in June 1943 and married his high school sweetheart, Mary Jane Young. In 1944, he was reunited with Tibbets and Ferebee and joined the 509th Composite Group at Wendover Field, Utah from November 1944 to June 1945 where they trained continually for the first atomic bomb drop which occurred Aug. 6, 1945.

In August 1946, VanKirk completed his service with the rank of Major having received declarations including the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross and 15 Air Medals. He attended Bucknell University and received his Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Chemical Engineering cum laude in 1949 and 1950. Following college, he joined the DuPont Company where, for the next 35 years, he held various technical and managerial positions in both research and marketing. He retired from the company as the head of DuPont’s West Coast sales in 1985.

Following his retirement, VanKirk participated in numerous military air shows and was a frequent lecturer to high school and student groups talking about his war experiences. His military career is further documented in a book entitled “My True Course”, authored by Suzanne Dietz, which was first published in 2012.

Photo courtesy of City of Snellville