One of those who knows all about that is Steven Marquart, who is the son of one of the pilots who flew on both missions, including flying the Enola Gay itself on the second mission to do weather scouting. “It’s a place that is like no other," Peterson said. and has over 88 structures intact including the hangers where those 15 B-29 aircraft were outfitted for their missions. The Army airbase is the most complete one still in existence in the U.S.
“The day before the mission, Colonel Tibbetts chose which plane he'd fly and told one of the airmen to go out and paint 'Enola Gay' on the nose. “None of the atomic mission planes had any nose art, in fact the tail design was changed several times to confuse people.” Peterson said. The plane that actually dropped the bomb, the Enola Gay, has a story all its own. "It’s something that happened right here in Wendover.”įor a part of history that is so important, few people know about the huge Utah connection Peterson said.įor months leading up to the missions, the 509th Composite Group in Wendover was developed in secret, testing and developing the aircraft that would ultimately drop both atomic weapons. “It’s something that it’s a part of history," Jim Peterson, Wendover Army Airbase Museum Director, told FOX13. The plane carrying the first bomb named the Enola Gay was a specially designed B-29 Superfortress that was designed and outfitted at Wendover Army Airbase and overseen by Colonel Paul Tibbits. It and a bomb dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, changed the course of history forever and changed many lives, ultimately killing between 129,000 and 226,000 Japanese citizens. WENDOVER, Utah - Thursday, August 6 marked 75 years since the devastating events of the atomic bomb being dropped on Hiroshima, Japan ultimately ending World War II.