[Aktungbby]

1945: America's ace of aces Richard Ira Bong dies in a jet training accident but is overshadowed by Col Tibbetts B-29 Enola Gay (named for his mom!!) dropping the first atomic bomb, Little Boy, on relatively undamaged Hiroshima, resulting in 140,000 lives lost; with Nagasaki three days later;
Emperor Hirohito ordered his diehard cabinet to accept 'unconditional surrender' two days later... My dad, also in B-29's, on Tinian Island that day, didn't have to invade Japan as a result! I'd imagine with the 'political correctness' rampant in today's all-encompassing military, the name of the bomber, now at the Smitnsonian would have to be 'Enola-Don't Ask Don't Tell' https://www.airforcemag.com/PDF/SiteCollectionDocuments/Enola%20Gay%20Archive/0404EnolaGayControversy.pdf <Enola Gay on display at Smithsonian...oddly next to what Maj Bong flew: P-38 lightning

Originally Posted by Wiki

The display of the Enola Gay without reference to the historical context of World War II, the Cold War, or the development and deployment of nuclear weapons aroused controversy. A petition from a group calling themselves the Committee for a National Discussion of Nuclear History and Current Policy bemoaned the display of Enola Gay as a technological achievement, which it described as an "extraordinary callousness toward the victims, indifference to the deep divisions among American citizens about the propriety of these actions, and disregard for the feelings of most of the world's peoples". It attracted signatures from notable figures including historian Gar Alperovitz, social critic Noam Chomsky, whistle blower Daniel Ellsberg, physicist Joseph Rotblat, writer Kurt Vonnegut, producer Norman Lear, actor Martin Sheen and filmmaker Oliver Stone

Political correctness notwithstanding: I'm here 'cause of that bomber!