Bockscar - A Look Back at the Plane That Ended WW II

Mushroom Cloud

From August 6 through 9, 1945, the Allies bombed Japan with two atomic weapons, finally bringing the War in the Pacific, and World War II to an end.

Crew of the Enola Gay

It was Monday August 6, 1945 when the Allies dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. The bomb, nicknamed “Little Boy,” was dropped the Enola Gay, a Boeing B-29 Superfortress. Allied officials hoped that this would end the war. If not, Allied troops would invade Japan in November of 1945. (The Allies had estimated that casualties would range from 250,000 to over one million, if that occurred.)

Hiroshima Cloud

Devastation form Atomic Bomb

Although tremendous damage was inflicted, Japan refused to surrender, mistakenly thinking that the Allies only had one atomic bomb.

Bockscar

Three days later on August 9, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Japan, this time on the city of Nagasaki. The second bomb, nicknamed “Fat Man,” was dropped by a B-29 Superfortress called Bockscar.

B-29 Dropping Its Load

Both B-29 planes were part of the 393d Bombardment Squadron in the US Army Air Force (USAAF). 

Tibbets in Enola Gay

Although the Enola Gay and her captain, Paul Tibbets and crew, are remembered for dropping the bomb on Hiroshima, it was the second bomb, dropped by Bockscar that ended the war. But Bockscar was never scheduled to be the plane to drop the bomb!

The Great Artiste

Chuck Sweeney

The plane that was to have dropped “Fat Man” was called The Great Artiste, under the command of Major Charles “Chuck” Sweeney. The bombing run was scheduled to occur on August 11, but due to the probability of bad weather, the date was moved up to the 9^th. 

Bockscar's Crew

The Great Artiste was getting a new fuel tank installed and would not be ready in time for the advanced date. Officials decided to substitute Bockscar as the drop plane with Sweeney and his crew at the controls.

Map of Bombings

And the city of Nagasaki was not the original target. Instead, the industrial city of Kokura had been selected for the second bomb but due to poor visibility over that city on the morning of August 9^th, the bomb could not be dropped. Sweeney had been ordered not to release the bomb unless he could visually see the target. Since Kokura was obscured, Sweeney flew on to the back-up target, Nagasaki.

Nagasaki Mushroom Cloud

At 11:02 am the second atomic bomb, weighing over 10,000 pounds, and carrying highly enriched plutonium, plunged toward the earth. Just 43 seconds later the bomb detonated about 1,500 feet above the ground. In a blinding flash, more than 40% of Nagasaki was destroyed.

Hiroshima Damage Map

Bomb Damage

The death toll from both bombs was overwhelming. When Hiroshima (population 350,000) was hit, over 70,000 people were killed. But another 70,000 to 130,000 died during the next five years from radiation poisoning, burns or other injuries related to the bomb.

Nagasaki - One day later

In Nagasaki, a city of 270,000, the death toll was near 74,000 with another 75,000 injured. Hundreds of thousands more would die of the fallout and radiation poisoning in the coming years after the bombing.

War's End

Celebrating in the Streets

On August 14, 1945 Japan surrendered unconditionally. After four years of vicious warfare with the US(since Pearl Harbor), most Americans expressed no ethical quandaries about dropping two atomic bombs on Japan. Most took it in stride as a part of war and the necessary price to pay to end it.

National Museum of the US Air Force

Bockscar at the Museum

After the war, Bockscar returned to the US in November 1945. Just one year after dropping the nuclear weapon on Nagasaki, Bockscar was given to the National Museum of the US Air Force (US Air Force Museum) http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. She spent 15 years in storage at an airfield in Arizona before heading to her final home.

Plane With Fat Man Replica

Bockscar's Nose Art

On September 26, 1961 Bockscar made her last flight. Bockscar’s original markings and nose art were restored and she was put on permanent display, next to a replica of the bomb, “Fat Man” in the museum’s World War II Gallery.**

Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum

The bombings are also remembered in Japan. The Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum http://www.city.nagasaki.lg.jp/peace/english/abm was first opened in 1966 as a remembrance of the second atomic bomb dropped there. In 1996 a new building was completed in that city.

Peace Memorial Hall

The museum is home to exhibits, relics, and recordings of survivors who lived to tell their stories. Located next to the museum is the Nagasaki National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims http://www.peace-nagasaki.go.jp/english. The Memorial Hall was built in 2003 on ground zero.

Nagasaki- Before & After

Labyranth at Ground Zero Today

The Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum has summed up the historic happenings of 68 years ago best: “We also consider it our duty to ensure that the experience is not forgotten but passed on intact to future generations. It is imperative that we join hands with all peace-loving people around the world and strive together for the realization of lasting world peace.”

~ Joy

Cockpit

** As a volunteer and tour guide at the US Air Force Museum during the 1990’s, I was always amazed at the number of Japanese tourists who wished to visit Bockscar and be photographed with the plane. I have actually sat in the bombardier’s seat and looked through the bombsite. All those years later the atmosphere in that plane is still heavy, and the feeling when looking through that bombsite - chilling.

The Kiosk of Death at the Mall

 

The Mall

Now, it seems, you can have it all. One-stop lifetime shopping from baby clothes, to wedding supplies, to tax services, and funeral arrangements.

 

Earlier this year, a California funeral home, Forest Lawn Memorial Parks & Mortuaries,  http://www.forestlawn.com began placing kiosks in 4 southern California malls. 

Mall Shopping

The cart kiosks are low key, featuring urns, some with themes, to entice folks to stop and talk to the advanced planning representative that staffs the cart. Literature and brochures are also available and may be taken home and perused.

While at first the idea seems a tad unconventional, it’s really just another way of

reaching out to those who might want to pre-plan for death but can’t bring themselves to go to the funeral home or a cemetery.

But Forest Lawn is not the first funeral home to open a mall kiosk about death.  An Indianapolis, Indiana funeral home, Flanner & Buchanan Funeral Centers partnered with two Indianapolis area Simon Malls beginning in 2004 to provide unmanned kiosks to market their cremation services.

Flanner & Buchanan Kiosk

It proved to be very successful, not only in assisting people in making pre-need decisions but also in placing several sets of cremains in area cemeteries.

Cremation is now the fastest growing service for funeral homes, and having the ability to feature urns, photos of eco-green cemeteries, and cremation jewelry at a mall kiosk is an excellent strategy. It seems that most consumers view cremation as an alternative to a funeral. They don’t understand that a funeral service can still be held, and the cremated remains can also be placed in a cemetery plot.

Today, not only are funeral homes stepping out and becoming more visible, they are also starting to engage potential customers online through social media. Since the recession of 2009, funeral homes have seen a decline in the use of their services.

2013 Hearse

1960 Hearse

Not too surprising since the average cost of a “traditional” funeral has gone up about 940% in almost 50 years. According to the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) http://nfda.org, the cost of an adult funeral in 1960 was  $708. In 2009 (the last year figures were available) the cost was $6,560. Add the price of the cemetery vault ($1,195) and a funeral will now run around $7,700.

Donate to Science

New England Burials at Sea

Consumers are now looking for alternative methods to the traditional ‘burying their dead.’ Cremation is just one of these options, along with burial at sea and donating your body to science.

Crematory

And the cost of cremation is a relative bargain compared to a traditional funeral and burial. The average cost of a direct cremation (no service) is between $700 and $1,000, and that covers the cremation, urn, death certificate and taxes. Adding a funeral service, graveside service, or cemetery plot will cost extra, so plan accordingly.

In 1960 only 3.56% of those who died were cremated. As of 2011, 42% had chosen this alternative. That’s more than double the rate of cremations in 1995, and the Cremation Association of North America http://www.cremationassociation.org predicts that by 2050, over half (51.12%) of those who die will be cremated.

Mall Food Court

While it may seem a bit morbid or morose to some, it is just another opportunity for each of us to consider what we want to happen to our remains after death and provides a way for that conversation to begin; even if it is at the mall, over an Auntie Ann’s pretzel, – it’s still a beginning.

And as the band Semisonic sings in “Closing Time” -

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end…”

How prophetic.

~ Joy

Desegregtion of the Military Ordered 65 Years Ago Today

President Harry Truman

Executive Order 9981

Sixty-five years ago today, on July 26, 1948, President Harry Truman signed into law, Executive Order 9981, with the intent of ending racial segregation in the armed forces.

The order read, "It is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin."

The President’s Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services obligated the government to begin integrating the military immediately. Finally, it was time.

Segregated Military Police

Whites & Blacks Only Entrances

Jim Crow laws were in effect throughout the military, and the country, from 1876 to 1965. During WW II over 2.5 million African American males registered for the draft, over 75% were placed in the Army, and 125,000 served overseas.

Whites Only Mess Hall

Black soldiers knew when they enlisted during WWII, they would be serving in segregated units, most working non-combat jobs driving trucks, working in mess halls, or working as dock laborers. Only the Army Air Corp and the Marines accepted African Americans for combat roles as fighter pilots.

Red Ball Express

Red Ball Highway

But despite segregation, many African American units stood out for their spirit and courage. The Red Ball Express, operated mainly by black soldiers, was a convoy of about 6,000 trucks that delivered over 12,000 tons of supplies, each day, to the European Allied forces. The Red Ball Express ran from August to November 1944 and gave the Allies the traction needed on the ground to defeat the Germans.

761st Tank Battalion

Black Panthers

The 761^st Tank Battalion of the US Army was known as the Black Panthers. They served under General George Patton’s US Third Army, at his request, seeing action throughout central Europe, the Battle of the Bulge, and ending the war fighting on German soil.

Tuskegee Airmen

The Tuskegee Airmen were the first U.S. African American military pilots. Known as the Red-Tailed Angels, they flew P-40’s Warhawks and P-51 Mustangs, escorting the heavy bombers lumbering to and from Germany, Poland, Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia with their bomb loads.

Children at a Nazi Camp

Remains at a Nazi Concentration Camp

At the war’s end, the world was stunned by the atrocities committed against the Jews, by Nazi Germany. It was a revelation that made many Americans take a deeper look at racism in this country. “With liberty and justice for all” now had a new meaning to many, including our European Allies who could not understand why the U.S. was still segregated.

African American veterans came back home after the war determined to stand up against the racial injustices occurring against them in the country they had fought for. Now they were fighting a war for equal treatment and opportunity.

Committee on Civil Rights

In 1946, President Truman appointed a Committee on Civil Rights to document racial violence and civil rights violations throughout the country for one year.

In 1947, the committee released its report “To Secure These Rights” reporting that the “disease of racism” was still thriving in the U.S. and especially in the nation’s military. The report recommended legislation be enacted "to end immediately all discrimination and segregation based on race, color, creed or national origin in...all branches of the Armed Services."

President Truman Addressing Congress

Congress 1948

In February 1948, President Truman called for Congress to enact the recommendations issued by the committee. When southern members threatened a filibuster to stop the bill, Truman overrode them by using his executive powers and making Executive Order 9981 the law.  

 

United States Colored Troops

Arlington Cemetery

Arlington Cemetery, along with all other national cemeteries, adopted the President's policy and stopped all segregated burial practices that year. By 1954, the Army announced its last black unit had been desegregated. By the end of the Korean Conflict, most of the military was integrated.

Comrades

Although racism continued in the military and throughout the country for years after Executive Order 9981 was signed into law, it was the first major blow struck against segregation. That ruling gave African Americans hope to believe that in time, justice would be served and liberty and justice would, indeed, be for all.

~ Joy