On 6 August 1945, 65 years ago today, Colonel Paul Tibbets flew his B-29 Enola Gay from Tinian Island in the Marianas to Hiroshima, Japan. At 08:15 local time the first atomic bomb, nicknamed Little Boy, dropped through the bomb bay doors. As Tibbets banked away, the bomb fell for 57 seconds before detonating 2,000 feet above the city.
Three days later, Major Charles W. Sweeney flew his B-29 Bockscar loaded with the second atomic bomb, nicknamed Fat Man, to Kokura, Japan. Cloud cover over the primary target forced Major Sweeney to fly on to Nagasaki, where he dropped Fat Man at 11:01 local time. The bomb fell for 43 seconds and detonated 1,540 feet above the city.
Three days later, Major Charles W. Sweeney flew his B-29 Bockscar loaded with the second atomic bomb, nicknamed Fat Man, to Kokura, Japan. Cloud cover over the primary target forced Major Sweeney to fly on to Nagasaki, where he dropped Fat Man at 11:01 local time. The bomb fell for 43 seconds and detonated 1,540 feet above the city.
On 15 August, Japanese Emperor Hirohito read to his people via radio broadcast the document of surrender. On 28 August, the occupation of Japan began. And on 2 September 1945, aboard USS Missouri, the official instrument of surrender was signed and World War II came to a close.
"I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." (Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto)
"I'm proud that I was able to start with nothing, plan it and have it work as perfectly as it did... I sleep clearly every night". (Brigadier General Paul W. Tibbets USAF)
“If you give me the same circumstances, hell yeah, I'd do it again.” (General Tibbets)
"Every positive value has its price in negative terms... the genius of Einstein leads to Hiroshima." (Pablo Picasso)
"Science has taught us how to put the atom to work. But to make it work for good instead of for evil lies in the domain dealing with the principles of human duty. We are now facing a problem more of ethics than physics" (Bernard Baruch)
"The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking and we thus drift toward unparalleled catastrophe." (Albert Einstein)
