Despite his belief that the use of the atom bomb saved lives in the long run, VanKirk continued: "The whole World War II experience shows shows that wars don't settle anything. I personally think there shouldn't be any atom bombs in the world--I'd like to see them all abolished."
He continued, "But if anyone has one, I want one more than my enemy."
"Dutch" VanKirk stayed in the military for a year after the war, then went to school, earned degrees in chemical engineering and signed on with DuPont where he stayed until retirement in 1985. Pictures accompanied the article of the Enola Gay returning from the August 6, 1945 mission and a picture of the crew being debriefed after dropping the bomb.
Another picture shows the bomber at its permanent display at the National Air and Space Museum's annex at Washington Dulles International Airport in Fairfax County, Virginia. The plane that dropped the Nagasaki atom bomb is on display at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.
One of the Greatest Generation. --GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
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