Dutch Van Kirk and the Courage of One's Convictions

Theodore, “Dutch” Van Kirk died on Monday, July 28, age 93, in Stone Martin, Georgia.  Dutch was the last surviving member of the crew of the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.  Few of us are ever placed in a position to participate in history’s pivot points.  In Dutch Van Kirk, history—and the United States Air Force—chose well.

            The Enola Gay, a B-29 Superfortress, dropped the 9,000 pound atomic bomb, “Little Boy” over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.   Van Kirk, the navigator, brought his pilot, Paul Tibbits and bombardier, Tom Ferebee over the target just 15 seconds behind schedule on a 6 hour flight.  Every member of that crew knew this was a desperate experiment.  The bomb might not work; if it did, their plane might be ripped apart in the blast.  

            At first, the crew thought the bomb was a dud.  It fell in silence past the 43 second count they had been given.  Then: a blinding flash, a shockwave, and another, and then, the deadly cloud.  The world of man tipped on its edge.

            When asked, years after the fact, to give his reaction to the awesome responsibility of dropping that bomb this is what Mr. Van Kirk said:

 

Under the same circumstances -- and the key words are 'the same circumstances' -- yes, I would do it again. We were in a war for five years. We were fighting an enemy that had a reputation for never surrendering, never accepting defeat. It's really hard to talk about morality and war in the same sentence. In a war, there are so many questionable things done. Where was the morality in the bombing of Coventry, or the bombing of Dresden, or the Bataan death march, or the Rape of Nanking, or the bombing of Pearl Harbor? I believe that when you're in a war, a nation must have the courage to do what it must to win the war with a minimum loss of lives.

 

Mr. Van Kirk was a cautious soldier, wary of war and in favor or nuclear disarmament.  But he always added that if anyone had atomic weapons, he wanted to have one more than his enemy.  In many ways he was the perfect soldier, conscious of his responsibilities, courageous in their execution, and judicious in their application.  All of these qualities require a core of morality and well defined ethos. 

            Unfortunately, there is a faction in this country that has no ethos beyond pragmatism and no morality except immediate gratification.  They represent the dry rot of American society and have wormed their way into power.  These people are the creeping disease that comes from people who grow up with too much—too much money—too much entitlement—too much ignorance—too much ease and far, far, far too little discipline.   Such people are so filled with hubris they are sure that human perfection is possible; it is not.  They believe that humanity can be controlled into tranquility—always through governmental fiat.  Worst yet, with the effete snobbery that comes from entitlement or obsequious treatment (frequently by the media), they are sure that they—and only they—are the repositories of all that is right. 

              Such people would never have used the atomic bomb.  What would have happened then?  What would our world look like now?  What happens when the imperialism, autocracy, and cultural elitism that characterized Japan in the middle of the 20^th century, is allowed to flourish.  We will know the answer to that question when Hamas and militant Islam are allowed to take over the Mid-east and creep across our world.

            God bless the crew of the Enola Gay, who acted the faith.