Theodore Van Kirk
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* 27th February 1921 + 28th July 2014 United States Army Air Corps navigator who flew 58 B-17 Flying Fortress combat missions with the 97th Bomb Group over Occupied France and Germany during World War II. Since April 1942 he was assigned to unit in England as a navigator of the crew of "Red Gremlin" also included pilot Paul Tibbets and Tom Ferebee, bombardier. From August to October 1942 the crew flew 11 missions out of England. They were also the lead aircraft, responsible for group navigation and bombing. Van Kirk returned to the States in June 1943 and from November 1944 to June 1945 he trained continually for the first atomic bomb drop. |
| Captain Van Kirk was most famous as the navigator of the Enola Gay when it dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. |