TLS signed “Theodore J. 'Dutch' Van Kirk,” one page, 8.5 x 11, personal letterhead, no date. In part: "I was selected as the navigator of the plane that would drop the first atomic bomb; Tibbets was picked as the pilot and Ferebee as Bombardier. We trained through June of 1945 with the 509th for an atom bomb delivery. Our group was reassigned to Tinian and the countdown to the bomb drop began. The selected target became Hiroshima. On August 6, 1945, I was the navigator on the B-29 'Enola Gay' and we were on our way to Hiroshima, Japan, for the atomic bomb mission. The 9,000-pound uranium bomb was nicknamed 'Little boy.' This specific uranium-235 atomic bomb had never been tested. An atomic bomb like the one later dropped on Nagasaki, nicknamed Fat Man had been tested in New Mexico, but not ours, no atomic bomb had ever been dropped from a plane. Approximately 30 minutes into the flight the bomb was armed. We flew toward the AiOi T-Bridge in Hiroshima at a speed of about 285 mph. After six-and-a-half hours of tough over water navigation, I placed the B-29 over target within seventeen seconds of the scheduled drop time of 0915. The Atomic bomb was dropped. Ground zero was set at 1,980 feet…It was probably the most important moment of the war. Forty three seconds later, the atomic bomb called 'Little Boy' exploded over Hiroshima, destroying the city and ushering in the dawn of the Nuclear Age." Van Kirk makes several emendations to the text in his own hand. In fine condition.
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