Details:

James Van Pelt autographed pair of 8.5 x 11” xerographic copies reproducing official mission summaries for the atomic bombing missions against Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Both sheets are signed by Van Pelt in blue ink along the left margin. The first details Mission 13, the August 6, 1945 Hiroshima attack, including the Enola Gay‘s flight plan, target assignments, aiming point, route, and timeline, before continuing into Mission 16, the August 9, 1945 Nagasaki mission. The second sheet completes the Nagasaki mission summary, documenting the route flown by Bock’s Car, the failed bombing attempts over Kokura, the diversion to Nagasaki, the successful bombing run, and the aircraft’s return to Tinian. Together, the pair presents a detailed operational record of the only two wartime uses of atomic weapons.

Fine condition.

James Van Pelt served as a navigator with the elite 509th Composite Group during World War II, the highly secretive unit formed to conduct the atomic bombing missions against Japan. Although he did not fly aboard the Enola Gay on the Hiroshima mission, Van Pelt was among the specially trained navigators assigned to the 509th and participated in the unit’s extensive preparation for long-range atomic operations from Tinian. Signed documentation relating directly to the Hiroshima and Nagasaki missions is seldom encountered and offers an important connection to the planning and execution of the missions that brought World War II to its conclusion and ushered in the nuclear age.

Authentication:
Includes a full letter of authenticity from JG Autographs, Inc.

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Reference sku: 11644 1416661-1