August 6, 1945: General Carl A. Spaatz Orders Bomb Drop on Hiroshima

By Margaret Leidy Harner from her book One Day at a Time: A Social History of Boyertown, PA.

August 6, 1945: General Carl A. Spaatz has ordered the Enola Gay, commanded by Col. Paul Tibbetts, to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.

When Spaatz arrived in the Pacific on August 1, he presented General Douglas MacArthur and Admiral Chester Nimitz with his letter of instructions on dropping the first atomic bomb. He had made it clear to General George Marshall and President Harry Truman that he would only order an atomic bomb dropped with written orders, not by a verbal command. Tibbetts and the crew of the 509th Bombardment Group had been training for this mission since June, making practice strikes with TNT bombs.

They were successful, and the first atomic bomb was in place and ready to be assembled in flight. The mission was accomplished with precision and that afternoon Spaatz pinned a Distinguished Service Cross on Col. Tibbetts and Silver Stars on the crew members.

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