Nobody knows
Into the air the secret rose
Where they´re going, nobody knows
Tomorrow they´ll return again
But we´ll never know where they´ve been.
Don´t ask us about results or such
Unless you want to get in Dutch.
But take it from one who is sure of the score,
the 509th is winning the war.
When the other Groups are ready to go
We have a program of the whole damned show
And when Halsey´s 5th shells Nippon´s shore
Why, shucks, we hear about it the day before.
And MacArthur and Doolittle give out in advance
But with this new bunch we haven´t a chance
We should have been home a month or more
For the 509th is winning the war
Anonymous, doggerel made up by pilots of other air groups about the “hush-hush” 509th
Activated on December 17, 1944, the 509th Composite Group of the United States Army Air Forces was commanded by Colonel Paul Tibbets, at 29 already a seasoned air combat veteran in Europe. The flying units of the Group, in addition to support units, consisted of the 393rd Bombardment Squadron and the 320th Troop Carrier Squadron, 1767 personnel, 15 B-29 bombers and 5 C-54 transports. The Group was based and trained at Wendover Air Force Base in Utah.
Training was conducted in intense secrecy with the officers and men advised that any breach of security would be punished with the utmost severity, which might well include the death penalty. Curious officers and men of other units were warned away at gun point.
The unit re-deployed to Tinian on June 11, 1945. The unit engaged in numerous practice bombing missions, including twelve over targets over the Home Islands, with special “pumpkin bombs” replicating the dimensions of the “Fat Man” atomic bomb.
The order for the attack arrived on July 29, 1945. Four target cities were designated: Hiroshima, Kokura, Niigata, and Nagasaki, with the attacks to occur after August 3, 1945, when weather permitted.
One very interesting fact in this post is that this was the only time in American history where nuclear weapons were just handed over to the military without close civilian oversight. At this point the only civilian influence was on the approved target list. After Nagasaki Truman imposed direct Presidential oversight on the use of nuclear weapons, and this policy has continued to the present day.
I went to IMDB to see the info about Above and Beyond. The trailer there has a completely different focus. It is the love story about Tibbets and his wife.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044324/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_6_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_%2520Above%2520and%2520Beyond
“nuclear weapons were just handed over to the military without close civilian oversight”
That thought…doesn’t mesh very well with what I have understood. Civilian leaders tolerated allowing military men to assume custody of “the gadget” only when absolutely needed for the mission to happen. Many discussions occurred after the war about who would keep the bombs and how. Civilians didn’t want military men allowed to “run wild”; military men didn’t want needless hindrance from fighting. Especially as worries grew about the threat of surprise attack.
“Truman imposed direct Presidential oversight on the use of nuclear weapons”
I think that is both true…and not. It’s true enough that Truman directed that a President would hold sole authority to authorize use of a nuclear weapon. ..It’s also true that a President will have given approval to any war effort we might conduct.
The issue of nuclear weapon control was illustrated by an incident during the Cuba blockade and only brought to light after the fall of the Soviet Union. Seems that the Soviet military had been given tactical authority to use field nuclear weapons (torpedoes, short range artillery missiles) if they felt they were under attack. A US destroyer apparently made a maneuver that was interpreted as an attack on a Soviet submarine in the Caribbean by the officer on duty. He urged the Captain to use a nuclear weapon on the fleet of American ships that were close by. After anguishing for several minutes, the sub Captain saw the destroyer turn away and he did the same. It was later verified that the incident did happen and provided the impetus for both Russia and the US to beef up the Hotline and to establish full civilian control in both countries of these weapons. The policy remains in the US but Putin’s instructions to his commanders is somewhat hazy.
“It was later verified that the incident did happen and provided the impetus for both Russia and the US to beef up the Hotline”
I believe this same incident was the original inspiration for the 90s movie “Crimson Tide”.
So, now AI has its finger on the red button.