We had the privilege of a personalized Tour of Tinian this week. The pastor of the SDA church on Tinian met us at the airport after our probably 7 minute flight, and showed us all the sights on the island.
Tinian was severely hit by Typhoon Yuto last fall, one of the strongest ever to hit a US property. Winds from 180 – 190 MPH! Saipan was hit very hard too, but more on that in a later blog.
There is nothing funny about people whose homes were destroyed, or people living in tents donated by FEMA (They were VERY helpful here, donating housing materials, tents, and even generators), but I did find humor in some power lines…
Tinian is well known as the site the Atomic Bombs were flown from, on the way to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We saw what’s left of the airfield and some Japanese buildings from when they used the airfields.
The Atomic Bombs, nicknamed “Fat Man” and “Little Boy” were loaded from pits in the ground up into the bombers. They have now placed protective glass covers over these pits.
Evidence of Japanese shrines:
Here is my video Tribute to Tinian:
Hi Bruce,
My Uncle was on Tinian during WWII as a Seebee right after US forces took over the island. They still got snipper fire now and then while building the runways. He operated the big cranes and bulldozers clearing trees and leveling the island to support the B29 missions. He and a his crew were given specs and the assignment to build two large pits but were never told what they were for. Much of what they did was through orders and not to question. I can’t remember if he told me it was after the mission they learned what the pits were used for or after he got home. But it was top secret. He had lots of photos he took of the island that I have copies of. The Japanese shrines look familiar I wonder if they are of the same ones he took during the war. He has pictures where he used his craine with other crew members to pickup overloaded B29s that didn’t make it off the ground at the end of the runways. He was young when he enlisted at age 17. Spent almost 3 years in the service. I hope history doesn’t forget this horrific time and future generations ahead will study and remember as well as honor what took place.
Howdy,
I’m really enjoying your blogs with pictures and video. Lois and I check them out as soon as they are posted. Looks like some of the video and shots are from a drone — is this correct?
FYI – it was “Fat Man” and “Little Boy”
Happy Trails!
Dan