Van Kirk flew 58 missions in England and North Africa before returning to the United States. He was assigned to navigation training and in November 1944 became group navigator of the 509th Composite Group training for atom bomb delivery. Quietly, in June 1945, the group started moving overseas to the Pacific island of Tinian in the Marianas chain. Their familiar arrowhead tail markings were changed on both sides to the letter R in a circle, standard identification for the Sixth Bomb Group. The idea behind this change was to confuse the enemy if they made contact.

On Aug. 6, 1945, Van Kirk was the navigator on the first atomic bombing mission. At 2:30 a.m., the Enola Gay lifted off North Field en route to Hiroshima, Japan. "I knew when we hit the coast of Japan we were well on the way to completing a successful mission, and the new bomb we carried would be a great help in shortening the war," Van Kirk said.

At exactly 09:15:15, the world's first atomic bomb exploded. When the Enola Gay landed back on Tinian Island at 2:58 p.m., the plane and crew were greeted by Gen. Spaatz, a large contingent of brass, and jubilant GIs. Van Kirk later participated in the first Bikini Atoll atomic bomb tests.

Thursday, 1/3/08 from 10-11 p.m. ET