Interesting... Will Enola Gay ride again?

 

I was interested to read that the US Air Force is restoring the huge World War II North Field air base on the island of Tinian, from which the atomic bomb missions were launched against Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.  Nikkei Asia reports:

The U.S. Air Force is stepping up construction at the Tinian North airfield, once used by the largest B-29 bomber fleet during World War II, and at the Tinian International airfield, Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, commander of the Pacific Air Forces, said in an interview on Wednesday.

"If you pay attention in the next few months, you will see significant progress, especially at Tinian North," Wilsbach said.

The airfield "has extensive pavement underneath the overgrown jungle. We'll be clearing that jungle out between now and summertime," Wilsbach said, adding that it will be "an extensive" facility once construction is complete.

Wilsbach declined to comment on when the airstrip will be operational.

Tinian lies about 200 kilometers north of Guam and is part of the Northern Mariana Islands. Revitalizing the outpost is meant to advance the air force's operational strategy known as Agile Combat Employment. It calls for moving aircraft to as many locations as possible in the western Pacific to avoid an enemy's missile strikes in a crisis, a major shift from post-Cold War strategy.

There's more at the link.

I wonder whether the ghosts of the men of the 509th Composite Group will gather at the renovated airfield to greet their successors in uniform?

Peter