Bob Caron; Tail Gunner on the Enola Gay in World War II

Bob Caron, 75, tailgunner on the Enola Gay when the B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945. With the 50th anniversary of the historical bombing approaching, Caron said in a recent interview, “No remorse, no bad dreams. We accomplished our mission.” Caron was the crewmember who photographed the bomb’s mushroom cloud. The bomb killed up to 100,000 people and injured countless others. Three days later, the U.S. dropped another nuclear bomb on Nagasaki killing another 40,000, and Japan surrendered a few days later, ending World War II. Five members of the Enola Gay’s 14-man crew are still living and plan to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their mission in Albuquerque in August. Caron, who was assigned to the project while testing B-29s in the Army, last month published his autobiography, “Fire of a Thousand Suns.” After his Army career ended, Caron became an engineer for Sundstrand Corp. On Saturday in Denver of pneumonia.