He really did shoot A-bomb photos

[babylonsister]

He really did shoot A-bomb photos

http://media2.newsobserver.com/smedia/2010/07/31/21/HIROSHIMA-801.ART_GAC1I782J.1+HIROSHIMA1.NE.072710.CEL.embedded.prod_affiliate.156.jpg
John McGlohon, right, of Asheboro holds a photo of himself with an aerial camera similar to the one he used to shoot photos of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. At left is Ken Samuelson, who spent months doggedly tracking the A-bomb photo.

BY MARTHA QUILLIN - Staff Writer


PITTSBORO -- The dropping of the first atomic bomb was a deliberately exclusive mission assigned to just three U.S. planes: the Enola Gay, which carried the 9,700-pound ordnance the morning of Aug. 6, 1945, and two other B-29s that followed at a safe distance to record the effects of the blast.

Other Allied aircraft were barred from the area of southern Japan, mostly because scientists who built the bomb didn't know exactly what it would do.

But there was one more B-29 in the sky over Hiroshima at the moment "Little Boy" was let loose, and its crew witnessed the event that helped end World War II.

It has been left out of historical accounts - and treated by some as the spurious claim of an old man - because this plane wasn't supposed to be there.

Asheboro flyboy John McGlohon and his 10 Army Air Force crewmen didn't get the order to stay away from Hiroshima. When the bomb blew up, their aircraft was approaching the city on a routine photography reconnaissance mission, with McGlohon running the cameras. The photos he took minutes after the explosion were the only ones made looking straight down on Hiroshima as the mushroom cloud was enveloping it.

For decades, McGlohon had nothing more to substantiate his story of having seen and photographed that pivotal moment than his detailed memories. The Enola Gay flying in the opposite direction, trying to get clear of the blast. The blinding burst of light at detonation, brighter than a million-million flash bulbs. The massive cloud of ash and smoke.

more...

http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/08/01/607571/he-really-did-shoot-a-bomb-photos.html

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. What a great story!

Thank you, my dear babylonsister, for bringing it to us.

I'm really glad that photographer is finally enjoying the credit that is rightfully his. And I can't say enough good things about the man who dug and dug, until the truth was found.

Recommended.

:patriot:

[uppityperson]

2. Very interesting, thanks.

I sent it off to my dad since he worked on the ground doing photo recon.

[Canuckistanian]

3. So? Where are the pictures?

It seems this "Tyler Museum" has the prints - have they released any for public viewing?

[NNN0LHI]

4. Here is the only known photo looking straight down on Hiroshima minutes after the atomic bomb

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/08/01/1594228/he-shot-photos-of-the-a-bomb.html

http://media.charlotteobserver.com/smedia/2010/07/31/21/hiroshima-801_GM61I7TJ1.1+HIROSHIMA3.NE.072710.CEL.embedded.prod_affiliate.138.jpg

The only known photo looking straight down on the Japanese city of Hiroshima just minutes after the atomic bomb was dropped was shot by John McGlohon of Asheboro while on another mission. COURTESY OF JOHN MCGLOHON

[Canuckistanian]

7. Thanks

:hi:

[blogslut]

5. Yes, the photo is on display at the HAMM in Tyler, TX

as is stated in the article.

[pipoman]

6. A very good story...k&r

another great story on this same subject is the government photography of Dr. Harold Edgerton, inventor of the camera strobe and father of high speed photography.Edgerton and colleagues were the photographers for the government's atomic bomb testing following WW2, this is undenied fact. There are however stories which even the late Doc Edgerton's family apparently believe, about doc using his high speed photography to photograph the wounding of detainees, particularly gun shot wounds of live (or formerly living) prisoners. There are several accounts floating around but no pictures have ever surfaced.