Utah historians and World War II veterans would like to see the Enola Gay returned to a place of honor at the Army's old Wendover air base on the Utah-Nevada border.
If they had their way, the B-29 bomber that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945 would find a home in a hangar-turned-museum, perhaps as part of Tooele County's 1996 Utah Centennial celebration.It was at Wendover where the crew of the Enola Gay trained from October 1944 to June 1945.
But the aircraft is destined for the Smithsonian Institution, which is refurbishing the plane for a 1995 exhibit commemorating the 50th anniversary of the war's end.
The Smithsonian plans to open its National Air and Space Museum annex at Dulles International Airport around the turn of the century. The Enola Gay, a space shuttle and other historic aircraft would be housed there.
The elements have left their mark on the Enola Gay's old Wendover hangar, now owned by the city. Its huge steel doors are badly rusted, and its interior has been gutted by vandals, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.
But the hangar itself still is structurally sound, said airport manager Chris Melville.
George Marquardt, a Murray, Utah, veteran who trained at Wendover, also would like to see the Enola Gay come home.
The former major, who flew a B-29 called Necessary Evil while it photographed the Hiroshima blast, said he told Smithsonian the same thing officials when they sought his memorabilia.
He would not part with the opaque welder's goggles that crew members wore to protect their eyes from the flash.
When the bomb exploded, "It looked like the sun came out of the Earth," Marquardt recalled.
The plane would draw more visitors at the Smithsonian than it could in Wendover, he conceded. But with so many displays at the Air and Space Museum, he fears the Enola Gay could lose some of the attention it deserves.
He also worries Washington is too political for an A-bomb exhibit.
"There will be a politically incorrect comment. Somebody will be offended. The exhibit will shut down," Marquardt said.
A refurbished Enola Gay could last several hundred years at the Air and Space Museum, said spokesman Mike Fetters. But he does not see the plane spending any of that time in Wendover.
Its fuselage from nose to wings will be featured in the Smithsonian's 1995 exhibit. By around 2000, the annex should be ready for the entire Enola Gay.
Maxine Grimm of Utah's Statehood Centennial Commission would like to see the plane's wings, at least, trucked to Wendover. Then Tooele County should consider restoring the hangar.