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WWII bombing pits excavation underway
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Posted on Jun 06 2004
As part of preparations for the upcoming Commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of World War II Battles of Saipan and Tinian, the Tinian Mayor’s Office is currently engaged in a project aimed at excavating bomb pits located on Tinian.
This according to vice chair of the Committee for the Commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of World War II Jerry Facey, who confirmed on Friday that the project is headed by Tinian Mayor Francisco M. Borja in collaboration with the committee.
Facey said the project has been long pushed by the committee, but is just getting underway after getting approval from the U.S. military.
“We been planning the project for a couple of months now, but just recently did we receive permission and given the green light to move on with it,” he said.
Facey said the original goal was to clean out two pits, Bomb Pit 1 and Bomb Pit 2, but due to time constraint, only one of the two will be completed in time for the 60th.
“The soil is very hard and things are going very slowly,” he said. “Everything is done through manual labor…no machinery is permitted by naval forces. Getting both done is impossible, but we’re sure to have one completed by at least the end of next week.”
Facey said upon completion of the clean-up process, the pit would be covered with a special fiberglass for preservation.
The unveiling of the pit, as well as memorial ceremonies on Tinian, will take place on June 16. The pits will be unveiled in recognition of the return of Enola Gay pilot Gen. Paul Tibbets and the entire surviving crew of the Enola Gay. Another memorial will be dedicated, one that will commemorate the USS Indianapolis’ mission to Tinian.
Tibbets, who will arrive on June 13, will be accompanied by Weaponeer Morris Jeppson and Navigator Theodore Van Kirk.
On August 6, 1045, Tibbets and company took off from the Northfield Air Field onboard the Enola Gay, carrying an atomic bomb—Little Boy. The crew journeyed to Hiroshima, where the bomb was dropped.
Another bombing was executed three days later in Nagasaki, prompting Japan to surrender on Sept. 2, 1945, resulting in the end of the war.
