AFA Testifies on Enola Gay

Air Force Magazine - July 1995, Pg. 90

AFA President R.E. Smith testified before the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration on May 11, 1995. Smith presented the committee with background on AFA's role in the Enola Gay controversy, which was first ignited after the publication of the article, "War Stories at Air and Space," in the April 1994 issue of Air Force Magazine.

Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) opened the hearing by stating, "We are here today because the Smithsonian decided to present an interpretation of the history of the Enola Gay's historic flight. The veterans in this country reacted strongly, for good reason, to the scripts that emerged from the Smithsonian. In the 50 years since World War II ended, and recently, there has been a constant erosion of the truth of what really happened during that war."

Stevens pointed out that the purpose of the hearing was to review what went wrong with the Smithsonian's process -- "particularly, what led the Smithsonian to propose a view of the events that took place at the end of World War II that was contrary to those who lived through the war."

After recounting key milestones in the controversy, AFA President Smith said, "As we pointed out in our very first report on the Enola Gay, this is not the first flawed exhibit at the Air and Space Museum or within the Smithsonian complex. We believe that actions should be taken to ensure that curators in our national museums have the benefit of review and comment by a full range of recognized experts and that mechanisms be put into place to ensure that this happens."

The committee also heard testimony from the American Legion, The Retired Officers Association, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and from Maj. Gen. Charles W. Sweeney, USAF (Ret.), who flew the instrument plane on the right wing of the Enola Gay on the Hiroshima mission and who commanded the atomic mission over Nagasaki three days later.

On May 18, the committee heard testimony from Smithsonian officials, including Secretary of the Smithsonian I. Michael Heyman and Dr. Tom Crouch of the National Air and Space Museum. He supervised the curators of the Enola Gay exhibit and drafted part of the script.

Heyman told the committee that, as a result of the controversy, he has initiated an independent management review of the National Air and Space Museum by the National Academy of Public Administration. AFA has briefed representatives from NAPA, and its report is due out in September. Heyman also revealed that he is in the process of developing policies for exhibitions across the entire Smithsonian complex.

Heyman stated, "We are developing guidelines that will establish appropriate parameters within which museum directors and curators will collaborate on the choice and design of exhibitions; the processes for review and intervention, including a role for the Secretary's office; the extent to which historical exhibitions should speak within the context of the time; and ways to assure that our multiple audiences feel that their own ideas are being respected."

Heyman also said that the Smithsonian would be willing to lend the Enola Gay to another museum that has the space to display the full aircraft. The National Air and Space Museum will not be able to accommodate the full aircraft until the Dulles extension of the museum is completed.

In terms of the law governing the Smithsonian, Stevens said at one point in the hearing that he would introduce legislation to clarify the charter of the Smithsonian Institution so that congressional intent concerning the role of the National Air and Space Museum would not be subject to misinterpretation in the future.

As a result of the controversy, the director of the National Air and Space Museum, Dr. Martin Harwit, resigned on May 2. In their testimony, Smithsonian officials gave no timetable for naming a successor.

You may contact the Air Force Association at 1501 Lee Highway, Arlington, Virginia, 22209-1198, or by email: com@afa.org