Enola Gay is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, mother of pilot Paul Tibbets. The B-29 was one of the largest aircraft to see service during World War II. A very advanced bomber for this time period, it included features such as a pressurized cabin, an electronic fire-control system, and remote-controlled machine-gun turrets. Though it was designed as a high-altitude daytime bomber, in practice it actually flew more low-altitude nighttime incendiary bombing missions.

It was the primary aircraft in the American firebombing campaign against the Empire of Japan in the final months of World War II, and carried the atomic bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Enola Gay carried the bomb that was code-named "Little Boy" that was targeted at the city of Hiroshima, Japan. Unlike many other World War II-era bombers, the B-29 remained in service long after the war ended, with a few even being employed as flying television transmitters for the Stratovision company. The type was finally retired in the early 1960s, with 3,970 aircraft in all built.

The Enola Gay crew consisted of 12 men including Theodore "Dutch" Van Kirk and Morris Richard Jeppson, who have personally signed this B-29 model.

Theodore Van Kirk, nicknamed Dutch, joined the Army Air Force Aviation Cadet Program in October 1941. On April 1, 1942 he received both his commission and navigator wings and transferred to the 97th Bomb Group, the first operational B-17 Flying Fortress unit in England. The crew of the "Red Gremlin" also included Enola Gay pilot Paul Tibbets and bombardier Tom Ferebee. From August to October 1942 the crew flew 11 missions out of England. They were the lead aircraft, responsible for group navigation and bombing. Van Kirk returned to the States in June 1943 after flying a total of 58 missions overseas. He served as an instructor navigator until reuniting with Tibbets and Ferebee in the 509th Composite Group at Wendover Field, Utah, in late 1944. The group flew the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, with Tibbets as commander and Van Kirk as the group navigator. From November 1944 to June 1945 they trained continually for the first atomic bomb drop, which occurred August 6, 1945. In August 1946 Van Kirk completed his service in the Army Air Force as a Major. His decorations include the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross and 15 Air Medals. Van Kirk went on to receive his Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Chemical Engineering from Bucknell University in 1949 and 1950. For the next 35 years he held various technical and managerial positions in research and marketing with a major US company. Van Kirk is now retired and is the last surviving member of the Enola Gay crew.

Morris Richard Jeppson studied physics at the University of Nevada. After enlisting in the United States Army Air Corps in 1942, he did basic training in Florida and went on to receive electrical engineering training at Yale University, Harvard University and MIT. Second Lieutenant Jeppson, along with then Captain William "Deak" Parsons of the U.S. Navy were responsible for arming the atomic bomb "Little Boy" during the flight from Tinian to Japan. The bomb was protected from premature in-flight detonation by inserting three safety plugs into the electrical connection from its internal battery to the firing mechanism. Jeppson's role was to climb into the bomb bay and remove the three green safety plugs from the bomb and to replace them with the three red plugs just before the aircraft climbed to high altitude close the target area. In September 1945, Jeppson was awarded the Silver Star in recognition of his service to his country. During the 1950s he worked as a scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California developing hydrogen thermonuclear weapons. Later in his career, he helped develop several key technological breakthroughs including microwave technology as well as stabilizers used on helicopters. After retiring from his work as a physicist, Jeppson lived in Las Vegas with his second wife Mollie. Jeppson died on March 30, 2010 in Las Vegas, leaving Van Kirk as the last surviving member of the famous historic mission that ended World War II.

Certificate of Authenticity included.