WENDOVER, Utah — The saying goes that a picture is worth a thousand words, but thousands of those pictures may be taken away. Now, the Historic Wendover Airfield in western Utah hopes to keep that history alive.
The airfield's museum covers the expansive history of what the Army Air Force accomplished during World War II. It’s filled with stories from the 509th Composite Group, the Women Air Force Service Pilots and much more.
One focus is the Enola Gay, the iconic aircraft that flew over Japan and dropped the world's first atomic bomb. The aircraft's crew trained at Wendover Air Base before their historic mission.
“Paul Tibbets, who was the commander of the 509th Composite Group selected to fly that first mission to Hiroshima, August 6, 1945. As they were preparing for that mission, he said, 'I want this named after my mother, Enola Gay.' The rest was history,” explained museum curator Landon Wilkey.
The museum’s storied past may have an impact on its future.
“People’s culture, heritage, their gender. To wipe that is essentially erasing that history,” Wilkey said.
According to The Associated Press, the U.S. Department of Defense has flagged 26,000 images, including those of the Enola Gay, for removal across every military branch to purge DEI content.
“They say, ‘We don’t need that, we need to be a cohesive unit.' Ignoring those parts of the story, but those are those individuals’ lived experiences,” explained Wilkey.
The museum curator says Wendover's stories are deeper than what can be found in a quick search.
“We acknowledge that the only reason the Enola Gay was probably flagged in this large purge of this potential removal is because it features the word 'gay,' he said. But the fact that this even happened is a disservice to our history. It shouldn’t have happened in the first place for this aircraft, but also for these storied individuals, who are potentially having their accomplishments wiped because of who they are.”
Through the halls of the museum's aircraft to the echoing walls of its box hangar, Wilkey promises that the location will continue to share stories of those who stepped foot on their base.
“Considering that there is still so much more history for us to uncover about our base and just for us to uncover about what our nation was going through at that time, it’s so essential that those resources remain accessible.”
