Tinian’s place in the history of warfare was insured by the flight of Enola Gay on 6 August 1945. It dropped a nuclear weapon on Hiroshima. Two days later a second nuclear weapon was dropped on Nagasaki. The next day, the Japanese government surrendered.
Marine Corps Combat Art Collection
“Japanese Backyard in Tinian Town,” by Gail Zumwalt
In his official history of the 2d Marine Division, Richard W. Johnston records the reaction when news of the surrender reached the division at its base on Saipan:
They looked at Tinian’s clean and rocky coast, at the coral boulders where they had gone ashore, and they thought of the forbidding coasts of Japan—the coasts that awaited them in the fall. “That Tinian was a pretty good investment, I guess,” one Marine finally said.
The anecdote may be apocryphal. The sentiment is historically true.
The hand salute in its various forms is rendered by those present as the colors are raised over Tinian on 1 August. At the extreme right is VAdm Richmond K. Turner; commander, Expeditionary/Northern Attack Force for the Tinian landings.
Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 152064
