Sgt. Shamlian served in the United States Army Air Force with the 509th Composite Group on Tinian Island in the Pacific. He was the photographer who snapped the memorable photograph of Col. Paul Tibbets waving from the cockpit of the Enola Gay and many other photographs of the historic event. Among his numerous medals, Sgt. Shamlian received a Presidential Unit Citation in 1999 along with the 509th Composite Group. Artist and businessman, he founded Armen Photographers in Newark, N.J. in 1963.
Signed and uncropped photo of Paul Tibbets waving from the Enola Gay's cockpit before taking off for the bombing of Hiroshima in 1945Paul Tibbets waving from the Enola Gay's cockpit before taking off for the bombing of Hiroshima in 1945ROSWELL ARMY AIR FIELD, New Mexico -- Col. Paul Tibbetts, Jr., of Miami, FL, poses in front of his B-29 Superfortress "The Enola Gay" (named for his mother). The Enola Gay is the same plane he piloted when his bombardier dropped the first atom bomb over Hiroshima, Japan.L to R, standing: Lt. Col. John Porter, ground maintenance officer on B-29 "Enola Gay" which atom bombed Hiroshima, Japan; Major (then Capt.) Theodore J. (Dutch) Van Kirk, navigator; Major Thomas W. Ferebee, bombardier; Col. Paul W. Tibbets, 509th Group CO and pilot; Capt. Robert A. Lewis, co-pilot; and Lt. Jacob Beser, radar countermeasure officer.
L to R, front row: Sgt. Joseph S. Stiborik, radar operator; S/Sgt. George R. Caron, tail gunner; Pfc. Richard H. Nelson, radio operator; Sgt. Robert H. Shumard, assistant engineer; and S/Sgt. Wyatt E. Duzenbury, flight engineer.On June 14, 1945, Bob Lewis ferried a modified B-29 known only as Superfortress 44-86292 to the Utah base where the 509th Composite Group was training for its special assignment. Mission leader Paul W. Tibbets—standing at far right, next to Lewis—later named the B-29 after his mother.Morris R. Jeppson served as a lieutenant in the 1st Ordnance Squadron. He also worked as a weapons test officer. He was the assistant weaponeer on the Enola Gay on the Hiroshima bomb mission. photo of the Enola Gay from behind, signed in blue felt tip, “Paul Tibbets, Pilot, 6 Aug 1945.”Enola Gay crew upon their return to Tinian.General Carl Spaatz decorates Colonel Paul W, Tibbets with the Distinguished Service Cross after the Hiroshima mission
