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August 6. A story in song for contemplation. Able, Baker, Charlie, & Dog
From the album of the same title by Joe Crookston. In the liner notes Joe writes:
My grandpa, Joe Gnap, worked full time in northeast Ohio at a glue factory until he was 96 years old. Eight months before he passed away, he told me this story. As a member of the Navy Construction Battalion, he was based on Tinian Island in the South Pacific during WWII. He, along with 4000 other Navy Seebees, built four runways. One of the runways was used by Enola Gay and by Box Car to fly over Japan.
There's another video of the song available here, where Joe introduces the song by talking about the circumstances in which his grandfather told the story. I think the fact that Joe Gnap waited so long to share his story reveals the inner conflict he must have felt about his involvement. Joe Crookston has captured that conflict well in his song.
Although I was not born until well after Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the end of World War II, the song helps me explore my conflicted feelings as well.