By Pete Muntean, CNN

(CNN) — As they fly wing to wing over a vital spot in the development of the atomic bomb, a native of Japan and a former US military officer hope their friendship outshines the horror of the blasts that took place 80 years ago.

On Wednesday, pilots Adrian Eichhorn, 69, and Shinji Maeda, 46, will board their 60-year-old Beechcraft Bonanzas and fly in close formation over historic Wendover Field in Utah on the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan.

“It is history forgotten,” said Eichhorn. “If this helps renew that interest to thank all the people involved in the war effort, that’s important.”

Working alongside scientists from Los Alamos, the Wendover base’s 20,000 personnel became significant to the success of the Manhattan Project. The nearby salt flats are where B-29 crews tested “pumpkin bombs” bulbous enough to fit atomic warheads. It’s also where the crews of Enola Gay and Bockscar would depart the United States to start their journeys to Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

At least 100,000 people died as a direct result of the bombings on August 6 and August 9, 1945, according to the National Archives. The Japanese surrender days later effectively ended World War II.

“In Japan, we have mixed feelings,” said Maeda, who grew up in a farming town in Japan. He was barred from learning to fly as a teen due to a 1998 motorcycle crash that severed an optic nerve.

“In America, I became the one-eyed pilot,” said Maeda.

The flying duo met in 2019 and quickly discovered they had more in common than they first realized. Not only did they have a love of flying, but Eichhorn had also been in a bad motorcycle crash. “We joke that our first flight was over a car,” he said.

Both men have circumnavigated the globe solo. Eichorn, who has also flown over the North Pole, advised Maeda on his 2021 round-the-world flight.

“He’s been my sensei, friend and brother,” Maeda said.

“It’s the fellowship of airmen,” said Eichhorn. “We have a bond with each other that I think few other hobbyists or sports people have.”

The pair hopes their flights over Wendover serve as a metaphor for how far the relationship between the United States and Japan has come. Both hail from families that effectively fought against each other during the Second World War.

“You could have asked anybody on the planet in 1945 when we dropped the first atomic bomb if Japan and the United States would someday become allies and I would argue that nobody would have said yes,” Eichhorn said. “The shock effect, the devastation of it — I still think it’s probably one of the most difficult decisions the United States ever had to make.”

Eichhorn’s authority on the subject is one afforded to few. He spent four years as a nuclear adviser to President Bill Clinton, prepared to present the commander in chief with options for a retaliatory strike in the case of a nuclear attack on the United States.

“There are lots of wars on this planet,” Maeda said. “The question is, why we are not learning from history?”

Maeda’s career also took off. He now works for Boeing.

“That is the beauty of aviation,” said Maeda. “I’m very proud of this relationship.”

The-CNN-Wire
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