Korean war, Atomic bomb, Travis AFB

[commanding]

I heard a story, decades ago from a member of the Travis family (supposedly the same family of William B. Travis commander of the Alamo), who told me that Gen. Robert F. Travis... the man Travis Air Force Base in California is named for, was in the process of delivering an atomic bomb (in two parts) to Korea during the Korean war. When his aircraft crashed killing everyone, just after takeoff in California. I believe this to be true, as have done a bit of research on it. However, I have never seen much info on if the plan was to have the A-bomb at the ready or to actually use it once it arrived, etc.
Does anyone know any more good info on this? Seems like this would have been a big deal and either the attempt to take the bomb to Korea would have been repeated, rather than just given up?

from wiki:
The base was renamed Travis Air Force Base in 1951 for Brigadier General (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigadier_General) Robert F. Travis (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Robert_F._Travis&action=edit&redlink=1), who was killed when a B-29 Superfortress (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-29_Superfortress) crashed on August 5 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_5), 1950 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1950). The ensuing fire caused the 10,000 pounds of high explosives (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_explosives) in the plane's cargo — a Mark 4 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_4_nuclear_bomb) nuclear weapon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapon) — to detonate, killing General Travis and 18 others. (The bomb's plutonium (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutonium) pit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapon_design#Pit) was being transported in a different plane.) [9] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travis_Air_Force_Base#cite_note-B29crash-8)

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h8/clovisfirst/MILITARY/Robert_F_Travis.jpg
Gen. Travis

and the Mark 4:
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h8/clovisfirst/MILITARY/Mk4_Fat_Man_bomb.jpg

[BearInBunnySuit]

Very intriguing information. Thank you for sharing.
I did quite a bit of reading on the Korean War and while there is plenty of information about MacArthur wanting to use the bomb, this is the first time I've heard anything about it being actually transported.

After reading your post, I did a quick search on the Korean web but couldn't find anything at all.

The only thing I can think of is that it was being sent over in the event that Inchon Landing failed?

[wasser]

The weren't headed to Korea, but to Guam. Others made it and then went on standby.


While the U.S. Strategic Air Command was well prepared to launch an all-out attack against the Soviet Union, it was less clear how it could use atomic weapons in a limited conflict like Korea. On August 1, 1950, the "decision was made to send the 9th Bomb Wing to Guam as an atomic task force immediately." Ten B-29s, loaded with unarmed atomic bombs, set out for the Pacific. On August 5, one of the planes crashed during take off from Fairfield-Suisun Air Force base near San Francisco, killing a dozen people and scattering the mildly radioactive uranium of the bomb's tamper around the airfield. The other planes reached Guam where they went on standby duty.

At a press conference on November 30, President Truman confirmed that he had been actively considering using atomic bombs in Korea since the beginning of the war. The comments provoked worldwide reaction and British Prime Minister Clement Attlee rushed to Washington to express his concern. Truman reluctantly reassured him that the U.S. had "no intention" of using atomic weapons in Korea except to prevent a "major military disaster."

So while President Truman tried to use his atomic superiority to the United States' advantage in North Korea he was never able to. Ultimately, it was not even clear that atomic bombing in a war against peasant armies would produce decisive results. If the Americans used the bomb and the Chinese forces kept on coming, it would demonstrate the bomb's ineffectiveness and reduce its deterrent effect in other arenas. ~ source (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/bomb/peopleevents/pandeAMEX58.html)

[commanding]

The weren't headed to Korea, but to Guam. Others made it and then went on standby.

~ source (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/bomb/peopleevents/pandeAMEX58.html)

Well thanks! That is great to read that. Not that I had strong feelings about the use one way or the other, it is just that I had never seen much about it in print, or anywhere for that matter. The fellow who revealed this to me was (supposedly) the son of Gen. Travis. I have no reason to doubt him, nor his story, as I couldn't believe someone would make up something like that. Thanks again!:grin: