Theodore "Dutch" Van Kirk was born in Pennsylvania. He grew up in a very small town and he described himself as a "river rat" because they lived so close to 2 rivers. He says his childhood was idyllic. He became interested in aviation and flying when he visited a county fair during his childhood. He went on a ride in a biplane and was fascinated from that moment on. When it became apparent to him that the US would have to join the war at some point, he applied for aviation cadet school because he would rather fly than walk on the ground in the mud. He attended college for 1 year before attending aviation school. He had to pass an exam to get into the school, he has no idea how he passed.Van Kirk did not hear back from aviation school for over a year. He almost did not pass his final physical for training because he lost 4 teeth playing football. Initially, he wanted to be a pilot. He started his training in a civilian facility in Missouri. He learned to fly in a PT-13 within 2 days. He transferred to Enid, Oklahoma for basic training. He washed out of pilot training and he planned to join the RAF [Annotator's Note: British Royal Air Force]. A captain convinced him to go to navigation school instead. He truly enjoyed navigation training, until they doubled his training at Kelly Field, Texas.After training he joined the 97th Bombardment Group in Sarasota, Florida. He was assigned to 340th Bombardment Squadron, his commanding officer was Paul Tibbets [Annotator's Note: USAAF/USAF Brigadier General Paul W. Tibbets, Jr., pilot of the Enola Gay]. This is where he met Tom Ferebee [Annotator's Note: USAAF/USAF Colonel Thomas W. Ferebee, bombardier aboard the Enola Gay]. He was in a pilot named Rocket's crew. Rocket was eventually court marshaled when they reached England. Paul Tibbets took over Rocket's crew, that included Van Kirk.