So which was he (Tibbets)? A four-star or a Brigadier? You can’t be both.
“So which was he (Tibbets)? A four-star or a Brigadier? You can’t be both.”
Paul W Tibbets Jr enlisted in the US Army Air Corps in 1937 and retired from active duty in USAF in 1966, with the rank of Brigadier General (one star).
It’s unrealistic to expect a USN Yeoman to recall the finer distinctions among USAF officer ranks, 55 years later.
There is every possibility that author Jeff Bahr or the editors at the Grand Island Independent made mistakes. Perhaps more than one: the photo accompanying the original post does not show Mr Karschner wearing a Senior Chief’s uniform.
The next-to-last sentence of author Bahr’s article contains an error also: Thomas W Ferebee released the bomb from Enola Gay. He was the bombardier, not a pilot. 109 years after aircraft began carrying more than one person, most civilians still refer to anyone who flies as a “pilot”. It’s also a common mistake among members of the military who aren’t aviators.