I believe the pilot should still be held in high regard - he did a job that had to be done - and the "new history" revisionists would like to make him out to be a mass murderer.
It was still a dangerous job - and it saved more lives than it took by accellerating the end of the war.
I would like to shake his hand and thank him for his service to our country.
Even if you believe that dropping the A-bomb was unjustified or unnecessary -- which I don't, and I know few FReepers do -- that has no bearing on how we should regard Gen. Tibbets.
He did not make policy. He carried out and issued orders, did a hard job well, and put his life on the line in service of his country. That deserves our eternal respect and gratitude, full stop.
I still can’t believe that the media has pretty successfully made the Japanese out to be victims here. Google “1937 Nanking” and you’ll never think that again (if you ever did before). If the axis had won WWII, what they would’ve done to American citizens would make the German Holocaust look like an 8 year old girl’s birthday party.