Paul Tibbets Jr., who flew plane that dropped first atomic bomb, dies at 92

Columbus Dispatch ^ | Thursday, November 1, 2007 10:29 AM

[snippy_about_it]

Paul Tibbets Jr., who flew the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb — on Hiroshima, Japan — died this morning at his East Side home. He was 92.

Tibbets had suffered small strokes and heart failure in his final years and had been in hospice care.

He was born in Quincy, Ill., but grew up in Miami after his father moved the family there.

See link for complete story. Tibbets fell in love with flight and, at age 12, volunteered as a backseat assistant to a biplane pilot, dropping leaflets for the Curtiss Candy Co. at fairs, carnivals and other public gatherings.

He joined the Army Air Corps in 1938.

[Kathy in Alaska]

TAPS

RIP Gen Paul Tibbets

Amazing Grace

[BluH2o]

I wonder if his duty ever haunted him?

Not in the least ... he felt, and rightfully so, that the bomb dropped on Hiroshima brought the war to a swift conclusion ... saving perhaps millions of lives ... both American and Japanese.

[Cali Redneck]

I wonder if Leslie Groves could have passed a physical at that time ;)

Being a construction guy, I’m not a big fan of engineers. I do respect some of them, though...

[ripley]

rest in peace, sir.

[tomkow6]

Enola Gay

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Enola Gay is the B-29 Superfortress bomber that dropped "Little Boy", the first atomic bomb ever used in war, when the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) attacked Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945, just before the end of World War II. Because of its roles in the atomic bombings of Japan, its name has been synonymous with the bombings themselves. It was named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot."

[warsaw44]

I met him once many years ago when I was working in a restaurant kitchen. There was a private function attended by a large number of vets ( wish I could recall what organization hosted) and the owner mentioned he was there. I came out of the kitchen to meet him. Really a nice guy, Rest in Peace.

[warsaw44]

Oddly enough, I just watched a History Channel documentary on the Manhattan Project two days ago. Col. Tibbets was interviewed and mentioned he wanted there to be no chance any other plane in the entire USAAF would have the same name as his aircraft. He felt his mothers name was unique and used it for his aircraft.

[Moose4]

Mine as well—my father was a noncom mechanic working in a motor pool on Leyte and wasn’t a combat infantryman, but had already been told that when the balloon went up for an invasion, he’d be going ashore as a grunt.

Japan still had a million or more men under arms, and they had THIRTY MILLION civilians supposedly ready to resist an invasion, with nothing but bamboo spears and stones if need be. The killing would have made Stalingrad look like a bar fight.

}:-)4

[Ultra Sonic 007]

Bump for truth. War is Hell, and the most merciful thing to do is end it.

[NCC-1701]

You were a very fortunate guy to meet him.

(Turning green with envy).

[pabianice]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1919631/posts

[snippy_about_it]

Good to see you sir, as always.

[snippy_about_it]

Dear Seven,

It would only be cold if there was something bad about his plane or his mission. Neither is true so it was an honorable thing to do.

[snippy_about_it]

Whoa. You must read about the engineers in Europe during WWII. Very smart, very fit. Of course the combat engineers were different than desk ones.

A good read is “First Across the Rhine” about the 291st Engineer Combat Battalion by Colonel David E. Pergrin.

“Why did the 291st Engineer Combat Battalion stand its ground during the Battle of the Bulge when many combat and support outfits broke and fled? According to Pergrin, former commanding officer, pride, morale, training, and leadership caused the 291st to be named the premier engineer battalion in Europe in WWII. “

From one of the many great reviews.

[EveningStar]

Sad ping

TaЯd ping!

"Tard" refers to the ping list members and not to the subject of the thread.

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[Eric in the Ozarks]

We lived in Japan in the 1950s. Our maid, Masako, was a 10 year old in 1945, forced to work in a munitions factory in Yokohama. The building had a large red cross painted on the roof.
The building was hit anyway by the bombing of early '45 and after the fires were brought under control, she was put to work salvaging some of the machinery which was set up in caves dug into the soft sandstone bluffs.
12 years later, I played with my Japanese playmates in those caves and repeated words and phrases Masako taught me. In about 1959, a little kid got hurt in one of these caves and the MPs ordered all of them to be cemented shut. All of them were closed with one exception near our house. This was an occupied cave where a poor Japanese family still lived. The front of the cave was covered with tin, with a tiny smokestack through this wall. They heated the place with a single hibachi stove that burned a pressed chunk of charcoal located under the low dining table. The family sat around this table with a heavy quit covering their legs to stay warm.

[SevenofNine]

OHH how sweet I think I change my mind of naming your plane after your mom

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I think you’re right. 1 million casualties were predicted with 100 to 200 thousand deaths from the invasion.

[indcons]

Thanks, abb. Don’t have the ping list on hand (it is on my home computer) and I’ll ping the thread out later today.

[ariamne]

don’t look—it just isn’t worth the acid stomach.