Dead Page: Paul Tibbets, Jr., the Man Who Dropped the Atom Bomb on Hiroshima

PAUL TIBBETS, JR 1915-2007

Enola Gay Pilot Had No Regrets

Paul Warfield Tibbets, Jr., the Army Air Force pilot who dropped the first atom bomb on Hiroshima died this past Thursday at his home in Columbus, Ohio, at age 92.

He never apologized for it. More than two-thirds of the buildings were destroyed and at least 80,000 people died. To him and his supporters, this was necessary to bring about the end of the war and to save thousands of American lives that would have been lost had the anticipated invasion of the Japanese Homeland taken place. And that is not to mention, the numbers of Japanese who would have died in the assault. I fall in his supporters group.

The Enola Gay was named for his mother and was a propeller-driven, four engine B-29 bomber that dropped the bomb on that fateful day, August 6, 1945.

Described by his commandant, General H.H. Arnold as "the best damned pilot in the Air Force", Tibbets was hand-picked to command the 509th Composite Group which was formed to wage nuclear war.

He was born in Quincy, Illinois, on February 23, 1915, and he fell in love with flying at age 12. "From that day on, I knew I had to fly," he remembered.

He was flying bombing missions over German-held targets in Europe nine months after Pearl Harbor.

In June, 1945, President Truman authorized an invasion of Japan, something that General MacArthur said could take ten years and cost 1 million American lives. Less than a month later, the first atom bomb was tested in New Mexico.

Several hours before dawn on August 6, the Enola Gay and the 9,700 pound bomb, "Little Boy." took off from the island of Tinian for the 1,700 mile flight north to Hiroshima. Two other B-29s accompanied him.

Several seconds after 8:15 a.m., from an altitude of 26,000 feet, the bomb was released. At 8:16, the bomb detonated with a core temperature estimated to be 30 million degrees.

Regardless of what those might accuse him of, this event, in my opinion, caused the quick end of the war. Had the Japanese fought to the last person as they intended to do, millions of lives were saved.

From Chicago Tribune obituary by Eric Malnic.

While teaching, I always tried to make the kids aware that some of the people in those history books are still alive. And, by that, they are connected to that history. Here is an example.

A True Hero. --RoadDog