Remembering Paul Tibbets

Weekly commentary by CBS Evening News chief Washington correspondent and Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer.

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On August 6, 1945, a pilot named Paul Tibbets climbed into a plane named for his mother and flew to Japan on what would be one of the most famous flights in aviation history. The plane was the Enola Gay, and on board was the first atomic bomb ever used in war, which would be dropped directly over city hall in a place called Hiroshima.

In an instant, more than 100,000 people were killed or wounded. Many were vaporized. More would die from radiation poisoning.

The bomb and another dropped at Nagasaki brought an end to the war. And the coming of atomic power marked a turning point in the 20th century.

Tibbets became a national hero, and he expressed no regrets, then or later. He felt the bomb had saved more lives than would have been lost had the war gone on. But as the years passed, the bombing became so controversial that he asked that he be cremated when he died for fear protesters would deface a gravestone.

Yet, when he died last week, his passing drew little comment. His obituary was buried deep inside the major newspapers, and TV gave his passing less coverage than the death of singer Robert Goulet.

In a nation where the median age is now 35, the name Paul Tibbets meant nothing to many.

Not so for those of a certain age. For us, it is a somber reminder that the war we can still remember is getting to be a long time ago.

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E-mail Face the Nation.
By Bob Schieffer

[jarheadcwo3]

I do not seek to justify my country''s, or any other country''s, atrocities. It is, however, an unfortunate fact that atrocity accompanies all wars.

In WW2 all American citizens, as well as their Allies, were afforded the opportunity to be repatriated to their country of origin. Most people left. Some, such as the missionaries to which you refer, did not. Presumably, this is because they had a duty to a higher power other than their country of birth.

The point is they were afforded the opportunity to leave and they chose to do otherwise. I do not question their choice and I do admire their courage for living by their professed beliefs.

The targetting of the cities for the atomic bomb campaign was based on the use of the cities for military bases by the enemy, the logistical system of the city, the industrial capability and output of the city and other war support criteria.

I seriously doubt that the planners used the proximity of Catholic churches as a final target selection criteria.

I am really interested in reviewing the aforementioned reference you have cited in a previous post. Please forward name and author at your convenience.

I was in VietNam for 30 months in a infantry battalion of the 1st Marine Division. I know the horror of war and I also know that bad things happen to good people in the heat of battle. I am not trying to excuse bad things but I would like to understnd them so I seek explanation(s).

Charles H.

[daveinsc215]

I think the Tibbets did what almost any B 29 pilot could have done. I am glad the bomb was used, otherwise I doubt I would be here, because my father flew a TBF Avenger which had to fly at 200 feet and fly that course with heavy anti aircraft fire filling the sky/ Paul Tibbets said he was not waving at the reporters gathered near the Enola Gay, he said he was telling them to get the hell out of the way. How could he be saying that while smiling and waving. He made out like he was the only man on the aircraft. He did a job he was ordered to do, and he played on that for the rest of his life, always making himself seem a little more tougher each time he was interveiewed. He was a hero as all of the Men who fought against Japan and Germany, but I true hero does not feel the need to brag and sound like he was trhe meanest man in the war. Tibbets flew a historic mission, and a few days later another pilot and crew of Bockscar dropped the second bomb and that pilot did not use foul language and act like he single handidly win the war. Tinnets was a big mouth, and he wanted to gain all the fame he could. There were many thousands of men who never came back from the war, and Tibbets is no better than those men.

[jarheadcwo3]

Spectrum108:

You express great concern for alleged atrocities against Catholics of Japanese citizenship or ancestry that may have been committed by the US goverment in time of war.

Do you have any idea how many Catholics/Christians of US citizenship or ancestry may have been subjected to atrocities by the Japanese government in time of war??

I expect that a number of Japanese Catholics may have perished in the bombing of Japan. I also believe that the bulk of the US casualties suffered in the Pacific war against Japan were memebers of Catholic/Christian religious belief.

You tell us to R E A D. I challenge you to R E A D and A N A L Y Z E in an O B J E C T I V E manner.

I have been reading books of military history since 1958. I started reading before I was a Marine and have read many thousands of books in the last 49 or so years. What specific references would you direct me that would support your position???

Charles H.
CWO-3 USMC (ret)

[bm6005]

I worked with a survivor of the Bataan Death March. I always wondered why he had a strange gait as he walked and then one day he told me the march caused it. He was beaten mercilessly and his legs never healed properly since there was no medical care. I also knew people who were in POW camps who told about the beheadings, the beatings, the starvation. I am totally against the war in Iraq, all war is hell. My generation had Viet Nam which was as much as lying fiasco as Iraq but the japanese get no sympathy from me whatsoever. They got what they deserved!!!

[jarheadcwo3]

Spectrum108:

To rephrase my statement. The bomb was dropped by General Paul Tibbets. My mentor, Sergeant Major F*****, who was imprisoned at the Kawasaki Prisoner of War Complex, told me in 1969 that he and all other POW''s had been informed by the Japanese that the Japanese were going to execute all of the estimated 125,000 or so Allied POw''s and civilian internees, upon the beginning of the Allied invasion of Japan.

This is NOT RHETORIC, it is history, based on facts presented by the many POW''s and internees to the Allied authorities AFTER the cessation of hostilities. I am reasonably sure that my uncle, Sergeant Jesse Clyde H*****, would have made a similar statement to Allied authorities should he have been fortunate enough to survive Japanese maltreatment of POW''s.

For reference and an example as to how the Japanese treated the POW''s refer to the ''Palawan Incident'' with a Google search of the Internet. Also a similar search of the term ''Hell Ships'' may help to enlighten you as to the historical facts of Japanese of treatment of POW''s.

This maltreatment was not ''one of a thousand sad war stories'', your statement, that you dismissed in such a cavalier fashion.

Charles H.
CWO-3 USMC (ret)

[Pocko]

Have we forgotten Pearl Harbor?

[frankinaz]

God rest your soul, Paul Tibbets. You had difficult orders to follow, and you followed those orders to the best of your abilities, and did what you had to do; knowing not only the consequences of your actions, but also accepting the responsibilities you had to accept for following orders, and the way history would perceive you. May you rest in peace, sir.

[Larry Fafarman]

I wouldn''t say that Paul Tibbets'' death was unpublicized -- it made the front page of the Los Angeles Times. Most L.A. Times obituaries are published near the end of the second section.

IMO dropping the A-bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was at least partially motivated by a desire for revenge. It is believed that Japan sent out peace feelers before the bombs were dropped, and the Japanese were not given enough time -- only three days -- to respond to the Hiroshima bombing before the Nagasaki bombing. However, it is hard to fairly judge these actions from the perspective of 62 years later.

[jarheadcwo3]

Spectrum108:

Are you a complete idiot???

In my younger days as a Marine I served with a Sergeant Major who was captured at Corregidor and who endured the Bataan Death March.

He was sent to Japan to be a slave laborer for the Japanese war industry. His ship was sunk by an American submarine because it was unmarked as a POW transport. He was one of a few survivors who were picked up by a second ship. The second ship was also sunk by a American submarine as it too was unmarked as a POW transport.

So he was a slave laborer in japan who saw many of his fellow servicemen die under the Japanese prison camp administration. I also had an uncle named Jesse Clyde H***** who was captured on Corregidor. He died in Japanese captivity about 2 months prior to the surrender.

If the atomic bomb had not been used and the Japanese home islands had been invaded the Japanese were prepared, and had standing orders to do so, to kill all foreigners, whether civilian or military.

General Tibbets helped liberate all of those people, about 125,000, who were held captive by the Japanese. Sounds to me like the General saved a bunch of lives by his direct action.

I have been stationed in Japan and I have been to both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I like the Japanese people and know a bit of their culture.

I ask you, Spectrum108, do you have ANY knowledge of the history of WW2, the Japanese people and culture and the experiences of the WW2 Allied POW''s????

Semper Fi you clown.

[big_family1]

My grandfather was a Marine with the 2-3-1 in WW2 at the young age of 18. He fought from one end of Okinawa to the other, and then served in China for many months after leaving Okinawa. This man witnessed firsthand the absolute worst horrors committed upon one human being by another. My grandfather spent many years in the military and in the civil service, because he knew that we must never allow ourselves to compromise our freedom. He lived life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to the fullest by living to watch his great-grandchildren grow up in a country he kept free. Too many of us to not understand the sacrifices of this passing generation, nor do we fully appreciate the freedoms we have. Many do not understand what "duty to God and country" mean. The phrase, "Those who do not learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them," holds true. I listened well to what my grandfather spoke of about war and freedom, but to whom have you listened to?

[imnho]

The atomic bomb was not ready prior to july 1945. Germany and Italy had already surrendered. If the bomb had be ready a few months earlier berlin would have been a targent under serious consideration.

Kyoto was deleted from the target list because it had little value as a target. It had a lot of cultural value. Nagasaki was home of the Japanese Fifth army. That is the army that our forces would face if the invasion went ahead. Hiroshima was a secondary target. The orginal objective was a munitions factory at Kokura. The wheather over kokura was too bad that day. Hiroshima was home to a lot of what the japanese needed to continue the war.