Comments on: Pilot Who Dropped Hiroshima Bomb Dead, 92

Commander of "Enola Gay" B-29 Which Dropped First A-Bomb On Japan Dies

[bm6005]

I worked with the tailgunner from the Enola Gay for many years at Sundstrand. It''s really interesting to hear history from someone who helped make it!! I also worked with a machinist who was on the Bataan Death March. I''ll bet he never bought a *** car! Many victims of the Japanese were treated or murdered brutally. We owe the Japanese no apologies. You play, you pay!

stevenga777, never read anything like that so I''m not sure if it is true. What I know is true, several soldiers from the European war volunteered to go to Japan after their tour was over. Back in the 40''s, there were a lot of people protesting the war until they say the photo from Iwo Jima, then their attitudes changed. This country was all for ending communism and what happened to our soldiers, sailors and air corp. men in POW camps on both fronts was horrific and that is another thing that bonded this country together to support the war.

[stevenga777]

I once read that US combat troops in Europe after victory in Europe on orders for the invasion of Japan threatened to mutiny if sent into combat for Japan.
Bottom line is the bomb saved millions of lives on both sides of the war. A lot of people died at one time but had we had to invade the Japanese mainland millions upon millions Japanese would have died. they would have fought to the death and commited suicide like on the island of Okinowa.

[signof4]

They all did their jobs and they have NOTHING to regret or be sorry for!

[gunnerv1]

I respect Paul Tibbets, but he didn''t "drop the bomb", he piloted the B29 Enola Gay Bomber from the Marina Island group and back. The Bombardier is the actual person who did the final navigation and "dropping" (releasing) of the "device".

eskieville1, the US citizens suffered as well during WWII....remember reading about rationing? EVERYTHING was rationed....kids hitting the streets collecting anything and everything they could to be used for the war effort. Gasoline, meat, sugar....you name it they had ration cards for them. That''s why women today really don''t wear silk stokings anymore....it was rationed for the parachutes, that''s when nylon was invented. You also need to maybe rethink your term "Americans"....because a lot of the "Americans" were put in intermant camps (Japanese Decents), The native Americans were forced to stay on the reservations until they realized that their language was perfect for sending coded messages (which I believe save countless lives)...there is Central America and South America...get my point?

[jt92202]

All I have to say is a Great American Hero died, Rest in Peace General Tibbets you were a true patriot that did the job you were told to do no matter what you felt or what people would think of you in the future. I am saddened that because of how some people feel about what you did you felt you were not able to have a funeral or a head stone on your grave. This is a very sad that people would use your death to their advantage! Thank you for your service!

[eskieville1]

Ok -I will lighten up. There are way too many people who do not have an understanding of the war. See the recent PBS series by Ken Burns on WWII.One needs to understand what this country went through and we had it pretty good compared to Russia,Britain,France and all the countries the Japanese conquered. Americans really have in general a poor understanding of History and there are times it hurts us very badly.

[Krazcarl]

The casuality reports they mention are an absolute lie they were estimated at a million to get the island. Were talking world war not pledging a farturity not a police action. We''ve never used them again and that decesion is dubious.

Nancy_Naive has a point with her comparrason of the WMD issue. And of course the numbers lost on that little island of Okinawa (I was stationed there) it is small. And even smaller Iwo Jima (I visited there as well. Thousands upon thousands of lives were lost due to the ability of the Japanese to dig tunnels and fool up. If it weren''t for the constant landing of troops on those islands, we would have never been able to take them.