Pilot Who Dropped Hiroshima Bomb Dead, 92

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

(AP)  Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr., the pilot and commander of the B-29 that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, died Thursday, a spokesman said. He was 92.

Tibbets died at his Columbus home after a two-month decline from a variety of health problems, said Gerry Newhouse, a longtime friend. Tibbets had requested no funeral and no headstone, fearing it would provide his detractors with a place to protest, Newhouse said.

Tibbets' historic mission in the plane Enola Gay, named for his mother, marked the beginning of the end of World War II. It was the first time man had used nuclear weaponry against his fellow man.

"It's an end of an era," said Newhouse, who served as Tibbets' manager for a decade. "A lot of those guys are gone now."

It was the morning of Aug. 6, 1945, when the plane and its crew of 14 dropped the five-ton "Little Boy" bomb over Hiroshima. The blast killed 70,000 to 100,000 people and injured countless others.

Three days later, the United States dropped a nuclear bomb on Nagasaki, Japan, killing an estimated 40,000 people. Tibbets did not fly in that mission. The Japanese surrendered a few days later, ending the war.

"I knew when I got the assignment it was going to be an emotional thing," Tibbets told The Columbus Dispatch for a story on Aug. 6, 2005, the 60th anniversary of the bomb. "We had feelings, but we had to put them in the background. We knew it was going to kill people right and left. But my one driving interest was to do the best job I could so that we could end the killing as quickly as possible."

Tibbets, then a 30-year-old colonel, never expressed regret over his role. It was, he said, his patriotic duty - the right thing to do.

"I'm not proud that I killed 80,000 people, but I'm proud that I was able to start with nothing, plan it and have it work as perfectly as it did," he said in a 1975 interview.

"You've got to take stock and assess the situation at that time. We were at war. ... You use anything at your disposal. There are no Marquess of Queensberry rules in war.

"I sleep clearly every night."

Tibbets, born Feb. 23, 1915, in Quincy, Ill., spent most of his boyhood in Miami.

He was a student at the University of Cincinnati's medical school when he decided to withdraw in 1937 to enlist in the Army Air Corps.

After the war, Tibbets said in 2005, he was dogged by rumors claiming he was in prison or had committed suicide.

"They said I was crazy, said I was a drunkard, in and out of institutions," he said. "At the time, I was running the National Crisis Center at the Pentagon."

Tibbets retired from the Air Force as a brigadier general in 1966. He later moved to Columbus, where he ran an air taxi service until he retired in 1985.

But his role in the bombing brought him fame - and infamy - throughout his life.

In 1976, he was criticized for re-enacting the bombing during an appearance at a Harlingen, Texas, air show. As he flew a B-29 Superfortress over the show, a bomb set off on the runway below created a mushroom cloud.

He said the display "was not intended to insult anybody," but the Japanese were outraged. The U.S. government later issued a formal apology.

Tibbets again defended to bombing in 1995, when an outcry erupted over a planned 50th anniversary exhibit of the Enola Gay at the Smithsonian Institution.

The museum had planned to mount an exhibit that would have provided the context of the bombing - the discussion within the Truman administration of whether to use the bomb, the rejection of a demonstration bombing, the selection of a city as a target, the environmental and health consequences of subsequent open-air nuclear testing, and the dozens of Cold War issues that ensued.

Veterans groups objected that it paid too much attention to Japan's suffering and too little to Japan's brutality during and before World War II, and that it underestimated the number of Americans who would have perished in an invasion.

They said the bombing of Japan was an unmitigated blessing for the United States and its fighting men and the exhibit should say so.

Tibbets denounced it as "a damn big insult."

The museum changed its plan, and agreed to display the fuselage of the Enola Gay without commentary, context or analysis.

He told the Dispatch in 2005 he wanted his ashes scattered over the English Channel, where he loved to fly during the war.

[Razzl]

Given the nature of the era, we generally give members of the "greatest generation" a moral pass on their actions during the war, but it''s important for all future generations that we not accept the notion that "there are no rules in war". The war concluded with war crimes trials at Nuremberg and Tokyo which were intended to lay the legal groundwork for making actions such as the deliberate bombing of civilian populations punishable crimes, as the bombing of Hiroshima would be today. God rest Col. Tibbetts, but in the future we need a world full of men(and women)who would feel pride in disobeying such monstrous orders, not in carrying them out well...

[MarkJActon]

Gen Tibbetts should remembered as a real American hero.Pres. Truman''s other option was an allied land Invasion of the Japanese mainland by US Marines.
Least you forget the fantatical fighting by the Japanese at Iwo Jima and other Japanese held Islands where thousands of Marines and US soldiers were killed and wounded by an enemy that fought to the death.Allied commanders estimated that over 100,00+ allied soldiers would have been killed attempting an invasion of the Japsanese mainland. These estimates were deemed to be unacceptable by Truman and his military commanders, hence the decision to drop the bomb. War sucks, nobody wins, but Id rather have 80,000 Japanese losses compared to over 100,00 allied losses and a swift end to hostilities.
Dont forget that the Japanese started this war by the dastardly and unprvoked attack Sunday morning while most servicemen were in church services at Pearl Harbor.
God Bless you General Tibbetts.

[oletafive]

The Bombs were the most horrific event imaginable. One moment people and a city are there and then not. Years and decades and centuries may not be able to completely repair the damage. It may not have been the best way but it was the fastest way to end WW2. Without that event to learn from we might have done far worse to the world. Do you think the Arabs have learned from our mistake? Have we?

The Japanese were warned, but refused to believe we had a bomb that could cause the damage it did. They were warned twice, and before there were another 2 million Japanese citizens and maybe another 100 thousand of our military personnel. Of course it is very sad that it happened, but it did and dwelling on the past instead of learning from it doesn''t do any good. By dropping the two bombs, saved countless lives on both sides.

[gunshack1]

If you are going to enter a war, you had better enter it with the idea to win. In every war since WWII, we have fought with one hand tied behind us. There is no such thing as a politically correct war. Get in it to win or stay the he** out.

[mike71067]

We did it right in WWII. Fight to win. Why we are so politically correct today is beyond me. We are so afraid of offending people that we can''t even wage an effective war anymore. When we went into Iraq, we should have banned CNN, CBS, BBC, Fox, News, etc. from the country. Then we should have unleashed our full military fury on the place, out of the view of the news media. I''ll bet that if we had a news blackout during the Iraq invasion, the whole ordeal would have been over in 30 days and out troops would be at home today.

[mike71067]

"It may not have been the best way but it was the fastest way to end WW2. Without that event to learn from we might have done far worse to the world. Do you think the Arabs have learned from our mistake? Have we?"
-Posted by oletafive at 12:43 PM : Nov 01, 2007

What?! "Mistake"?? The only mistake we made was waiting so long to nuke them. Subsequent mistakes include not nuking Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, etc.

[cryonbrian]

So for those who agree with this bombing, are you saying that what was done to America on 9/11 was justified? Any means to win, killing civilians or soldiers?

[signof4]

Nancy_Naive,

Comparing US service members from WW2 to terrorist bombers is appalling....even for a bedwetting lib! It just so happens that those cities were contributing heavily to Japan''s war effort.

Therefore, they were legitimate military targets. God help us all if libs ever get control of the white house. We''re doomed!

[signof4]

Any means to win, killing civilians or soldiers?
Posted by cryonbrian at 01:24 PM : Nov 01, 2007

You leftwing moonbats are absolutely PATHETIC! I''m ashamed that you live int he same country I do....cause you don''t deserve to be here.

[Krazcarl]

I have trouble on the hero line it was a high altitude bombing mission and the mission met 0 resistance he just dropped a bomb unlike any before. There thousands of heroic acts in that war this was not one. After that we both surendered thats why the world id in the mess it''s in today we should have listened to Patton and Mcarthor{?}. No matter if I was in the military at that time I''d have done the run.

[cryonbrian]

Any means to win, killing civilians or soldiers?
Posted by cryonbrian at 01:24 PM : Nov 01, 2007

You leftwing moonbats are absolutely PATHETIC! I''''m ashamed that you live int he same country I do....cause you don''''t deserve to be here.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by Signof4 at 01:29 PM : Nov 01, 2007


What is a leftwing moonbat? I was only asking a question! I don''t have any opinion about the subject! I was only asking other posters who agree with that bombing if they agree with 9/11. You people got issues!

[godofredo29]

Anybody who has watched the Ken Burns piece on PBS knows that Tibbets had to do what he had to do.

[hillaryin08]

Remember, All of this goes away once I am president.

cryonbrian,
9/11 is no comparison to WWII and the bombing of the two cities. 9/11 was an act of a group of morons that wanted to "Make a Statement"....in WWII, it was supposed to be the means to an end of the war. It saved countless American lives (500,000 to 1,000,000) and double that of the enemy. Japan was warned, and they even had radar images on their scope as the B-29 was flying in. The just didn''t believe we had the power we warned them about. Just like our mistakes in Hawaii, we saw the planes coming in on the radar, but were told they were B-29''s coming in from the mainland, so no air raid warning were ever implemented.

[signof4]

What is a leftwing moonbat? Posted by cryonbrian at 01:39 PM : Nov 01, 2007

Moonbat (also "barking moonbat" and "moonbat crazy") is a term often used currently in U.S. politics as a political epithet referring to anyone that is liberal or on the left. "Wingnut" (or "right wing nut") is frequently preferred as the analogous epithet aimed at the political right.

Signof4,
So in other words, you''re just a complete moron who likes using big words to call other people names?

[rafterman1]

===You leftwing moonbats are absolutely PATHETIC! I''''''''m ashamed that you live int he same country I do....cause you don''''''''t deserve to be here.===

Who does "deserve" to be here? Warmongering fools like you? Is that what America has degraded to? That if people don''t feel the need to bomb the c r a p out of everyone in sight, they are un-American? That is sick beyond belief.

Back to the subject (and despite what I just said), I believe the atomic bombings, while sad, were necessary at the tme. You can''t have 60 years of history and hindsight and declare the bombings wrong. You have to look at it through 1945 eyes and I don''t see how they had any choice but to drop the bombs. From all the evidence I have seen over the years, there was no strong indication that the Japanese were going to surrender prior to the planned November invasion of Japan and even when the decision to surrender was made, an attempted coup almost derailed those surrender plans. Japan''s surrender was hanging on a thread, it was that close to the war continuiing.

Something that is terribly wrong with this country is there seems to be two lines of people and they think that the way they believe is the correct way and whomever disagrees with them is wrong. That is sad, because with the 24 hour news we have these days and the past twenty or so years, we haven''t changed a bit. Still one side yelling names at the other side, whether it be left or right (who cares).....We as a country compared to others is still young, but we''re supposed to be the All Powerful and mighty country that still hasn''t grown up. Picking sides, and whatever the situation, the Republicans and Democrats are always feuding. Doesn''t show much maturity to me, does it to you?

[jowand]

Remember, All of this goes away once I am president.

Posted by hillaryin08 at 01:49 PM : Nov 01, 2007

Including Bill?

Signof4 uses Wikipedia as his/her source for information. Now I know you''re a complete and utter moron. That is an editable site, I actually changed the meaning, so you might want to copy and paste again, since that''s all you seem to know how to do anything.

[squidly8]

Nancy, you are indeed naive. How can you not know the difference between the two events? Stop reading ladies home journal and read some history. Do the words Rape of Nanking mean anything to you? Soldiers throwing babies in the air to allow them to play with their bayonets! In ''45, 100,000+ Japanese soldiers fought to the death rather than surrender - all for a land/people they considered second class. The entire population of Japan was taught it was their duty to die, to take at least one American with them. They armed children, women and old people with bamboo spears to sacrifice themselves. The American casualty estimates for the invasion of the Japanese homelands was over one million - six zeroes!

Your correctly label yourself as Naive because you don''t deal in facts.

[hhkeller]

"Enola Gay" is a very Gay name.
Whats the deal with that.

"Killer Bee" would have been more suitable to the mission.

hhkeller, I believe it was the name of the pilot''s mother. Guess you fell asleep during that discussion in high school.

[csch1]

we need to do a shut down restart.......Hillary is not going to do this. we need to follow the laws of our land. another civil war is going to happen here unless we start being true Americans!

[csch1]

war is always going to be as long as greed exists...what goes around comes around...as long as humans exists there will be war. America needs to stay on track...focus on what makes this a great nation!

[feelfree1]

This man had a real "glow" about him.

[eskieville1]

Naive,those bombs saved us the massive casualties that the US and it''s allies would have taken with an invasion of Japan. Look what happened at Iwo Jima and Okinawa! Japan itself would have been worse! Ever here of the Kamikazi''s? C''mon naive learn some history!

eskieville1 , lighten up.....not everyone knows exactly what was going on 62 years ago, I doubt anyone on this discussion was even born then. She is asking questions mainly and you keep bshing her for her questions.

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.

[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.

[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.

[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, 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?

[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".

[signof4]

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

[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.

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.

[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!

[toolmangler-2009]

Posted by crzmeat at 03:21 PM : Nov 01, 2007


Crzy, My uncles Ernest and J.K. were both on Iwo and Okinawa, when they got home after the wars end, I asked was the A-Bomb needed. They both said yes, if it hadn''t stopped the war when it did,neither one of them would have made it back. Ernest said surrender was a dirty word to the Japanese.

[bm6005]

Ernest said surrender was a dirty word to the Japanese.

Posted by ToolMangler

For anyone who doubts this see "Letters from Iwo Jima" from Clint Eastwood.

[nolalou]

It''s always a tragedy when innocent civilians are killed in war, especially on such a massive scale. I hope we are never faced with such a decision ever again.

Airwinger said "Dont forget that the Japanese started this war by the dastardly and unprovoked attack Sunday morning ". While I certainly do not condone the attack on Pearl Harbor, it was not unprovoked. The US had an embargo against Japan to protest their attempted expansion into Manchuria & French Indochina, and had stopped selling it Oil. (yup, another war about oil!). Tensions between the US and Japan had been growing for some time before the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Nancy_Naive, there were no civilians on Iwo Jima, it was a deserted island so to speak. It was supposed to be used for taking off with our B-29''s to get ready for the bombing attacks on the Mainland Japan. Okinawa had little to no civilians, again another strategic place for our airmen to do their duties. You really should do a little research before making statements. Most of the south pacific islands were not populated until after WWII....that is when the US started populating them with military and civilian workers...

[toolmangler-2009]

It was hot on New Guinea.

Posted by Nancy_Naive at 05:21 PM : Nov 01, 2007


That is a nice way of saying it.
Richard Ira Bong is the name of the P38 Ace I was asking about.
If you have any emailable info I will give you an email address. Just let me know.

[toolmangler-2009]

Tensions between the US and Japan had been growing for some time before the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Posted by nolalou at 05:22 PM : Nov 01, 2007

There would have been no embargos if the Japanese had not tried to dominate the Pacific by conquest, They made the same mistake Hitler did, bit off more than they could chew, our emargo just speeded things up a might.

[toolmangler-2009]

Richard (Dic-k) Bong was the alltime leading American ace. (40 kills)

ToolMangler, correct. The Japanese were in a brutal war with China. Remember the "Flying Tigers?"

[jn122736]

With his decision to use the atomic bomb, Truman saved far more lives than were lost as a result.
Anybody with a normal amount of intelligence can figure that out.

One reason Hiroshima was chosen instead of Tokyo was to have fewer casualties.

If, after Hiroshima was bombed on August 6, 1945, the Japanese had admitted what they were facing and surrendered, the bombing of Nagasaki would not have been necessary.

That alone is clear evidence of what it would have taken to force them to surrender by conventional methods.

As for there being INNOCENT civilians killed, one must realize that the COUNTRY of Japan was the aggressor; there were no innocent civilians, children notwithstanding.

The responsibility for the loss of the children%u2019s lives is on the shoulders of their parents/guardians.

The people lost in the 911 attacks, including those on the hijacked planes, were innocent victims.

Those killed in the takedown of the Taliban in Afghanistan, were not innocent. The same cannot be said about Iraq however, because WE are the aggressors there.

For those who condemn the use of atomic bombs on Japan, something to think about:

Some of your parents or grandparents were probably in uniform during WW2.

If they had been killed in action invading/defeating Japan%u2026.. YOU WOULD NOT BE HERE TODAY

[Krazcarl]

TOOL....One of my most respected friends is a man {navy} that''s ship got hit by a german dive bomber of Africa he broke his neck and while in the hospital the germans sunk his ship with all hands lost. He went stateside refused discharge was put on a ship to the pacific and was in on the Iwa Jima invasion and was on the first ship to dock in Japan after the said the japenese bowed when they saw americans had many other stories T.F. was the greatest hero I ever knew one H*LL of a man and is in a wheelchair now the neck injuries came back to cripple him around retirement. The only one I ever knew that fought germans and japanese.

[mrbrill]

Anybody with any normal amount of intelligence would not make such statements without facts to back it up. Your statements about Japanese civilians deserve to die because the Japanese government was the aggressor just shows the mindset you have. I am sure this is your justification as well why the magnitude of about 100,000 Iraqis have had to die because of Bush''s decision to invade Iraq

+

With his decision to use the atomic bomb, Truman saved far more lives than were lost as a result.
Anybody with a normal amount of intelligence can figure that out.