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.

[ampsanne]

I have been watching all the comments from the beginning. I can''t believe some of the responses. Whether Mr. Tibbits dropped the bomb or the bombadier did makes no difference Mr. Tibbets commanded the plane. And just why you people coming out of the wall with other stories that it wasn''t Mr. Tibbets beats me! Why would he get the credit all these years? Also with all you people who don''t want war would you rather the enemy invade our shores and then it would be too late? And then blame the president for not do anything about it before hand. And one last thing---we bombed the Japanese but I feel they won. As we went over and helped them rebuild and probably to this day they probably still owe us millions of dollars that they haven''t paid back. And just look how prosperous they have become.

[thgdriver]

The Jaaps were taking the youth of their country and putting them in planes on a one way mission to death.

Both for the pilot and all that were killed on our ships.

What kind of fanatics do this? They were beat. They could have surrendered "BEFORE" the bombs were used.

I honestly believe if we did not end it, Those Fanatics would have fought door to door, tree to tree, jungle to jungle, hand to hand. Thousands more Japanese would have been killed then died in the two bombings, not to mention the allies casualties.

Truman did the right thing for the TIMES at hand and the situation at hand.

God bless General Paul W Tibbets!! God give him peace!

[Krazcarl]

nancy_niave...did it make you happy to ruin this blog with your stupid unfounded ranting???

[dmhphils]

Posted by brucestevens at 01:45 AM : Nov 02, 2007
------------------------------------------

You must be one of those people who sits around asking why bad things happen to good people.

[fibonacci_]

I noticed once in a restaurant called "The Potatoe Shack" in Encinitas, California that they hung a picture of the Enola Gay on the wall. Is that poor taste or what? Regardless of whether it was the right thing to do, it is an incredibly ugly event in human history. It is disgusting what humans are doomed to do. I bet you it will happen again.

[Krazcarl]

When all is said and done the man did his duty and protected his country and any decent americain would have done the same I would have.

[dbstevens]

There is nothing...NOTHING...to equal the unspeakable horror of any person or group of persons purposely killing other people for ANY reason.

Except perhaps defending that they did it.

No matter how I try, I can''t wrap my mind around the sickness in this world and the people who try to justify it.

[dmhphils]

Don''''t forget the cruelty of the *** in those days.

Ok, fine, the Japanese. Geez!!

[dmhphils]

That''s where we got the expression, "Sunday punched",....from the cowardly surprize attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. If you hit first, it better be good and he better not get up again, cause if he does, you''ve had it. That''s what happened. If you sow to the wind, be prepared to reap the whirlwind.

Don''t forget the cruelty of the *** in those days. In the Philippines, they threw babies up in the air and speared them with their bayonets. They raped and pillaged....and not just a few isolated incidents....this was their trade mark. They made waterboarding look like a tea party with crumpets.

[toolmangler-2009]

One of them ''helped'' liberate Buchanwald is what I meant. sorry for the incorrect statement.

[toolmangler-2009]

Posted by crzmeat at 06:26 PM : Nov 01, 2007


Hope Yall'' didn''t miss me to much, it was time for ''Din-din'' LOL

Two of my uncles fought in both theaters, I had six uncles in WWII and two in Korea. One of them liberated Buchanwald and I have seen pictures that made me throw up, (I thought I was tough, Later they taught me what ''tough'' really was). My uncle Paul had three Cans blown out from under him he ended up a naval Commander, I think it was a cruiser but cannot remember the name of it (old timers disease)

[jn122736]

JN122736 said, "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."

Since we were the aggressors and attacked Iraq, does that then mean there are no innocent civilians and Iraqis are within their rights to bomb us? How about the Vietnamese? The Panamanians? The Grenadans?

Regards,
Posted by Nancy_Naive at 06:24 PM : Nov 01, 2007
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the case of Iraq the answer is, sadly, yes.

We are all complicit in the Iraq fiasco because we are all Americans and our ELECTED president (twice, once before the invasion and once AFTER.) and congress sanctioned/carried-out the invasion.
They are still in power and will, for the most part, be reelected.

Just as parents/guardians are responsible for their children so are we responsible for our government%u2019s actions.

Any time one country invades/attacks another without due cause (self-defense) they lose any claim to innocence.

That truth must apply to everybody, even the United States.

[Krazcarl]

I love it whenever brain dead are backed in a corner they pick on my grammer seams you got the jist of it. Don''t open your mouth your attacted flies they can sence unused dead tissue how''s my spelling.

[mrbrill]

Anybody with any normal amount of intelligence would not make such statements without facts to back it up. Your statements about Japanese civilians deserving 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 up to 100,000 Iraqis have had to die because of Bush''s decision to invade Iraq. It''s the same type of mindset which terrorists use to kill civilians as well.

+

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.

[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. It''s the same type of mindset which terrorists use to kill civilians as well.

+

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.

[Krazcarl]

NANCY-niave... your knowledge is lacking and it''s showing yout trying to prove a mute point it''s apples and oranges it was a different time the rules changed plus anyone attempting to justifie terrorist is mentaly ill most there own people don''t care for them do you read more than headlines.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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