A hero dies....

[HAOLE]

A hero dies....

 

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Paul Tibbets, who piloted the B-29 bomber Enola Gay that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, died Thursday. He was 92 and insisted almost to his dying day that he had no regrets about the mission and slept just fine at night.

 

Tibbets died at his Columbus home, said Gerry Newhouse, a longtime friend. He suffered from a variety of health problems and had been in decline for two months.

 

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 named for his mother marked the beginning of the end of World War II and eliminated the need for what military planners feared would have been an extraordinarily bloody invasion of Japan. It was the first use of a nuclear weapon in wartime.

 

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

 

Three days later, the United States dropped a second 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. He said it was his patriotic duty and 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."

 

He added: "I sleep clearly every night."

 

Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr. was born Feb. 23, 1915, in Quincy, Ill., and 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 the 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 examined the context of the bombing, including the discussion within the Truman administration of whether to use the bomb, the rejection of a demonstration bombing and the selection of the target.

 

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.

[TTQ B4U]

Sad news. Looking back on that era, there is a lot of history leaving us in the coming years. Get out and talk with the grand parents and great grand parents if you've got them. I unfortunately never go to know mine due to their early deaths.

[black00ws6]

http://www.ls2.com/forums/images/smilies/usa.gif

[Doug1647545489]

That was a lot of weight he had to carry on his shoulders. Atleast he had the right attitude and no regrets.

[HAOLE]

Tibbets had requested no funeral and no headstone, fearing it would provide his detractors with a place to protest, Newhouse said.

 

This is very sad! Unfortunately true though. That is terrible that one of the greatest heroes of WWII cannot have a funeral and get the honor he deserves because someone you dessicrate his grave or protest at his funeral.

[Akula]

Men that know their metal, know their limits and go beyond them.

 

I know what it means to do something for the benefit of those you will never meet, you are correct, he is a hero.

[SpaceGhost]

I don't feel he killed them, he was following orders. Truman Signed the orders, he made the decision to use the weapon and to exterminate possibly 100k people. He had to deal with the order he gave.

[RedRocket1647545505]

Man had balls. Gotta give it to him.

 

And my Great Grandmother is 92 now. I really need to sit down with her and drum up some old stories out of her. As well as get her white cake recipe.

[boosted98gst]

The world was forever changed because of one thing this man did, who can ever say this in a lifetime? A true hero in my book.

[BloodRed]

That is sad to here that a great hero had died. He was a true American willing to do anything to make this country a better place for everyone. He will be sadly missed.

[smokin5s]

I didn't realize that he lived in columbus

[HAOLE]

I didn't realize that he lived in columbus

He was one of the founders of Executive Jet that later turned into NetJets

[AngryBMW]

He was one of the founders of Executive Jet that later turned into NetJets

 

You are correct sir.

 

If my memory serves me correctly, he actually lived over towards hoover damn...I guess Columbus is easier for everyone to relate to.

 

True hero; it's sad that he cannot have the proper funeral and memorial that he deserves...

-Marc

[Drewhop]

/salute

 

I miss all the conversations i had with my grandpa about WW2.

 

Sad to see another hero go.

[MrMeanGreen]

Marc, he lived about five minutes from me.

 

I've been to his house and met him when I was a kid. He lived behind my grandparents over in the Yorkshire area between Livingston Avenue and Main Street and knew my grandpa pretty well since they were in the war together.

[HAOLE]

Marc, he lived about five minutes from me.

 

I've been to his house and met him when I was a kid. He lived behind my grandparents over in the Yorkshire area between Livingston Avenue and Main Street and knew my grandpa pretty well since they were in the war together.

I lived not too far from there. Livingston and Yearling Rd,

[The Man of Steele]

I am pretty Sure he was my friend Matt's grandfather. I saw a photo album back in 7th grade of pics from the plane.

Here is a rueters link though

http://www.reuters.com/article/asiaTopNews/idUSIndia-30281520071101

[AI Coupe]

I had the pleasure of meeting with Paul about ten years ago and we had a pretty serious discussion about the war, his mission and sad stories about the lives of his crew.

 

He said in todays political environment it NEVER would have happened... as is was, the crew up until the very last minute didn't know what the mission was, only Tibbets knew.

 

He is a true hero and will be missed.

 

RE