Paul Tibbets
Paul Tibbets | |
---|---|
Battles/wars | World War II: |
Awards | Distinguished Service Cross Legion of Merit Distinguished Flying Cross (2) Purple Heart Air Medal (4) |
Alma mater | University of Florida (BA) University of Cincinnati |
Other work | Charter Pilot and President of Executive Jet Aviation |
Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr. (23 February 1915 – 1 November 2007) was a
Tibbets enlisted in the
Tibbets returned to the United States in February 1943 to help with the development of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress. In September 1944, he was appointed the commander of the 509th Composite Group, which would conduct the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After the war, he participated in the Operation Crossroads nuclear weapon tests at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946, and was involved in the development of the Boeing B-47 Stratojet in the early 1950s. He commanded the 308th Bombardment Wing and 6th Air Division in the late 1950s, and was military attaché in India from 1964 to 1966. After leaving the Air Force in 1966, he worked for Executive Jet Aviation, serving on the founding board and as its president from 1976 until his retirement in 1987.
Early life
Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr. was born in
In the late 1920s, business issues forced Tibbets's family to return to
Early military career
Because he went to a military school, attended some college, and had some flight experience, Tibbets qualified for the
After graduation, Tibbets was assigned to the
While Tibbets was stationed at Fort Benning, he was promoted to
War against Germany
In February 1942, Tibbets reported for duty with the 29th Bombardment Group as its engineering officer. Three weeks later he was named the commanding officer of the
In July 1942 the 97th became the first heavy bombardment group of the
Tibbets flew the lead bomber Butcher Shop for the first American daylight heavy bomber mission on 17 August 1942, a shallow-penetration raid against a
On that first mission, Tibbets saw in real time that his bombs were falling on innocent civilians. At the time, he thought to himself, "People are getting killed down there that don't have any business getting killed. Those are not soldiers." But then he thought back to a lesson he had learned during his time at medical school from his roommate who was a doctor. This doctor explained to him about his former classmates who failed the program and ended up in drug sales. The reason why they had failed the program was because "they had too much sympathy for their patients", which "destroyed their ability to render the medical necessities". It dawned on Tibbets that:
I am just like that if I get to thinking about some innocent person getting hit on the ground. I am supposed to be a bomber pilot and destroy a target. I won't be worth anything if I do that ... I made up my mind then that the morality of dropping that bomb was not my business. I was instructed to perform a military mission to drop the bomb. That was the thing that I was going to do the best of my ability. Morality, there is no such thing in warfare. I don't care whether you are dropping atom bombs, or 100-pound bombs, or shooting a rifle. You have got to leave the moral issue out of it.[22]
In the leadup to
Tibbets had flown 25 combat missions against targets in France[13] when the 97th Bomb Group was transferred to North Africa as part of Major General Jimmy Doolittle's Twelfth Air Force. For Tibbets, the war in North Africa introduced him to the realities of aerial warfare. He said that he saw the real effects of bombing civilians and the trauma of losing his brothers in arms. In January 1943, Tibbets, who had now flown 43 combat missions,[26] was assigned as the assistant for bomber operations to Colonel Lauris Norstad, Assistant Chief of Staff of Operations (A-3) of the Twelfth Air Force.[13] Tibbets had recently been given a battlefield promotion to colonel, but did not receive it, as such promotions had to be confirmed by a panel of officers. He was told that Norstad had vetoed the promotion, saying "there's only going to be one colonel in operations."[27]
Tibbets did not get along well with Norstad, or with Doolittle's chief of staff, Brigadier General
War against Japan
When General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold, the Chief of United States Army Air Forces, requested an experienced bombardment pilot to help with the development of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, Doolittle recommended Tibbets.[29] Tibbets returned to the United States in February 1943. At the time, the B-29 program was beset by a host of technical problems, and the chief test pilot, Edmund T. Allen, had been killed in a crash of the prototype aircraft.[30]
Working with
After a year of developmental testing of the B-29, Tibbets was assigned in March 1944 as director of operations of the
On 1 September 1944, Tibbets reported to
When the operation was still in its development stages, Armstrong and Colonel
Tibbets was promoted to colonel in January 1945
On 6 March 1945 (concurrent with the activation of Project Alberta), the 1st Ordnance Squadron, Special (Aviation) was activated at Wendover, again using Army Air Forces personnel on hand or already at Los Alamos. Its purpose was to provide "skilled machinists, welders and munitions workers"[43] and special equipment to the group to enable it to assemble atomic weapons at its operating base, thereby allowing the weapons to be transported more safely in their component parts. A rigorous candidate selection process was used to recruit personnel, reportedly with an 80% rejection rate. The 509th Composite Group reached full strength in May 1945.[44]
With the addition of the 1st Ordnance Squadron to its roster in March 1945, the 509th Composite Group had an authorized strength of 225 officers and 1,542 enlisted men, almost all of whom deployed to
The ground support echelon of the 509th Composite Group received movement orders and moved by rail on 26 April 1945, to its port of embarkation at Seattle, Washington. On 6 May the support elements sailed on the SS Cape Victory for the Marianas, while the group's materiel was shipped on the SS Emile Berliner.[47] An advance party of the air echelon flew by C-54 to North Field, Tinian, between 15 and 22 May,[48] where it was joined by the ground echelon on 29 May 1945.[49] Project Alberta's "Destination Team" also sent most of its members to Tinian to supervise the assembly, loading, and dropping of the bombs under the administrative title of 1st Technical Services Detachment, Miscellaneous War Department Group.[50][51]
On 5 August 1945, Tibbets formally named his B-29 Enola Gay after his mother.[52][53] Enola Gay, serial number 4486292, had been personally selected by him, on recommendation of a civilian production supervisor, while it was still on the assembly line at the Glenn L. Martin Company plant in Bellevue, Nebraska.[54] The regularly assigned aircraft commander, Robert A. Lewis, was unhappy to be displaced by Tibbets for this important mission, and became furious when he arrived at the airfield on the morning of 6 August to see the aircraft he considered his painted with the now-famous nose art. Lewis would fly the mission as Tibbets's co-pilot.[52][55]
At 02:45 the next day—in accordance with the terms of
Tibbets was awarded the
Tibbets was interviewed extensively by Mike Harden of the
Post-war military career
The 509th Composite Group returned to the United States on 6 November 1945, and was stationed at
Tibbets then attended the
Tibbets returned to Maxwell Air Force Base, where he attended the
In January 1958, Tibbets became commander of the 6th Air Division at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.[13] and was promoted to brigadier general in 1959.[71] This was followed by another tour of duty at the Pentagon as director of Management Analysis. In July 1962, he was assigned to the Joint Chiefs of Staff as deputy director for operations, and then, in June 1963, as deputy director for the National Military Command System.[13] In 1964, Tibbets was named military attaché in India. He spent 22 months there on this posting, which ended in June 1966.[71] He retired from the United States Air Force (USAF) on 31 August 1966.[72]
Later life and death
After his retirement from the Air Force, Tibbets worked for
Tibbets died in his Columbus, Ohio, home on 1 November 2007, at the age of 92.[60][74] He had suffered small strokes and heart failure during his final years and had been in hospice care.[8][75] He was survived by his French-born wife, Andrea,[76] and two sons from his first marriage, Paul III and Gene as well as his son, James, from his second marriage.[8][75] Tibbets had asked for no funeral or headstone, because he feared that opponents of the bombing might use it as a place of protest or destruction. In accordance with his wishes, his body was cremated,[77] and his ashes were scattered over the English Channel;[78] he had flown over the Channel many times during the war.[75]
Tibbets' grandson
Awards and decorations
USAF Command pilot badge
| ||
Distinguished Service Cross | ||
Legion of Merit | Distinguished Flying Cross with bronze oak leaf cluster |
Purple Heart |
Air Medal with three bronze oak leaf clusters |
Joint Service Commendation Medal
|
Army Commendation Medal |
Valor device and bronze oak leaf cluster
|
American Defense Service Medal | American Campaign Medal |
campaign stars
|
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with two bronze campaign stars |
World War II Victory Medal |
National Defense Service Medal with bronze service star |
Air Force Longevity Service Award with silver and bronze oak leaf clusters |
Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon
|
Source: Ohio History Central.[81]
Distinguished Service Cross citation
- Tibbets, Paul W.
- Colonel (Air Corps), U.S. Army Air Forces
- 393d Bombardment Squadron, 509th Composite Wing, Twentieth Air Force
- Date of Action: August 6, 1945
- Citation:
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Colonel (Air Corps) Paul Warfield Tibbets, Jr., United States Army Air Forces, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving as Pilot of a B-29 Very Heavy Bomber in the 393d Bombardment Squadron, 509th Composite Group (VH), Twentieth Air force, while participating in a bombing mission on 6 August 1945, over Japan. On this date Colonel Tibbets flew a B-29 type aircraft in a daring daylight strike against the city of Hiroshima on the main island of Honshu, Japan, from a base in the Marianas Islands carrying for the first time a type of bomb totally new to modern warfare. Flying the 1,500 miles of open water to the coast of Japan, he guided his plane over the island of Shikoku and the Inland Sea, threatened with the constant danger of anti-aircraft. He successfully dropped his bomb upon reaching the Target city, this single attack being the culmination of many months of tireless effort, training and organization unique in the Army Air Forces history, during which he constantly coped with new problems in precision bombing and engineering. The result of this attack was tremendous damage to the city of Hiroshima, contributing materially to the effectiveness of our strikes against the enemy. By extraordinary flying skill, gallant leadership, and successful performance of the flight despite considerable danger, Colonel Tibbets thereby rendered outstanding, distinguished and valorous service to our Nation.[82]
In popular culture
In other fictional portrayals, Nicholas Kilbertus was Tibbets in the film
In 1976, the United States government apologized to Japan after Tibbets re-enacted the bombing—complete with a mushroom cloud—in a restored B-29 at an air show in Texas. He said that he had not intended for the re-enactment to insult the Japanese people.[60][76] In 1989, he published his memoir Flight of the Enola Gay which chronicles his life to that date. In 1995, he denounced the 50th-anniversary exhibition of the Enola Gay at the Smithsonian Institution, which attempted to present the bombing in context with the destruction it caused, as a "damn big insult",[60] due to its focus on the Japanese casualties rather than the brutality of the Japanese government.[60] He was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1996.[72]
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g Kingseed 2006, pp. 153–155.
- ^ Marx 1967, p. 79.
- ^ a b Tibbets 1998, p. 33.
- ^ Tibbets 1998, p. 41.
- ^ Tibbets 1998, pp. 52–53.
- ^ "Paul Warfield Tibbets, III". The News-Star. 23 October 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
- ^ "Gene Tibbets Obituary". Montgomery Advertiser. 23 May 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
- ^ a b c d "Paul Tibbets Jr., who flew plane that dropped first atomic bomb, dies at 92". The Columbus Dispatch. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2007.
- ^ a b Tibbets 1998, p. 65.
- ^ Tibbets 1998, pp. 62–63.
- ^ Tibbets 1998, pp. 66–67.
- ^ Tibbets 1998, p. 70.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Brigadier General Paul W. Tibbets Jr". United States Air Force. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
- ^ Tibbets 1998, pp. 70–73.
- ^ Goldberg 1948, pp. 639–645.
- ^ Goldberg 1948, pp. 656–657.
- ^ Tibbets 1998, p. 79.
- ^ "VIII Bomber Command 1 – 17 August 1942". American Air Museum in Britain. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
- ^ Tibbets 1998, pp. 81–82.
- ^ Kingseed 2006, pp. 155–156.
- ^ Tibbets 1998, pp. 96–99.
- ^ "General Paul Tibbets – Reflections on Hiroshima". Atomic Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
- ^ Tibbets 1998, pp. 102–105.
- ^ Tibbets 1998, pp. 107–109.
- ^ Ambrose 1998, p. 40.
- ^ Kingseed 2006, pp. 157–158.
- ^ Tibbets 1998, p. 129.
- ^ Tibbets 1998, pp. 129–132.
- ^ Tibbets 1998, p. 133.
- ^ Tibbets 1998, p. 140.
- ^ Kingseed 2006, pp. 158–159.
- ^ Tibbets 1998, pp. 149–150.
- ^
- "Female flyers paved way". Florida Today. Associated Press. 21 October 1997. Retrieved 8 August 2023 – via The Portal to Texas History.
- "Women Fly the B-29". American Experience. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
Major General Barney Giles brought the demonstrations to an abrupt halt after just a few days, telling Tibbets that the women were 'putting the big football players to shame'
- "Let a woman do it..." The Fallon Post. 9 March 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
- "5 August 1943: Women Airforce Service Pilots". This Day in Aviation. 5 August 2023. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
- Giles, Rosemary (15 July 2022). "Men Were Too Scared to Fly the B-29 - Until Two Women Did". warhistoryonline. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
- Strebe, Amy Goodpaster (Spring 2011). "Women of the Air Force". Warfare History Network. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
- ^ Tibbets 1998, pp. 152–155.
- ^ "Women Fly the B-29". PBS. Archived from the original on 2 March 2021.
Tibbets' plan was a terrific success: After watching the women fly the four-engine bomber, the men stopped complaining about the plane
- ^ Rhodes 1986, pp. 583–584.
- ^ Tibbets 1998, pp. 157–163.
- ^ Tibbets 1998, pp. 167–168.
- ^ Kingseed 2006, p. 160.
- ^ Tibbets 1998, p. 165.
- ^ Tibbets 1998, p. 173.
- ^ Zuberi 2001, p. 633.
- ^ 509th Composite Group 1945, p. 1.
- ^ 509th Composite Group 1945, pp. 12–13.
- ^ Campbell 2005, p. 25.
- ^ Campbell 2005, p. 100.
- ^ 509th Composite Group 1945, pp. 15–18.
- ^ 509th Composite Group 1945, pp. 19–22.
- ^ "509th Timeline: Inception to Hiroshima". Children of the Manhattan Proj ect. Archived from the original on 17 June 2006. Retrieved 26 July 2006.
- ^ 509th Composite Group 1945, p. 25.
- ^ "509th CG Activation and Organization". The Atomic Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 5 May 2007.
- ^ a b Thomas & Morgan-Witts 1977, pp. 382–383.
- ^ Nathan, Richard (6 August 2021). "Literary Fallout: The legacies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki". Red Circle Authors. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
- ^ Campbell 2005, pp. 191–192.
- ^ Rhodes 1986, pp. 702–704.
- ^ Rhodes 1986, pp. 705–711.
- ^ Campbell 2005, p. 101.
- ^ Stelpflug 2007, p. 163.
- ^ Campbell 2005, p. 221.
- ^ a b c d e "Hiroshima bomb pilot dies aged 92". BBC News. 1 November 2007. Retrieved 1 November 2007.
- ^ a b "Miamian who bombed Hiroshima in 1945 dies". Miami Herald. 2 November 2007. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
- ^ Harden, Mike (6 August 2005). "Still No regrets for Frail Enola Gay Pilot". Columbus Dispatch.
- ^ Campbell 2005, p. 21.
- ^ Campbell 2005, p. 62.
- ^ Tibbets 1998, pp. 260–261.
- ^ Tibbets 1998, pp. 266–267.
- ^ Tibbets 1998, p. 280.
- ^ Goldstein, Richard (1 November 2007). "Paul W. Tibbets Jr., Pilot of Enola Gay, Dies at 92". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 November 2007.
- ^ Tibbets 1998, pp. 283–285.
- Boston Globe.
- ^ a b Tibbets 1998, pp. 288–291.
- ^ a b "Paul Tibbets Jr". National Aviation Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 6 August 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
- ^ "Paul Tibbets: A Rendezvous with History by Di Freeze". Airport Journals. Archived from the original on 1 July 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
- ^ Goldstein, Richard (1 November 2007). "Paul W. Tibbets Jr., Pilot of Enola Gay, Dies at 92". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 November 2007.
- ^ a b c "Man Who Dropped Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima Dies at 92". Fox News. 1 November 2007. Archived from the original on 2 November 2007. Retrieved 1 November 2007.
- ^ a b "Paul W. Tibbets". Miami Herald. 2 November 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
- ^ Holyoke, Cody. "American War Hero Remembered". WSFA.com. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
- ^ Thompson, Steve (13 November 2007). "Tibbets did his duty, and this country should be thankful". Daily Herald. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
- ^ Bocchino, Stefan. "Face of Defense: Grandson Carries on Grandfather's Service". Department of Defense. Archived from the original on 13 July 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
- ^ Sudekum, Maria (5 June 2015). "Grandson of Enola Gay Pilot Takes Command of B-2 Bomb Wing". ABC News. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
- ^ "Paul W. Tibbets Jr". Ohio History Central. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
- ^ "Valor awards for Paul Warfield Tibbets". Valor.militarytimes.com. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
- ^ "The Beginning or the End (1947)". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
- IMDb
- ^ Duffin & Mathies 2005, p. 61.
- IMDb
- IMDb
- ^ "Colonel Paul Tibbetts (Character)". IMDb.
- IMDb
- IMDb
- IMDb
- IMDb
- ^ Reinebach 2000, pp. 99–100.
References
- ISBN 0-684-85628-X.
- Campbell, Richard H. (2005). The Silverplate Bombers: A History and Registry of the Enola Gay and Other B-29s Configured to Carry Atomic Bombs. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 0-7864-2139-8.
- Duffin, Allan T.; Mathies, Paul (2005). The 12 O'Clock High Logbook: The Unofficial History of the Motion Picture, Novel, and TV Series. Boalsburg, Pennsylvania: BearManor Media. ISBN 1-59393-033-X.
- Goldberg, Alfred (1948). "Establishment of the Eighth Air Force in the United Kingdom". In Craven, Wesley Frank; Cate, James Lea (eds.). Volume One – Plans and Early Operations: January 1939 – August 1942 (PDF). The Army Air Forces In World War II. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 612–654. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
- Kingseed, Cole C. (2006). Old Glory Stories: American Combat Leadership in World War II. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-440-3.
- Marx, Joseph L. (1967). Seven Hours to Zero. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. OCLC 4050364.
- Reinebach, Rob (Winter 2000). "Duty: A Father, His Son, and the Man Who Won the War". Air and Space Power Journal. 14 (4): 99–100. ISSN 1554-2505. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
- ISBN 0-684-81378-5.
- Stelpflug, Peggy A. (2007). Home of the Infantry: The History of Fort Benning. Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press. ISBN 978-0-88146-087-2.
- OCLC 491239101.
- Tibbets, Paul W. (1998). Return Of The Enola Gay. New Hope, Pennsylvania: Enola Gay Remembered. ISBN 0-9703666-0-4.
- Zuberi, Matin (August 2001). "Atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki". Strategic Analysis. 25 (5): 623–662. S2CID 154800868.
- 509th Composite Group (1945). History of 509th Composite Group – 313th Bombardment Wing – Twentieth Air Force – Activation to 15 August 1945 (PDF). Tinian: 509th CG (AFHRA archived). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 January 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
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External links
- 509th Composite Group
- Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima
- BBC News item announcing Tibbets' death
- In pictures: Paul Tibbets
- General Paul Tibbets: Reflections on Hiroshima (Sep. 12, 1989 interview) - Voices of the Manhattan Project
- A dramatic retelling of the Hiroshima mission with Paul Tibbets Voices of the Manhattan Project
- Nuclear War Radio Series Voices of the Manhattan Project
- Obituary, The Daily Telegraph, 2 November 2007
- Obituary, The Guardian, 2 November 2007
- Obituary, The Times, 2 November 2007
- "Hiroshima; Enola Gay's Crew Recalls The Flight Into a New Era", New York Times, 6 August 1995
- Paul Tibbets interviewed in 1982 by Ann Blythe