Brigadier General Paul Tibbets has paased away at the age of 92. General Tibbets was the pilot and commander of the mission that dropped the first atomic weaponon Hiroshima, Japan. He was a 30 year old Colonel at the time, and he said this in a 1975 interview:
"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."
General Tibbets represents the finest of the greatest generation, and with the passing of more than 1000 World War II veterans each day, goes to join his brothers once again.
I am thankful that such men lived, and am humbled by their service and their greatness.
Semper Fi, General.
You Are Among The Elite!
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Another Hero Has Passed
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5 Posts From Readers:
a true hero and a true man of honor.
I am sorry to read this. Tibbits was a true hero and his dedication to duty was exemplary.
I have read several accounts of the training and the in-flight command of the Enola Gay and Tibbets was a man who new how to handle tremendous pressure with calm assurance and organized detail to his command.
AN era in military aviation has ended.
"I'm not proud that I killed 80,000 people..."
Wow, just wow.
He should be proud. He stopped the killing of a million people by flawlessly planning and executing a history making aviation mission.
In a prior life I was a Marine. We study our history. I have conducted amphibious landings. I shudder at the nuber of casualties that would have resulted from an invasion of Japan.
An invasion from Japan! I can only presume you mean a Japanese invasion of mainland America... WOW. BRILLIANT.
Good riddance to bad rubbish Tibbets.
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