Paul Tibbets stands in front of the Enola Gay
We hardly make them like him anymore, and now he's gone.
Paul Tibbets died last week at his Columbus, Ohio home. He was 92.
There are people who are glad he's gone because they don't like what he did in 1945. They're idealistic fools. They're alive and free today because of Tibbets' skill and courage.
I've no hesitation in saying we need more like him, with his attitude about doing what needs to be done in time of war when so much is at stake.
In a 1975 interview he said, "You've got to take stock and assess the situation. … We were at war. … You use anything at your disposal."
That's the attitude – realistically facing the need to defeat the enemy!
His full name: Paul Warfield Tibbets, Jr.
Shame on you if you don't know who he is, because Paul Tibbets changed history in 1945. He piloted the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb in war.
In fact, he planned the missions, leading the first of two that definitively ended the bloody and costly war against Japan.
The Japanese surrender came after a second mission, three days later, when another B-29 crew dropped a second bomb, called "Fat Boy," on Nagasaki.
Paul Tibbets piloted the Enola Gay (named after his mother) – the B-29 carrying the first atomic bomb called "Little Boy."
Tibbets, and his 13-man crew, dropped that 5-ton bomb on Hiroshima early Aug. 6, 1945. It was a military center with no prisoners of war in the area.
The successful mission was the result of the Army choosing the right man to lead and carry it out, a 30-year-old colonel from Illinois: Paul Tibbets.
He was 22 when he joined the Army Air Corps in 1937. During the early years of World War II, he flew B-17 missions over North Africa and Europe. He was an early B-29 test pilot and was chosen for planned atomic bomb runs. His piloting skills led to his being chosen for the secret Japanese bombing missions, an outgrowth of the Manhattan Project, and he worked with those scientists.
The success of the mission led to his fame as a military hero, but it also led to criticism of his role. As the atomic bomb attacks became the focus of anti-war rhetoric, Tibbets was targeted and vilified by those who saw the bomb use as unwarranted.
But Tibbets' strength of character was resolute. He believed then, and until his death, that what was done was necessary to end the Pacific war carnage and that he was the right man for the job.
He told biographer Bob Greene, "What they needed was someone who could do this and not flinch – and that was me."
What refreshing honesty and self-confidence! It was a confidence supremely needed to plan and carry out the mission, developing the skill to drop the bomb on target and then turn the plane out of harms way in barely 40 seconds – an incredible feat.
Because of the vitriol against him, Tibbets gave few interviews. He said what he believed and never wavered. He also never wavered from a realistic take on the magnitude of the blasts and the devastation it caused. He was no fool, but he realized and said that "It would have been morally wrong if we'd have had that weapon and not used it and let a million more people die."
He knew the bomb avoided an invasion of Japan and ultimately saved more lives than we took.
Despite vindictive, untrue rumors of health problems, Paul Tibbets continued his military career. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Legion of Merit and the Distinguished Flying Cross.
After the war, he was technical adviser for the Bikini Atoll testing, worked with the Strategic Air Command and with the Pentagon's National Military Command Center.
Paul Tibbets retired from the Air Force in 1966 with the rank of brigadier general.
His second wife, three children and six grandchildren survive him.
He's also survived by a country that owes him much, and more honor than he'll be accorded at his passing.
Paul Tibbets repeatedly said he did not want a funeral or a headstone.
Why?
Because of all the criticism, he said, he didn't want to give detractors a place to protest.
How tragic and infuriating.
Detractors hate him because of what he did to end the war, and hate him more because he consistently said that he never had trouble sleeping.
To the end, he believed he did the right thing, and I agree.
Paul Tibbets made it possible for all of us to live in peace. He enabled this country, and the world, to deal with other wars in other years without such worldwide conflagration – so far, at least.
It took men like Paul Tibbets to pull it together with courage and guts. We've always needed such men, and we need them more than ever today. Freedom depends on it.
But this country owes him, and it's long overdue. We owe Brig. Gen. Paul W. Tibbets Jr. a memorial.
He was a true hero.
That his grave would be unmarked is shameful.
That his memory would be ignored because of political protesters is cowardice.
He deserves better.
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