A Salute to General Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr.

Who died today at the age of 92.

Thanks for your service.

Hiroshima?

The Pilot of the Enola Gay.

A very brave man and not just for flying that first atomic mission. I sometimes think it was probably harder to deal with the American people than the Japanese people for the crew of the Enola Gay.

I have an indirect link to General Tibbets other than our branch of service connection. When I got to my first duty station one of the first people I met was the First Sergeant, or "Top Soldier". Top is a wonderful man and outstanding soldier. He is a veteran of several tours of duty in Vietnam. One of the first things that you cannot help but note about Top is that he is Japanese. Not just from his looks either. Only a person of an Asian race could speak such absolutely impeccable English! I mean that as a sincere compliment too!

Top was brought to the United States by his mother sometime after the end of WWII. He was a resident of Hiroshima and just 5 years old when then Colonel Tibbets and his crew dropped the first atom bomb on Hiroshima. Top told me the story of what he saw. His grandfather had feared a bombing raid on their city for sometime so he sent Top, his mom and siblings into the mountains around Hiroshima to their summer home. They were to stay there until he sent for them to return. Shortly after their arrival at their mountain home Top was witness to the dropping of the bomb Little Boy on Hiroshima. He told me that the only way they identified his grandfather was by a pair of custom made boots he was wearing. I will never forget the look on his face as he told me how they all were burned up like charcoal.

Then I asked Top if he wasn't mad at us for dropping the bomb, completely forgetting that this man is a sworn U.S. citizen and American soldier. He looked at me as if I had just struck him. I had hurt him badly and immediately apologized. He then said something that has stuck with me all of my life. He said that Japan and the Japanese people had made war on America. What did they expect? This is war and America was fighting an honorable fight. Didn't I think that if Japan had that atomic bomb they would have dropped it on the United States? America had done the honorable thing, saved millions of lives that would have been lost in the invasion and then reached out to it's former enemy in true friendship to ensure peace for their nations.

I dare say that men like General Tibbets and my First Sergeant are the very finest of Americans!

The Paul Tibbets web site:

http://www.theenolagay.com/

I'm spending this year's Thanksgiving and the days following in Washington, DC.

Besides a side trip to the National Archives & the WWII Memorial; we are dedicating the entire 4-5 days to the Smithsonian with the Air & Space Museum tops on our list.

Seeing the Enola Gay is something I have wanted to do for years!

Eric,
What a great story ( a better word escapes me BUT should be applied). What a great application/demonstration of common sense. We were ALL "Americans" then.



Mark