Passing of Hiroshima Bomber Paul Tibbets
When Colonel Paul Warfield Tibbets, Jr. of US XX Air Force 509th Composite Bombardment Group lifted off from Tinian Island of the Mariana Islands, he knew very well what his cargo, "Little Boy", could do. What he did not know was how destructive the bomb would be.
Although Tibbets was disturbed by the 140,000 lives lost on 6 Aug 1945 in Hiroshima, Japan, until today when he passed away in his home in Columbus, Ohio, United States, he had no regrets. "Thousands of former soldiers and military family members have expressed a particularly touching and personal gratitude suggesting that they might not be alive today had it been necessary to resort to an invasion of the Japanese home islands to end the fighting", said Tibbets on the 60th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima.
Obeying Tibbets' request, his family would hold no funeral nor putting up any headstone, so that Tibbets' final resting place would not be used by protesters.
For more info:
WW2DB: Paul TibbetsWW2DB: Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The Washington Post: Paul Tibbets Jr.; Piloted Plane That Dropped First Atom Bomb
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Winston Churchill, 1935
7 Nov 2007 07:06:04 AM
I think it was not necessary to use the atomic bomb on the japanese, historical records prove that tokyo was 95%destroyed as were all other industrial cities, there were other options, a blockade would have been effective, we set a precedent by using a nuke,we shall reap what we sow someday...I fear.I wonder how much prejudice was involved in th decision to use a nuke, Truman was evil.