Brig. Gen. Paul W. Tibbets,(USAF Ret.) died today at his Columbus Ohio home at age 92.
Born Feb. 23 1915 in Quincy Ill.His father moved the family to Miami in the mid 1920's and there at age 12 Tibbets rode in an airplane for the first time and began his life long love of avaition.
Tibbets attended Western Military Academy in Alton Ill. then studied medicine at colleges in Florida and Cincinati before becoming a cadet in the Army Air Corps at Fort Thomas Kentucky in 1937.As commander of the 340th Bomb Squad Tibbets flew 25 missions over Europe in a B-17 and later flew missions over North Africa.
On August 6 1945 Tibbets and his 3 man crew took off from the Pacific island of Tinian in a B-29 Superfortress which Tibbets had helped to modify to carry its deadly carg😵nly Tibbets was aware of the nature of the bomb they carried that day.Later that morning the Enola Gay,which Tibbets had named for his mother arrived over the city of Hiroshima Japan and dropped the first atomic bomb used in warfare.
Robert Oppenheimer,one of the senior members of the Manhattan Project was not sure the plane would survive the blast and told Tibbets to steer the plane at an angle of 159 degrees as soon as possible after releasing the bomb.Tibbets later said "The city we had seen so clearly in the sunlight a few minutes before was now an ugly smudge.It had completly disappeared under this awful blanket of smoke and fire".
After the war Tibbets worked on the B-47 bomber for the Air Force and rose to the rank of Brigadier General before retiering in 1966.He later flew Lear jets in Europe and consulted with many air craft companies.He joined Jet Avaition in Colombus Ohio in 1970 and became its chairman in 1982.
The Enola Gay,which Tibbets flew into the pages of history that August day can be seen at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C.
General Tibbets is survived by his wife Andrea and three sons.He requested that no services be held,fearing it might attract anti-war demonstrations.
RIP General.
Born Feb. 23 1915 in Quincy Ill.His father moved the family to Miami in the mid 1920's and there at age 12 Tibbets rode in an airplane for the first time and began his life long love of avaition.
Tibbets attended Western Military Academy in Alton Ill. then studied medicine at colleges in Florida and Cincinati before becoming a cadet in the Army Air Corps at Fort Thomas Kentucky in 1937.As commander of the 340th Bomb Squad Tibbets flew 25 missions over Europe in a B-17 and later flew missions over North Africa.
On August 6 1945 Tibbets and his 3 man crew took off from the Pacific island of Tinian in a B-29 Superfortress which Tibbets had helped to modify to carry its deadly carg😵nly Tibbets was aware of the nature of the bomb they carried that day.Later that morning the Enola Gay,which Tibbets had named for his mother arrived over the city of Hiroshima Japan and dropped the first atomic bomb used in warfare.
Robert Oppenheimer,one of the senior members of the Manhattan Project was not sure the plane would survive the blast and told Tibbets to steer the plane at an angle of 159 degrees as soon as possible after releasing the bomb.Tibbets later said "The city we had seen so clearly in the sunlight a few minutes before was now an ugly smudge.It had completly disappeared under this awful blanket of smoke and fire".
After the war Tibbets worked on the B-47 bomber for the Air Force and rose to the rank of Brigadier General before retiering in 1966.He later flew Lear jets in Europe and consulted with many air craft companies.He joined Jet Avaition in Colombus Ohio in 1970 and became its chairman in 1982.
The Enola Gay,which Tibbets flew into the pages of history that August day can be seen at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C.
General Tibbets is survived by his wife Andrea and three sons.He requested that no services be held,fearing it might attract anti-war demonstrations.
RIP General.
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