When the war was over, my dad flew home on the Enola Gay. That’s the difference between following orders and revisionist history. He, like my dad, was simply following orders and doing his job. In fact, he knew there were those who despised him for what he did, and he requested to be cremated when he died so that a grave would not be decimated by those who despised him.
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Paul Tibbets never considered himself a hero. He was just doing his job and serving his country.
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My dad would not have considered himself a hero. Tibbets replied, “I remember your grandfather. When my daughter Hayley was in high school, she wrote a paper about my dad and contacted Col. In fact, I recently found a video taken from the other side of the plane, and I can see my dad raising his camera to take a picture of that moment. Tibbets and the crew as they were recognized for their historic mission. I also donated over 100 photographs my dad took in the service, including pictures he took when the Enola Gay landed at Tinian after completing her mission. Nothing he said was particularly profound (they were letters between he and my mom), but it is so rare to have both the husband’s and wife’s letters during a time of war. Several years ago after my dad died, I donated his letters to the University of Mississippi to make sure they were preserved for future generations. Mail was censured and sent from various parts of the country to keep their location and mission top secret. By the end of April 1945, the 509th began the move to Tinian in preparation for what would be one of the most defining moments in military history.ĭuring his time in this strategic unit, my dad’s family could not know where he was stationed. In December 1944, the 393rd Bomb Squadron officially became the Bomb Squadron of the 509th. He was handpicked to be part of this highly secretive group of American heroes. My dad was part of the 509th Composite Group and the 393rd Bomb Squadron. War is a part of life because of sin and Satan. I believe in light of the fact that Pearl Harbor was attacked without provocation and that we had been fighting a war on two fronts, the decision by President Harry Truman was the right one. It was estimated that at least a million Americans and Japanese could lose their lives if there was an invasion of the Japanese mainland.
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The Japanese were flying kamikaze missions into our ships. Thousands of Americans were dying while trying to take back the Pacific Islands. The event, the bomb, and the aftermath have been heavily debated in my lifetime, but at the time of the event very few questioned the decision. Paul Tibbets as the pilot, dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. On August 6, 1945, 65 years ago, the Enola Gay, with Col.