Tammy Bruce: Hero Paul Tibbets, Pilot of Enola Gay, Dies

Hero Paul Tibbets, Pilot of Enola Gay, Dies

Paul Tibbets

Then-Colonel Paul Tibbets with the Enola Gay

Paul Tibbets, the man who helped to end World War 2 by piloting the plane the dropped the bomb on Hiroshima has died at the age of 92. Tibbets remained throughout his life a man who knew the importance of his act, and had no regrets. Thank you General Tibbets and may God rest your soul.
Pilot of plane that dropped A-bomb dies

Paul Tibbets, who piloted the B-29 bomber Enola Gay that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, died Thursday. He was 92 and insisted for six decades after the war that he had no regrets about the mission and slept just fine at night.

Tibbets' historic mission in the plane named for his mother marked the beginning of the end of World War II and eliminated the need for what military planners feared would have been an extraordinarily bloody invasion of Japan. It was the first use of a nuclear weapon in wartime.

And they had reason to fear. You know how we cringe, appropriately, at the over 4,000 troops lost since the liberation of Afghanistan and Iraq. In the one month battle for the Japanese island of Okinowa, the United States and our allies (the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) suffered these stunning casualty numbers:

12,513 dead or missing,
38,916 wounded,
33,096 non-combat losses,
79 ships sunk and scrapped,
763 aircraft destroyed

12,513 dead in one month. For one island. Yes, invading Japan would have been a human bloodbath beyond comprehension. The dropping of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki saved truly countless lives, on both sides.

Here is a clip from the video "Atomic Cafe" featuring Paul Tibbets and his recounting of his mission piloting the Enola Gay.

Posted by Tammy · November 1, 2007 01:39 PM · Permalink
Hero | History | Military

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My dad served in the Army, in the Pacific Theater, during World War II. Had we not dropped the Bomb, it is very likely he would not have come home alive. And of course, had he not, I wouldn't be here now.

That pretty much clarifies it all for me.

The documentary series now playing on PBS, "The War," makes this very clear. It shows, pretty decisively, what it would have been like if we hadn't used nukes when we did. It could have gone on 'til 1946, '47, '48 or beyond.

War is a dirty, ugly business. But we didn't start that war; we merely ended it.

Posted by: Lori Heine at November 1, 2007 05:07 PM

12,513 dead in one month. For one island.

That is an unwinnable quagmire. And there is no direct proof that Japan launched the 12/7/41 attack. Pearl Harbor was an inside job. There were planes and ships that carried the Japanese logo, and men that looked Japanese were in them. But it is more likely that they were financed by Jews and Christianists at Haliburton in order to steal Japanese oil.

WOOOPS! I forgot - Roosevelt and the Democrats were in power at the time. Never mind what I just said. Instead, remember this MSM-honored truth:

When a Republican is President - war is hell!
When a Democrat is President - war is swell!

Posted by: Mwalimu Daudi at November 2, 2007 05:17 AM

The 1970's British "Thames" TV series, "The World at War", estimated the Japanese were responsible for 18 million deaths in the countries they conquered, "mostly by starvation". Had we not dropped the atomic bombs, it is highly likely more of them would have starved to death during the battles for mainland Japan than were killed by the bombs.

It is the 250,000 who were sadistically slaughtered by the Japanese in Nanking (in the case of females, often after gang rape) that I grieve for first.

Posted by: DSS at November 3, 2007 05:45 AM

And, of course, the bombs were most merciful of all to the Japanese themselves. Had we invaded and set foot on the sacred soil of the home islands, what would have followed after would have made the entire rest of the war up to that point pale in comparison. They would've been compelled to fight to the last man, woman and child, and WE would've been compelled to engage in genocide: either by conquest, or by slow starvation through naval blockade, Japan would cease to exist as a nation, be wiped off the face of the earth more thoroughly than the Romans did to Carthage.

Posted by: Dave J at November 3, 2007 10:44 PM

Having been 12-years-old in 1945 when the WWII War in the Pacific with Japan ended, I will forever be grateful to Paul Tibbets. He was brave enough to drop that bomb and end that horrible war which began with Japan attacking Pearl Harbor in 1941.
Two of my brothers were able to return home from the military, alive, thanks to Paul Tibbets. Many friends & neighbors returned home who might not have if the U.S. & Allies had to invade Japan.
I still recall the total JOY felt when news of the war's end was revealed. Praise to Paul Tibbets, a hero forever!

Posted by: jeni at November 9, 2007 03:03 PM

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Hero Paul Tibbets, Pilot of Enola Gay, Dies

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