Paul Tibbets, the pilot of the B-29 "Enola Gay" has p***ed away. Some of you may feel different but to me he was a genuine leader and a hell of a man. Were it not for him and his crew, and all the others in the Manhattan Project, I may not be here. My Dad was scheduled to command a tank platoon in the invasion of the Japanese home islands. http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-na-tibbets2nov02,0,2069783.story?coll=la-home-center Kurt O.
My hero too, and for the same reason: My Father headed a recon platoon in the 2nd Marine Division, a position that I think translates as "First dead guy on the beach." He was scheduled for the first wave of the ***ault on Sasebo scheduled for early 1946...the US plans called for two m***ive invasions of the home islands in 1947-7, with US DEAD projected at 40,000 and Japanese deaths expected to be in the millions. No Marine in August of '45 had any real expectation of being alive in 1948 until that bomb hit.
Absolutely. Thank God for that flight. My dad flew 50 missions in a B-17 and was out by then (my avatar is him after 50th), but that trip saved thousands of lives. RIP.
this man deserves all the best we can give him.......May dad was in the pacific also during this time,so who knows what woulda happened.The world owed him alot...R.I.P. HERO!
The Enola Gay has been restored and is on display at Americas Hanger at Dullas in Washington D.C.. Very much worth the visit if you ever out there.
I read an interview with him a few years ago. He was asked what would solve the wars in the Middle East. He said it's sad but felt a nuclear bomb should be dropped there. In a weird way, I think he was right.
That picture says it all for me. You can see he is choked with emotion. These brave men and women will never be honored enough for the heroic things that they did for their country. The youn gones today are still fighting for you and I and I thank them all. Rest in Peace, sir, Rest in Peace.
Another great one has p***ed.Whether you agree or disagree with what he did,the fact remains that a goodly number of the people on this board may not have even existed save for his act on that day. It is said that we lose a thousand(?) people a day who were ***ociated with the,"Second War to end all Wars". Most of them will never have their stories remembered and that is sad.Mr.Tibbetts got tell his and hopefully people will remember it for many years to come. I raise my gl*** to you sir;may your memory live on forever.
My Dad served on Tinian island at the time of the flight. That one flight saved alot of lives on both sides. Thanks to a great bunch of men. jerry
<TABLE id=HB_Mail_Container height="100%" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 UNSELECTABLE="on"><TBODY><TR height="100%" UNSELECTABLE="on" width="100%"><TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNSELECTABLE="off">Thanks to the men of W 2, all heros. </TD></TR><TR UNSELECTABLE="on" hb_tag="1"><TD style="FONT-SIZE: 1pt" height=1 UNSELECTABLE="on"> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
A nice post. I agree with all of you. I actually have never met anyone with a bad thing to say about Tibbets. Good thing. RIP
Tibbets did a job, and did it well. RIP , he is gone, but do what I do, on Nov 11, Veterans Day, call a vet and say thanks to them as well. Stop one in the Street if you see a VFW hat. They ALL need our respect and gra***ude! Thanks Gen. Tibbets, for all you did. AND **** THE LA TIMES!