Posted on 06/16/2004 5:53:48 PM PDT by correctthought
Thursday, June 17, 2004 at 08:42 JST SAIPAN — Paul Tibbets, the American pilot who dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, on Wednesday returned to the small island from where he launched the attack 59 years ago.
Tibbets, a retired Air Force brigadier general, is visiting the Northern Marianas to mark the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Saipan in which American forces liberated this U.S. territory from Japanese occupation forces in World War II.
On Wednesday he visited Tinian Island where on Aug 16, 1945, he took off in a B29 bomber named Enola Gay and flew to Hiroshima to drop the first of two atomic bombs that ended the war.
To his surprise he has been treated like a celebrity here on his first visit since 1945.
"I don't know what kind of a mental image they've had of me; possibly that I had horns out of my head and a tail with a spear on the end of it. I wanted to let them know who I am, and where I came from, and why I did what I did. They've given me the opportunity to do that," he said referring to controversy around the use of the atomic bomb.
"I wanted to come here and get the record straight because when I die there's no way I could make that record straight," said Tibbets who remains defiant and proud about his role in the atomic age.
"Ask me to do it again under the same circumstances, I wouldn't hesitate," he said. "I think I did the right thing. I didn't set out to kill a bunch of innocent people. I set out to kill people that were killing people. I wanted to stop the killing. That was my idea."
He believes dropping the bomb did its job of ending World War II and forcing the surrender of Japan.
"By convincing them of the futility of continuing to fight. That's what it took. That's what they got," Tibbets said.
Since his retirement from the Air Force in 1966, Tibbets has remained an outspoken advocate of U.S. air power.
But Tibbets said he can't evaluate or critique recent U.S. air strikes in Iraq because he refuses to watch media coverage of the war.
"Do I watch it? No," Tibbets told AP in an interview. "Vietnam cured me, this business ... about body count. Oh, Lord, when they used to sum up that stuff and their success was measured by body count, I used to think, 'What a lousy way to judge anything that you're doing.'
"You can take a fly swatter and kill a bunch of flies, but what the hell, you don't need to count them." (Wire reports)
bump
Can you say it any better than General Tibbets said it. He's a great American and I respect him and his actions. He made it safe for me and my family. God Bless him, and God Bless America(Ray Charles version, RIP Ray).
This country surely could use more people like him.
Most don't realize that without the use of the atomic bomb, a lot of them wouldn't be alive today as their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents would have been killed invading the Japanese Home Islands during Operation Downfall.
My father-in-law was in the Philippines getting ready for Operation Olympus...he never had any doubt that the men of the Enola Gay and Bock's Car saved his life...
"It is too bad that kids today are taught how the evil U.S. used evil nuclear weapons to destroy the peaceful peoples of Hiroshima and Nagasaki."
That's not what they learn in my history class...they see the whole film, "Hiroshima" that was on Showtime a number of years ago...and they come away with the inevitable conclusion that the atomic bomb ended up saving both US lives AND Japanese lives...without the spectre of more cities joining Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the Emperor would never have decided to surrender in spite of the opinion of the Army.
Cool! Enola Gay bump!
Depends on the instructor.
Damn right! My great uncle, Howard McConnell, 3 Purple Hearts and a Silver Star, is alive today (86), because of the atomic bomb. He fought through the Pacific War (Army) and was going to be in the second wave to attack the Japanese home islands.
Charlton Heston was assigned to the first wave; they had 110% casualties predicted ... reinforced companies. Uncle Howard's platoon was only supposed to have 95% casualties. He told his men, "Go get drunk, unless you're Baptist ... tomorrow all but one of you will be dead."
In preparation for the invasion of Japan, the government ordered a large number of Purple Hearts. Another order was not placed for Purple Hearts until 2002.
Just damn!
I read an article a few years ago by a Japanese Christian who survived the Nagasaki bomb. He said something like, "That's how much force God had to use, to save us from worshipping our military strength."
I'll go look for the article, if my baby will give me a moment ...
Link to Japanese survivor testimony:
http://www.wau.org/resources/saints/saintarchive/nagai.html
" ... Nagai accepted, and on November 29, 1945, he stood before thousands of fellow believers, all of whom had lost so much. In a quiet, compelling voice, he explained that the eight thousand Christians who had died instantly in the bomb were specially chosen by God. They were a holocaust, an expiation for all the sins committed during the war. These dead were unblemished lambs, sacrificial offerings to the Father in union with Christ, the one perfect Lamb of God."
It's amazing to me that there is so much hand wringing about this. The decision was just and moral. I'll have to pick up the book.
Title?
TRIVIA TIME, in case there are any youngsters here who haven't heard it: Capt. Tibbetts named his plane, the Enola Gay, after his mother.
"In preparation for the invasion of Japan, the government ordered a large number of Purple Hearts. Another order was not placed for Purple Hearts until 2002."
Back then we used our military leverage. Now we don't, and we'll need a lot of purple hearts sadly.
Nagasaki was doubly tragic, not just because of the massive number of Christians who perished, but because their intermediaries-- the supposedly neutral Soviet Union-- failed to relay Japan's desire to surrender but also used the three-day interlude between the two bombs to grab Japanese territory which their successors occupy to this day.
Years ago I had some Japanese exchange students for the week-end. I took them on the Circle Line Tour that circles Manhattan Island. The pier is right beside the Carrier USS Intrepid which was hit by many Kami-Kazis. I warned the students, that there would be comments from the tour director, on the boat we were on, describing what happened to the Intrepid. I said they were just relating history. One of the students said to me. "Oh, don't worry. We've already forgiven you!" !!!!!!!!??????? I wonder what THEY were taught in their schools!?
A wonderful book. I read it and googled Paul Tibbets and sent him an email thanking him on behalf of my family and myself for his brave duty in flying the Enola Gay. He responded to my email and I will always cherish his acknowledgment.
Definite MUST READ
On Wednesday he visited Tinian Island where on Aug 16, 1945, he took off in a B29 bomber named Enola Gay and flew to Hiroshima to drop the first of two atomic bombs that ended the war.
Maybe its a typo, maybe the writer and editors don't know their history; but when I saw the date, it stood out like a sore thumb. Hiroshima was bombed on Monday August 6, 1945. Nagasaki was the 9th.
I worked with the guy who was the only man on both the Enola Gay and Bock's Car, during the A-bomb raids. His name was Jake Beser.
He was a "special electonics technician", who monitored a spectrum analyzer to make sure that there was no traffic on the bomb detonation frequencies. It wasn't considered prudent to arm the bombs if people were broadcasting on the bomb frequency.
Since he was not a regular member of the crew of either aircraft, he was never invited to a reunion.
Bad form, as far as I am concerned.
Years later, I was speaking with one of my professors about Pearl Harbor and I told him that story. He said it is no surprise as most Japanese history classes skip over WWII.
My son gave me this book for Fathers Day a few years ago.
A good read, contrasting his father with Tibbets.
Sounds as though Paul Tibbets saved a lot of American civilians lives also.
Thanks tax-chick, too bad it was barely remembered today in the news. :-(
No fanfare for D-Day in Pacific
By James Brooke
The New York Times
SAIPAN, Northern Marianas Islands — Tuesday was the 60th anniversary of D-Day in the Pacific. On June 15, 1944, tens of thousands of U.S. Marines poured off a floating city of steel and launched a bloody 25-day battle that helped break the back of Japanese power in the Pacific.
Washington dignitaries couldn't make it. The Marine Corps Band had other commitments. The biggest out-of-town press team was The Pacific Daily News, from Guam...
..."We are disappointed, but we don't think our veterans necessarily are insulted by the lack of attention because they know in their hearts what they have done," Facey said of the fight over this 72-square-mile volcanic island, a raging battle that left 30,000 Japanese dead, 3,144 American soldiers dead, and another 10,952 Americans wounded.
http://www.presstelegram.com/Stories/0,1413,204~21474~2214679,00.html
Thanks, I'll put this book on my library list immediately!
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