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To: snippy_about_it; PhilDragoo; Johnny Gage; Victoria Delsoul; The Mayor; Darksheare; Valin; ...
News Release by Airmen Memorial Museum
June 9, 1994
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE




STATEMENT OFFERED BY BRIGADIER GENERAL PAUL W. TIBBETS (USAF, RETIRED) AT THE AIRMEN MEMORIAL MUSEUM ON JUNE 8, 1994 UPON THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE AIR FORCE SERGEANTS ASSOCIATION'S FREEDOM AWARD

A number of people and veterans organizations have asked me to comment on the subject of the Enola Gay, the care afforded her by the Smithsonian Institution together with their treatment of the atomic mission in general.


This is a photo of Col. Paul Tibbets on Tinian Island. It is thought that this photo was taken just prior to the Enola Gay taking off on its mission to Hiroshima. The man on the right is Capt. Robert Lewis, the co-pilot of the Enola Gay. The identities of the other men in the photo are not known. If you know their identity, please contact us via "feedback". This photo was submitted by Michael Carol, whose father, Andrew Carol, was a Staff Sergeant with the 509th Composite Group.


From my point of view, the matter has been politicized, and, as a result, mishandled. Those whose business it is to create, mold, manipulate and utilize public opinion have done so as a matter of self-serving interest. Consequently, history has been denigrated; the Enola Gay has been miscast and a group of valiant Americans have had their role in history treated shamefully. I am an airman, a pilot. In 1945, I was wearing the uniform of the US Army [Air Forces] following the orders of our commander-in-chief. I was, to the best of my ability, doing what I could to bring the war to a victorious conclusion-just as millions of people were doing here at home and around the world. Each of us -- friend and foe alike -- were doing the dictates of our respective governments. I recruited, trained and led the members of the 509th Composite Bomb Group. We had a mission. Quite simply, bring about the end of World War II. I feel I was fortunate to have been chosen to command that organization and to lead them into combat. To my knowledge, no other officer has since been accorded the scope of the responsibilities placed on my shoulders at that time.


General Spaatz Presents Distinguished Service Cross to Col. Paul Tibbets as General Davies Looks On - 1945


As for the missions flown against Japan on the 6th and 9th of August, 1945, I would remind you, we were at war. Our job was to win. Once the targets were named and presidential approval received, we were to deliver the weapons as expeditiously as possible consistent with good tactics. The objective was to stop the fighting, thereby saving further loss of life on both sides. The urgency of the situation demanded that we use the weapons first - before the technology could be used against us.


Col. Paul Tibbets After Receiving DSC. - 1945


During the course of the half century that has elapsed since the use of the atomic weapons, many scribes have chronicled the flight of the Enola Gay with nothing but descriptions of the destructive nature of our atomic weapons. Few such narratives have been objective. Indeed, I suggest to you that few, if any of the articles, books, films or reports have ever attempted to discuss the missions of August 6th and August 9th, 1945 in the context of the times. . Simply stated the Enola Gay and the 509th Composite Bomb Group have been denied a historically correct representation to the public. Most writers have looked to the ashes of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; to find answers for the use of those atomic weapons. The real answers lay in thousands of graves from Pearl Harbor around the world to Normandy and back again. The actual use of the weapons as ordered by the President of the United States was believed to be the quickest and least costly (in terms of lives lost) way to stop the killing. I carried out those orders with the loyal support of the men of the 509th Composite Bomb Group and the United States military at large. Our job was to serve. Our sworn duty was to God, country and victory. Today, there is a debate on how to present the Enola Gay and the use of the atom bombs to the American public and the world at large. There are questions as to how to best present the events of the summer of 1945. I have had many requests, -many appeals; to openly voice my opinions as to the Smithsonian's proposal and depiction of these realities. Consequently, I suggest that the Enola Gay be preserved and displayed properly- and alone, for all the world to see. She should be presented as a peace keeper and as the harbinger of a cold war kept from going "hot." The Enola Gay and her sister ship Bock's Car should be remembered in honor of the scientists who harnessed the power of the atom for the good of mankind. The talents and skills of those men and women who gave us the means to use, regulate and control atomic energy. Such notable positive contributions are worthy of Smithsonian recognition.


Col. Paul Tibbets Grins After Receiving DSC Award - 1945


The Enola Gay has become a symbol to different groups for one reason or another. I suggest that she be preserved and given her place in the context of the times in which she flew. For decades she has been relegated to a storage facility. Her place in history has been dealt with unfairly by those who decry the inhumanity of her August 6th mission. Ladies and gentlemen, there is no humanity in warfare. The job of the combatants, the families, the diplomats, and factory workers is to win. All had a role in that "all out" fight.

I am not a museum director, curator, or politician. I am a pilot. I am a military man trained to carry out the orders of a duly elected commander-in-chief.


This is a unique photo of Enola Gay signed by Col. Paul Tibbets. This photo was submitted by Betsy Daste, whose uncle, H. F. Martin, was with the 509th Composite Group.


For decades the Enola Gay has been in pieces. During this same period the subject of the atomic missions has provoked a flood of emotions. Virtually each and every narration of the events surrounding the flight of the Enola Gay has delved into the horrors and tragedies brought on by the atomic bombs.

Today, on the eve of the 50th Anniversary of the end of World War II, many are second-guessing the decision to use the atomic weapons. To them, I would say, "STOP!" It happened. In the wisdom of the President of the United States and his advisors at the time, there was no acceptable alternative but to proceed with what history now knows as Special Bombing Mission No. 13. To those who consider its proper presentation to the public, I say; "FULL SPEED AHEAD!" We have waited too long for all the wrong reasons to exhibit this aircraft. Too many have labeled the atomic missions as war crimes in an effort to force their politics and their opinions on the American public and to damn military history. Ironically, it is this same segment of society who sent us off to war that now wish to recant the flight of the Enola Gay.


Brigadier General Paul W. Tibbets
United States Air Force


Thus far the proposed display of the Enola Gay is a package of insults. Resting on an arrangement that will be shaped like a cradle, the sixty-some feet of fuselage and forward bomb bay - without wings, engines and propellers, landing gear and tail assembly - makes for an awesome sight. If nothing else, it will engender the aura of evil in which the airplane is being cast.

I am unaware of any positive achievements being credited to the men and women who built the B-29 bombers that carried the war to the Japanese homeland, or the soldiers, sailors, marines, and Seabees who fought, lived and died fighting to take Pacific Islands that were needed for airplane bases within striking distances of the mainland. What about the airmen who flew those strikes and lost their lives? And, those who survived. Are they to be denied recognition for their efforts? Something is wrong with this scenario.



In closing, let me urge consideration and let the exhibition of the Enola Gay accurately reflect the American spirit and victory of August 1945. Those of us who gained that victory have nothing to be ashamed of neither do we offer any apology. Some suffered, some died. The million or so of us remaining will die believing that we made the world a better place as a result of our efforts to secure peace that has held for almost 50 years. Many of us believe peace will prevail through the strength and resolve of the United States of America.

Paul W. Tibbets
Command Pilot
Enola Gay

Additional Sources:

www.theenolagay.com
www.tangischools.org
www.hill.af.mil/museum
www.leisuregalleries.com
www.nebraskastudies.org
www.stelzriede.com
www.childrenofthemanhattanproject.org
www.warofourfathers.com
www.au.af.mil
www.strategic-air-command.com
www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk

2 posted on 05/10/2004 12:00:57 AM PDT by SAMWolf (Time is just nature's way to keep everything from happening at once.)
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To: All
ENOLA GAY
B-29




Manufacturer: Boeing Aircraft Company
Assembler: Glenn L. Martin Company, Omaha, Nebraska
AAF Serial Number: 44-86292
Engine: Four Wright R-3350-57 Cyclone
Horsepower: 2,200 hp/engine
Wingspan: 141 ft. 3 in.
Height: 29 ft. 7 in.
Weight: #70,140 empty
Propellers: Curtiss Electric four-blade 16 ft. 7 in.
Maximum Speed: 360 mph (576 km/h) at 25,000 ft.
Stalling Speed: 125 mph
Range: 3,250 miles Loaded
Crew: 12 (usually 10)
Armament: 20,000 bomb (other B29s were equipped with 10 machine guns and a 1x20 mm cannon)

The B-29 Superfortress bomber was the single most complicated and expensive weapon produced by the United States during World War II. Nearly 4,000 B-29s were built for combat in the Pacific theater, including the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb over Hiroshima. Assembled on a rush basis by a vast manufacturing program that involved hundreds of thousands of workers, the B-29 boosted the Allies' wartime fortunes as it transformed the economies of cities and towns from Seattle, Washington, to Marietta, Georgia, and from Wichita, Kansas, to Woodridge, New Jersey.





ENOLA GAY
Chronology


Serial Number B-29-45-MO-44-86292 Victor 12 or 82

Shown below are the key dates in the history of the Enola Gay, the B-29 SuperFortress commanded by Colonel Paul W. Tibbets that dropped the first atomic bomb on August 6, 1945. The references used in compiling this chronology are shown at the end. Dates given are based on the local time zone.

9 May 45 B-2945-MO 44-86292 selected by Colonel Tibbets at the Martin Omaha plant in Omaha, Nebraska.

18 May 45 Delivered to the U.S. Army Air Forces by the Glenn L. Martin Company at the Martin Omaha plant.

14 Jun 45 Flown to Wendover Army Air Field, Utah, by Robert Lewis and crew.

27 Jun 45 Departed Wendover for Tinian (commanded by Lewis with crew).

2 Jul 45 Arrived at North Field, Tinian.

7 Jul 45 Practice bombing mission (500 lb, bombs) to Marcus Island (Opns Order #9, Ralph Devore as airplane commander with crew.)

12 Jul 45 Practice bombing mission (1,000 lb. bombs) to Rota Island (Opns Order #14, Jim Price as airplane commander with crew).

17 Jul 45 Training mission (Opns Order #16, Lewis as airplane commander with crew).

18 Ju1 45 Night orientation mission (Opns Order #17, Lewis as airplane commander with crew).

19 Jul 45 Practice bombing mission (1,000 lb. bombs) to Guguan Island (Opns Order #18, Lewis as airplane Commander with crew).

21 Jul 45 Practice bombing mission (500 lb. bombs) to Marcus Island (Opns Order #21, Lewis as airplane commander with crew).

22 Jul 45 Practice bombing mission (1,000 lb. bombs) to unknown target (Opns Order #22, McKnight as airplane commander with crew).

24 Jul 45 Combat bombing mission (#6) with pumpkin bomb, target: Kobe Steel Works (Opns Order #24, Lewis as airplane commander with crew).

26 Jul 45 Combat bombing mission (#9) with pumpkin bomb, target: Nagoya urban area (Opns Order #27, Lewis as airplane commander with crew).

31 Ju1 45 Little Boy (L6) atomic bomb drop test mission (Opns Order #31, Tibbets as airplane commander with modified crew ).

5 Aug 45 Little Boy (Ll1) atomic bomb loaded in front bomb bay. Name Enola Gay painted on nose.

6 Aug 45 Special bombing mission (#13) with Little Boy atomic-bomb (Lll), target: Hiroshirna (Opns Order #35, Tibbets as airplane commander with modified crew)

9 Aug 45 Advance weather reconnaissance to Kokura in support of Fat Man atomic bombing mission to Nagasaki (Special Bombing Mission #16)(Opns Order #39, George Marquardt as airplane commander with crew).

20 Aug 45 Local mission (purpose unknown) (Opns Order #47, Lewis as airplane commander with crew).

22 Aug 45 Local mission (purpose unknown) (Opns Order #48, Lewis as airplane commander with crew).

4 Nov 45 Departed Tinian for United States.

8 Nov 45 Arrived Roswell Army Air Field, New Mexico.

Mar 46 Assigned to Task Force t.5 for Operation Crossroads atomic bomb tests.

18 Apr 46 Departed Roswell AAF for Operation Crossroads atomic bomb tests.

1 May 46 Arrived Kwajalein Island.

1 July 46 Departed Kwajalein for United States.

2 July 46 Arrived Fairfield-Suisun Army Air Field, California.

24 July 46 To Davis-Monthan Army Air Field, Arizona (4105th Base Unit) in preparation for storage.

30 Aug 46 Placed in storage at Davis-Monthan Army Air Field and dropped from Army Air Forces inventory.

3 Jul 49 Retrieved from storage and flown to Park Ridge, Illinois, (now O`Hare airport) by Paul Tibbets; accepted by Smithsonian Institution for restoration and display. Stored at Park Ridge.

12 Jan 52 Flown to Pyote Air Force Base, Texas, for temporary storage.

2 Dec 53 Flown to Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, for temporary storage.

10 Aug 60 Disassembly started in preparation For transfer to Smithsonian storage and restoration facility at Suitland, Maryland.

21 Jul 61 Disassembled components moved to Suitland.

5 Dec 84 Restoration started at Garber facility, Suitland, Maryland.

28 Jun 95 Forward section of the Fuselage and other pieces of Enola Gay put on display at the Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

18 May 98 Enola Gay exhibit closed and pieces returned to the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration and Storage Facility In Suitland, Maryland.

-- Compiled by:
Col. Richard H. Campbell (USAF, Ret.)


3 posted on 05/10/2004 12:01:20 AM PDT by SAMWolf (Time is just nature's way to keep everything from happening at once.)
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To: SAMWolf
Those of us who gained that victory have nothing to be ashamed of neither do we offer any apology. Some suffered, some died. The million or so of us remaining will die believing that we made the world a better place as a result of our efforts to secure peace that has held for almost 50 years.

Amen Colonel Tibbets. Well said and it is sad that America has become apologetic to the extent of "political correctness" run-a-muck.

31 posted on 05/10/2004 8:46:27 AM PDT by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: SAMWolf
Straight talk from him.
Wish tehre were more who'd say it like that without any retribution.
But these days, step on anyone's toes even a little, and you lose rank, or have some effite pantywaist block promotion on you or worse.

Need more people like him both in uniform and in civilian life.
51 posted on 05/10/2004 10:07:12 AM PDT by Darksheare (I am Darksheare, and my tagline has no point. 'Tis a pointless tagline, which is the point.)
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