General Paul Tibbets, Pilot Who Dropped the A-Bomb on Hiroshima, Died Today

Paul Tibbets died today at age 92 in his Columbus, Ohio home. He piloted the B-29 Superfortress, the Enola Gay, when it dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. It was the first of two nuclear bombs to be dropped on Japan. The second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki three days later.

Tibbets and his aircrew of fourteen dropped the A-bomb on the morning of August 6, 1945. There were an estimated 70,000 to 100,000 people killed and numerous injuries to others.

His mission was cloaked in secrecy, so much so that his crew didn't know the mission details until they were airborne, flying towards Japan. The Enola Gay, named after his mother, carried the five-ton A-bomb named "Little Boy".

Considered a hero by many and a villain by others, he denied for sixty years that he had any regrets. Tibbets said, "You've got to take stock and assess the situation at that time. We were at war. ... You use anything at your disposal." He added: "I sleep clearly every night."

President Truman ordered the mission, as the United States was preparing to invade the Japanese mainland. Estimates of casualties for both the Japanese and American forces were extremely high, some estimates put it at 1 million people. The Japanese military held their own people in total fear of the U.S. soldiers, saying that we captured babies and barbecued them, would rape all the women, etc., if there was an invasion. The fanaticism of the Japanese military and the Emperor would result in the second nuclear bomb being dropped on Nagasaki on August 9th, 1945.

There certainly were horrific casualties as a result of the atomic bombings, most of which were civilians. It should be noted, though, that the civilians were part of the war effort, working in the Mitsubishi Steel and Arms Works.

What I detest as a retired Air Force member is how the news media reports this historical event. They rarely, if at all, mention the fact that prior to the bombing of Nagasaki, leaflets were dropped the day before and also warnings from Radio Saipan. As a matter of fact, leaflets had been dropped for the entire month prior to the bombings. Were it not for the Japanese Imperialist Government, considerable lives could have been saved. It is unimaginable that after the bombing of Hiroshima that they still refused to surrender.

I also detest calls for an American apology for the bombings, and the continued biased coverage by the liberal news media that makes us the villain. They seem to forget Pearl Harbor, the enslavement of U.S. and British soldiers to work in the coal mines and the Mitsubishi plants, the mass rape of Chinese women, the death march of Bataan, etc.

The PC/revisionist history that is fed to our younger generation is designed to brainwash them into thinking that we were wrong for the bombings and that the Japanese were innocent victims. Rather than do some personal investigation into what really happened, they rely on tabloid-type headlines and drive-by potshots by the Leftist media, including NPR.

There are plenty of books and DVDs out there that provide a good analysis of WWII events. But, what can you expect when college students were asked recently who we fought in WWII and the response by some was "the Vietnamese". They know every facet of Britney Spears' life episodes but are clueless when it comes to American History. God save us...