15 Facts about Paul Tibbets, Hiroshima Bomber
Paul Tibbets was the U.S. pilot whose plane dropped the atom bomb "Little Boy" on Hiroshima in WWII.
What do we know:
1. Paul Tibbets was born on Feb. 23, 1915….he died to today at age 92.
2. He is from Quincy, IL.
3. Tibbets first rode in an airplane when he was 12.
4. They threw out Baby Ruth candy bars on his first trip…not bombs.
5. He attended the Western Military Academy in IL.
6. He studied medicine at University of FL and University of Cincinnati.
7. He became a cadet in the Army Air Corps at Ft. Thomas, KY in 1937.
8. He flew 25 missions in B-17 aircraft over Europe and North Africa.
9. He test piloted the B-29 airplane and arranged for modifications to hold nuclear weapons.
10. He flew the plan at an angle of 159 degrees to have the best chance of survival after dropping the bomb.
11. Tibbets did not regret his part in the bombings…'saved thousands of American lives…'
12. Tibbets later worked as a technical advisor on nuclear weapons tests at Bikini Atoll.
13. He helped set up the Military Command Center in the Pentagon.
14. He rose to the rank of Brigadier General
15. He retired after 30 years in 1966.
Japan won't miss him…but the thousands of lives he helped saved and their families and children and their children will surely miss him.
Me, too.
How about you?
More facts –
16. 'Enola Gay' was named after his mother.
17. 70,000 some people died instantly in the blast on August 6, 1945.
18. The bomb cost $2 billionish in research to develop.
19. 3 days later, Japan surrendered after the second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.
20. I have been to both Hiroshima and Nagasaki…Japan does NOT hate America for the bomb…they just hate the bomb.
