2008 Woodie Awards
Enola Gay pilot dies at 92
Paul Tibbets Jr. dropped Hiroshima bomb
Chris Stroud
Issue date: 11/9/07 Section: Forum
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If you don't know the name of Paul W. Tibbets Jr., you should. If it wasn't for Tibbets, who died at age 92 Nov. 1, and the 509th squadron that he created, you or someone you know might not be here today. Then Colonel Tibbets was the commander of the "Atomic Air Fleet" and personally piloted the B-29 Enola Gay. On August 6, 1945 Tibbets and his 13-man crew dropped the atomic bomb called "Little Boy" on Hiroshima, Japan.
Three days later a second B-29 dropped "Fat Man" on Nagasaki; on Aug. 15, the Japanese surrendered. Tibbets flew 25 B-17 missions for the 340th Bomb Squadron beginning in February 1942. On Aug. 17, he led the first American daytime raid against occupied Europe.
That November, he led the first bombardment missions from Algeria in support of the North African Invasion. In March of 1943, he returned stateside, becoming the test pilot for Boeing's new bomber, the B-29 Super Fortress.
He logged more than 400 hours testing the combat capability of the new plane, making him the leading authority on the capabilities of the plane. Tibbets joined the secret Manhattan Project in September 1944.
Charged with the task of organizing and training combat units to deliver the new weapons, Tibbets requisitioned 15 B-29s and personally supervised the modifications necessary for the plane to fly faster, soar above anti-aircraft fire and carry the five-ton bomb. After training at Wendover Army Air Base near the Utah/Nevada border, the group quietly started moving to Tinian Island in the Marianas chain.
On August 5, 1945 President Truman gave the authorization to use the new weapons. At 2:45 a.m. August 6, Tibbets and the Enola Gay took off for Hiroshima. At 8:15 a.m. local time, the bomb was released at an altitude of 31,000 feet. Forty-three seconds later, at 1,890 feet above ground zero, it detonated in the world's first combat use of a nuclear weapon.
"Little Boy" immediately killed an estimated 75,000 people and left tens of thousands of others seriously injured, ill and dying with radiation poisoning while turning much of Hiroshima, a city of some 250,000 at the time, into charred desolation.
Three days later a second B-29 dropped "Fat Man" on Nagasaki; on Aug. 15, the Japanese surrendered. Tibbets flew 25 B-17 missions for the 340th Bomb Squadron beginning in February 1942. On Aug. 17, he led the first American daytime raid against occupied Europe.
That November, he led the first bombardment missions from Algeria in support of the North African Invasion. In March of 1943, he returned stateside, becoming the test pilot for Boeing's new bomber, the B-29 Super Fortress.
He logged more than 400 hours testing the combat capability of the new plane, making him the leading authority on the capabilities of the plane. Tibbets joined the secret Manhattan Project in September 1944.
Charged with the task of organizing and training combat units to deliver the new weapons, Tibbets requisitioned 15 B-29s and personally supervised the modifications necessary for the plane to fly faster, soar above anti-aircraft fire and carry the five-ton bomb. After training at Wendover Army Air Base near the Utah/Nevada border, the group quietly started moving to Tinian Island in the Marianas chain.
On August 5, 1945 President Truman gave the authorization to use the new weapons. At 2:45 a.m. August 6, Tibbets and the Enola Gay took off for Hiroshima. At 8:15 a.m. local time, the bomb was released at an altitude of 31,000 feet. Forty-three seconds later, at 1,890 feet above ground zero, it detonated in the world's first combat use of a nuclear weapon.
"Little Boy" immediately killed an estimated 75,000 people and left tens of thousands of others seriously injured, ill and dying with radiation poisoning while turning much of Hiroshima, a city of some 250,000 at the time, into charred desolation.
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