General Tibbets Goes West

Read it again Morgans..
Tibbets refused the prayer.. not that the Chaplin refused to pray for the
men.

BT

"Morgans" wrote in message
...

"Gatt" wrote

The 96th was sent to bomb a cathedral city on Sunday, and on that day
when the chaplain came around before the mission he refused prayer
because he he said he couldn't pray for safety when he was about to go
bomb civilians in the houses of God.

That Chaplin put a heavy load on guys like your dad, just so he could feel
better about himself. That is a far greater sin than what the 96th did,
IMHO. I hope he realizes what he did, and how harmful it was, and prays
for forgiveness every day.

Bill Watson wrote:
He has been recorded more than once answering that question. He's
always answered it the same way. To his credit, I doubt whether that's
true. Perhaps best reflected in his request for no funeral or grave
marker... though it can be interpreted in several ways.


I wondered about that too. He is eligible for a military burial at Arlington
National Cemetery... and there ain't so such thing as a protest there. He'd be
in excellent company and he'd be safe for posterity.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com

On 2007-11-01 15:51:33 -0700, "Gatt" said:

He was 92. God speed, General.

Damn. Another fine one of the great generation gone.

Guys like him are pretty dang tough to come by.

I always wondered how well he slept at night long after the war.

Not saying what he did was wrong, but, so many men of virtue who knew they
were fighting the good fight or who had no choice but to kill are haunted by
their war. The pilot of my grandfather's plane never talked about it to his
family, and the co-pilot shut down to the point where he refused to
believe--he got angry at the suggestion--that there were ever B-17s that
weren't olive drab when I spoke with him a few years ago. One of the
officers later committed suicide. Very brave men who did what they had to
do, but couldn't bear to remember.

To be reminded of that every time the History Channel or somebody talked
about dropping The Bomb must have weighed heavy on the old warrior. May he
rest in eternal peace.

-c

He asked that there be no funeral or headstone so that there would be
no place for protesters to gather. He always said that dropping the
atomic bomb was the right thing to do. He said he did not start the
war, but he was determined to finish it.

--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor

On 2007-11-01 17:40:29 -0700, "Gatt" said:


"M.W. Barrow" wrote in message
...

See above. Also, get the DVD set for "Band of Brothers" and listen to the
interviews of the original men from the 101st.

I just watched it with my little brother, who came home on leave from his
second (and final..woohoo) deployment. Had a friend of the family who was a
captain in one of those companies. I never knew anything about it until I
saw his Purple Heart license plate. Asked my mother if she knew he'd been
there and she said that when she was a kid, he was their neighbor and he'd
wake up screaming so loud that my grandfather would go over with a couple of
beers or some whiskey and help him out. When I asked about the plate he
told me he had gone to the unveiling of the World War II memorial, and that
had given him closure.

To be reminded of that every time the History Channel or somebody talked
about dropping The Bomb must have weighed heavy on the old warrior.

Again, based on the radio interview mentioned above, I don't think so.

I wish I could completely believe that. I was raised by a B-17 vet. I
understand the part about fear waking them up, but, I was with him in his
last hours. It was the final moment that I realized I would never, ever
want to have carried that weight.

For some time he flew re-enactments in B-29s at air shows. He had
little patience for the protesters there, or for the proposed
apologetic display of the Enola Gay at the Smithsonian. He was
convinced that what he did was necessary, which I suppose is the only
way anyone could deal with a thing like that.

He was irritated by the perennial rumor that he had committed suicide.




--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor

"BT" wrote in message
...
Read it again Morgans..
Tibbets refused the prayer.. not that the Chaplin refused to pray for the
men.

It wasn't Tibbets, he's speaking of a different outfit.


BT

"Morgans" wrote in message
...

"Gatt" wrote

The 96th was sent to bomb a cathedral city on Sunday, and on that day
when the chaplain came around before the mission he refused prayer
because he he said he couldn't pray for safety when he was about to go
bomb civilians in the houses of God.

That Chaplin put a heavy load on guys like your dad, just so he could
feel better about himself. That is a far greater sin than what the 96th
did, IMHO. I hope he realizes what he did, and how harmful it was, and
prays for forgiveness every day.

He was 92. God speed, General.

Mary and I had the opportunity to meet the General at OSH '04 or '05
-- I forget which one.

He had been signing autographs and talking all afternoon, and he was
visibly tired. We found him sitting incongruously on a kitchen chair
near the edge of Aeroshell Square, with a young woman acting as his
"keeper". As we approached, he looked like a lion, with a thick
shock of white hair, two hearing aids (now THAT is an old pilot's
signature, no?), and rheumy eyes that nevertheless felt like lasers
when he focused on you.

As we got closer, he looked more and more tired. My son and daughter
wanted him to sign their airshow hats in the worst way, but as we
walked up to him his "keeper" shot me a look with pleading eyes, as if
to say "Please give him a break!"

I steered the kids away, without stopping to chat.

Godspeed, General. I thank you for saving my dad's life.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Mortimer Schnerd, RN wrote:
Bill Watson wrote:
He has been recorded more than once answering that question. He's
always answered it the same way. To his credit, I doubt whether that's
true. Perhaps best reflected in his request for no funeral or grave
marker... though it can be interpreted in several ways.


I wondered about that too. He is eligible for a military burial at Arlington
National Cemetery... and there ain't so such thing as a protest there. He'd be
in excellent company and he'd be safe for posterity.



Tibbets received many letters after the war and all through his life
from Japanese citizens thanking him for helping to save what would have
been millions of their lives as well the American lives saved by forcing
the surrender.
He never had trouble sleeping and always understood the role he played
in ending the war.
About his grave request; Tibbets always has understood and has had to
deal with the extreme left all through his life. He was well aware of
the ingenuity and inventiveness of some of these people. To my knowledge
he has always believed that no matter where he was buried, the location
would be a prime target for these people.
As for Arlington; interning him there would only have served to feed the
extreme left who would again have used the very location of the
internment as cannon fodder for keeping his name alive for use in the
anti-war movement.
The word I have gotten through my sources is that Tibbets simply wanted
to not be used after his death in any way the location of his remains
would have provided. He had quite enough of that in life, and simply
wanted not to be used in any ongoing controversy.

Personally, I think he did the right thing, although it's puzzling to me
why, considering his goals, he simply didn't choose cremation. It's not
too much a stretch however, to surmise that feeling the way he did about
all of it, that he chose to take even the "fire" relationship out of the
equation for the extreme left.

--
Dudley Henriques

Dudley Henriques wrote:
Mortimer Schnerd, RN wrote:
Bill Watson wrote:
He has been recorded more than once answering that question. He's
always answered it the same way. To his credit, I doubt whether that's
true. Perhaps best reflected in his request for no funeral or grave
marker... though it can be interpreted in several ways.


I wondered about that too. He is eligible for a military burial at Arlington
National Cemetery... and there ain't so such thing as a protest there. He'd be
in excellent company and he'd be safe for posterity.



Tibbets received many letters after the war and all through his life
from Japanese citizens thanking him for helping to save what would have
been millions of their lives as well the American lives saved by forcing
the surrender.
He never had trouble sleeping and always understood the role he played
in ending the war.
About his grave request; Tibbets always has understood and has had to
deal with the extreme left all through his life. He was well aware of
the ingenuity and inventiveness of some of these people. To my knowledge
he has always believed that no matter where he was buried, the location
would be a prime target for these people.
As for Arlington; interning him there would only have served to feed the
extreme left who would again have used the very location of the
internment as cannon fodder for keeping his name alive for use in the
anti-war movement.
The word I have gotten through my sources is that Tibbets simply wanted
to not be used after his death in any way the location of his remains
would have provided. He had quite enough of that in life, and simply
wanted not to be used in any ongoing controversy.

Personally, I think he did the right thing, although it's puzzling to me
why, considering his goals, he simply didn't choose cremation. It's not
too much a stretch however, to surmise that feeling the way he did about
all of it, that he chose to take even the "fire" relationship out of the
equation for the extreme left.

--
Dudley Henriques

According to
http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news..._196498-1.html

"He asked that his ashes be spread over the English Channel, where he flew
for part of his war service."


--
Jim Pennino

Remove .spam.sux to reply.

"Morgans" wrote in message
...

"Gatt" wrote

The 96th was sent to bomb a cathedral city on Sunday, and on that day
when the chaplain came around before the mission he refused prayer
because he he said he couldn't pray for safety when he was about to go
bomb civilians in the houses of God.

That Chaplin put a heavy load on guys like your dad, just so he could feel
better about himself. That is a far greater sin than what the 96th did,
IMHO. I hope he realizes what he did, and how harmful it was, and prays
for forgiveness every day.

At the risk of sounding foolish, I hope I articulated that clearly; the
Chaplain offered prayer and my grandfather (and some of the others) couldn't
accept because he didn't feel right about being blessed to go bomb people
whey they were in church. As to the Chaplain, on the Schweinfurt raid he
offered last rites as the crews were departing. How's that for a morale
booster? Maybe Tibbets just had a really good chaplain.

I believe it did. I always got the feeling he was telling the truth when
he said he slept at night. He always seemed like an up front, straight
shooting guy.

Well, with nerves like that I sure wouldn't want to have gotten on his bad
side! :

On Fri, 02 Nov 2007 15:25:02 GMT, wrote:



According to
http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news..._196498-1.html

"He asked that his ashes be spread over the English Channel, where he flew
for part of his war service."

They replayed an interview with him on NPR yesterday. He said he
wanted his ashes to be scattered over the North Atlantic because the
flights over the ocean were the most peaceful times he ever had.