General Tibbets Goes West

He was 92. God speed, General.
--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor

"C J Campbell" wrote

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.

Rest easy, brave one.
--
Jim in NC

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

"Gatt" wrote in message ...
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.


They had a recorded interview with him on the news tonight. He said that war was immoral, and he did what he had to do
in that immoral situation. He also said that he slept well at night...

He has a fine grandson.. he was a B-1 Co-pilot when I knew him. Has served
as a B-1 Aircraft Commander in IRAQ and I've lost track of him.
BT

"Morgans" wrote in message
...

"C J Campbell" wrote

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.

Rest easy, brave one.
--
Jim in NC

"Gatt" wrote in message
...
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.

Based on a radio interview I heard him give a couple years ago, I'd guess he
selpt just fine.

IIUC, much of PTS was from ABJECT FEAR for themselves and their buddies, not
for what they did to the enemy.


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.


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


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.


May he rest in eternal peace.

Indeed! Godspeed, General.

"Blueskies" wrote in message
t...

Damn. Another fine one of the great generation gone.

Guys like him are pretty dang tough to come by.

They had a recorded interview with him on the news tonight. He said that
war was immoral, and he did what he had to do in that immoral situation.
He also said that he slept well at night...

I'm glad to hear that.

-c

"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.

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. Of course he knew it had to be done, but, as a debout
Catholic it ate him up. On the other hand, he wasn't fighting the Imperial
Japanese or knowingly striking the blow that could end the war. That might
have made all the difference to Tibbets and his crew.

Thanks for answering my question, though. That's good to know.

-c

"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.

That story is hard to believe. It isn't that I don't believe it, but it is
really hard to swallow. I put to you, that the Chaplin was not a very good
Christian, after all. He should have been able to forgive, like the
teachings of the One he follows.

Of course he knew it had to be done, but, as a debout Catholic it ate him
up. On the other hand, he wasn't fighting the Imperial Japanese or
knowingly striking the blow that could end the war. That might have made
all the difference to Tibbets and his crew.

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.

Other members of his crew, not so much, as far as not sleeping well,
perhaps. Only Tibbits really knew what the whole program was about, the
whole time. He knew what was going to happen, and how big of a deal it was.
He knew that he would be taking many lives, but saving many more. He had
reconciled it long before the bomb bay doors opened. If there were any
sleepless nights, I'm betting that during that reconciling is when he may
have had some sleepless nights.

That HAD to have made a difference. The crews only knew the whole magnitude
when they saw the size of the flash and cloud. That would be hard to
reconcile, in that short of a time, I would think.
--
Jim in NC

He did an interview with Studs Terkel a few years ago.

Here's a link to it:

http://www.avweb.com/news/profiles/P...96 499-1.html