In September 1944, the general was assigned to the Atomic Bomb Project as the Air Force officer in charge. Benning, Ga.Īfter flying multiple combat missions in Europe and North Africa, the then-B-17 Flying Fortress pilot returned to the United States in March 1943 to participate in the B-29 program. He graduated from pilot school at Kelly Field, Texas, and went to his first assignment with the 16th Observation Squadron at Lawson Field, Ft. Thomas, Ky., after attending college at University of Florida and the University of Cincinnati where he majored in chemistry. General Tibbets, a native of Quincy, Ill., entered the Army Air Corps on Feb. The general was the pilot of "the Enola Gay," the B-29 Superfortress which dropped the first atomic bomb, "Little Boy" on Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945, which many historian consider the end of World War II.
Tibbets Jr., the pilot of the first atomic bombing mission, died of natural causes Nov. 1, 2007, Tibbets remained a military icon, with his autographs, books and photos in demand.SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) - Retired Brig. Until his death at home in Columbus on Nov. On May 4, 1956, Tibbets married Andrea Quattrehomme, a woman of French descent. The marriage, it is said, broke up partly over the secrecy Tibbets had to maintain before his important war mission. Tibbets was first married to Lucy Wingate of Columbus, and they had two sons, Paul III and Gene. He was named president of the company on April 21, 1976, and worked until his retirement in 1987. He soon joined Executive Jet Aviation Inc., living in Geneva, Switzerland, for about two years before moving to Columbus, Ohio, in 1970. 31, 1966, after more than 29 years of service to his country. Tibbets retired from the Air Force on Aug. Three days later, the United States dropped another atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan, and six days after that, Japan surrendered. Tibbets was just 29 years old at the time. 6, Tibbets and his flight crew dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, thus leading to the end of the war. 5, 1945, President Truman ordered the secret mission to be executed, and on Aug. For his final task he would fly a plane that he'd name the Enola Gay, in honor of his mother. But it wasn't until September 1944 that he was chosen for a top-secret mission, which he oversaw at Wendover Army Air Base in Utah. As a skilled aviator, he tested the B-29. In World War II, he filled important flight missions out of England and Algeria. 25, 1937, Tibbets entered the Army Air Corps. He attended the University of Florida beginning in 1933, then transferred to the University of Cincinnati after his sophomore year so he could enroll in its medical school.īut his interest in medicine diminished as he frequently found himself at the airport "taking lessons and renting airplanes an hour at a time for the sheer fun of flying." After tying tiny parachutes to each piece of candy, his job was to toss the bars overboard as the plane flew over the heads of racetrack and beach visitors.Beginning in September 1928, and for five years after, Tibbets attended Western Military Academy in Alton, Ill.īecause his father wanted him to become a doctor, Tibbets set his sights on that goal. Through his father's business, he was given the chance to fly in an open-cockpit biplane during a promotion of Baby Ruth candy bars. It was in Florida, when Tibbets was 12, that he became hooked on flying. I went back to Iowa every summer for a long vacation on my uncle's farm."
"The move to Florida didn't sever the ties with the corn country.
PILOT OF ENOLA GAY GLIDDEN IOWA PLUS
Tibbets wrote that the move provided him the best of both worlds: A life in Florida, plus the chance to escape Florida's summer heat with his mother and sister by returning to Iowa "for prolonged vacations." His mother and sister remained behind to pack up the house in Des Moines. His son remembered being, at age 9, the first in the family to join him, via a train trip, on July 4, 1924. The senior Tibbets remained in Florida to establish his own wholesale confectioner's business. When he saw the palm trees and felt the warmth of the Florida sun, he decided on the spot that this was for him." later wrote: "He boarded the train in a blizzard and arrived in Miami two days later in bright sunshine. The senior Tibbets went to Florida to visit his mother, who always wintered there, and as Tibbets Jr. The senior Tibbets had met his Glidden-born future wife while crossing Iowa on business.Ī turning point came during a particularly nasty Iowa winter. His father was employed by his family-operated wholesale grocery company, Warfield, Pratt & Howell, that was based in Chicago and had branches in Davenport, Des Moines and Sioux City.