General
Paul Tibbets Jr. Joins World Of Wings
at the 2000 National Championship Air Races
Author
in Reno for "Return of the Enola Gay"
book signing.
by
Mark S. Daniels
General Paul
Tibbets Jr., the man who commanded the Boeing
B-29 Superfortress "Enola Gay" on her
Atomic mission to Hiroshima, Japan, is scheduled
to be present this year at the Reno National
Championship Air Races, in Stead, Nevada. One of
General Tibbets’ activities during the event
will be a book signing all day Saturday,
September 16, 2000, at the World of Wings (WOW)
Pavilion.
Bob Avery, CEO of
World of Wings commented that "It is a great
honor for World of Wings to host General Paul
Tibbets in the WOW pavilion for his book signing
at the Reno Air Races. This is a man who became
very famous after one mission over Hiroshima that
played such a vital role to ending the war in
Japan. But beyond that mission, General Tibbets
had a long and distinguished career as a military
officer, aviator and leader."
Avery pointed out
that General Tibbets' illustrious career has been
overshadowed by the role he and his fellow
crewmembers played in ending World War II. Avery
said that Tibbets "is a true American hero
who played a key role in one of the most
important periods in the history of our
country."
According to his
United States Air Force biography, General
Tibbets was born in 1915 in Quincy, Illinois, and
after his early schooling, graduated from Western
Military Academy in Alton, Illinois, in 1933. At
the age of eighteen, General Tibbets attended the
University of Florida and the University of
Cincinnati, the latter as a Chemistry major.
Tibbets entered
the Army Air Corps on February 25, 1937, and
began his flying school at Randolph Field, Texas,
before graduating from pilot school at Kelly
Field, Texas, in February, 1938.
At the outbreak of
World War II, General Tibbets formed an
anti-submarine patrol squadron at Pope Field,
Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In June 1942, General
Tibbets arrived in England and flew 25 combat
missions over the European continent, including
the first American B-17 Flying Fortress raid
against occupied Europe – a bombing mission
which was led by no less than General Ira C.
Eaker.
In the fall of
1942, General Tibbets was assigned to fly General
Mark Clark to his meeting with the French prior
to the invasion of North Africa. Upon General
Tibbets' return, he was assigned to fly General
Dwight D. Eisenhower and his staff to Gibraltar
on the night of the invasions. General Tibbets
then flew General Clark to Algiers where Clark
took command of the invasion forces.
In the month that
followed, General Tibbets conducted bombing
missions over North Africa under direct control
of the British, including the first heavy
bombardment mission in support of the North
African invasion.
In March 1943,
General Tibbets returned to the United States as
a B-29 Program flight test pilot, where he worked
with Boeing and the Air Materiel Command until
March, 1944, when he was transferred to Grand
Island, Nebraska. There he became Director of
Operations for a B-29 instructor transition
school under General Frank Armstrong.
In September 1944,
General Tibbets was assigned to the Atomic Bomb
Project as the Air Force officer in charge of
developing an organization capable of employing
the atomic bomb in combat, and with mating the
development of the bomb to the airplane. He was
also assigned the flight test development of the
atomic bomb itself.
General Tibbets
then took charge of the tactical training of the
bombardment organizations and deployed with them
into the South Pacific. From the island of
Tinian, General Tibbets commanded the first
atomic bombing mission against an enemy force,
dropping the weapon known as "Fat Man"
on Hiroshima – a Japanese Army and Naval
port – on August 6, 1945.
Following the end
of the war in 1945, General Tibbets and his
command were transferred to Walker Air Force
Base, Roswell, New Mexico. From 1945-46, General
Tibbets was a technical adviser to the Air Force
commander in charge of the Bikini Bomb Project.
After an
assignment as Director of the Strategic Air
Division, Directorate of Requirements,
Headquarters U.S. Air Force, from July 1950 until
February, 1952, General Tibbets was assigned as
B-47 Project Officer at the Boeing Airplane
Company, Wichita, Kansas, during the service test
of the B-47 Stratojet to determine its
operational suitability.
General Tibbets
later returned to Europe as Director of War Plans
for the Allied Air Forces in Central Europe, at
Fontainebleau, France. He returned home to the
United States in February 1956, as Commander of
the 308th Bomb Wing, Hunter Air Force Base,
Georgia. In January 1958, he was reassigned as
Commander of the 6th Air Division, where he
earned the rating of command pilot.
In February 1961,
General Tibbets was assigned once again to
Headquarters, U.S. Air Force, this time as
Director of Management Analysis. In July, 1962,
General Tibbets was assigned to the Joint Staff,
Organization of the Joint chiefs of Staff, as
Deputy Director for Operations, J-3. In June
1963, following the reorganization of the
Operations Directorate, Joint Staff, General
Tibbets became the new Deputy Director for the
National Military Command System.
General Tibbets
retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1966, and
remains an outspoken advocate of U.S. air power.
In his conclusion,
Avery said that "Any fan who has the
privilege of meeting General Tibbets should feel
honored to have met a great American."
The World of Wings
Pavilion will be open from Wednesday, September
13, 2000, until Sunday, September 17, 2000. The
Pavilion will offer for sale the licensed
merchandise of six of the top Teams in Air
Racing, including Dago Red, Strega, Voodoo,
Critical Mass, Miss America and Rare Bear.
The pilots from
all six teams will be on hand throughout the
races to meet and have their pictures taken with
the fans, sign autographs, and talk. A schedule
will be posted at the Pavilion announcing the day
and time of each pilot's appearance.
Free drawings will
also be underway at the Pavilion giving visitors
there the opportunity to win a ride in "Miss
America;" nearly $600 of TiVo equipment for
use with their television sets; or a "Miss
America"-themed Kymco Motor Scooter from
Tomos Products, the North American Distributor
for Kymco.
The Kymco Motor
Scooter is to be autographed by "Miss
America" pilot Brent Hisey, and awarded by
Hisey and Tomos President Joe Woffard, after the
Unlimited Gold Race on Sunday.
|
