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'Enola Gay' pilot passes on |
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Written by Administrator
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Friday, 02 November 2007 |
 News
The Salt Lake Tribune reports:
"Brig. Gen. Paul W. Tibbets Jr., the pilot of the B-29 Enola Gay who trained at Wendover Field for the mission that dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan, died Thursday. He was 92.
The World War II icon - who later attracted a bit of controversy - passed away at his Columbus, Ohio, home and requested no funeral and no headstone, according to The Associated Press. Longtime friend Gerry Newhouse said Tibbets feared a grave site would give his detractors a place to protest.
Tibbets, a flying ace, also led the first American daylight bombing raid on German-occupied territory prior to spending a year in Utah's west desert during the run-up to Hiroshima. He still is revered in Wendover. "
You're history refresher:
The bomb, a 5-ton Fission bomb code-named "Littleboy", was detonated over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. The yield of 'LittleBoy' was between the 13 and 16 kiloton range. It is estimated that over 75,000 persons died directly from the blast, and many-many thousands died from secondary blast effects.
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