| Paul Tibbets  AKA Paul Warfield Tibbets, Jr.
Born: 23-Feb-1915
Birthplace: Quincy, IL
Died: 1-Nov-2007
Location of death: Columbus, OH
Cause of death: Illness
Remains: Cremated (ashes scattered in the English Channel)
Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Military Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Pilot of the Enola Gay Military service: USAF (1937-66, to Brigadier General) As a 30-year-old USAF colonel, he piloted the Enola Gay (named after his mother) as it dropped the five-ton "Little Boy" on Hiroshima, Japan, on 6 August 1945, killing about 100,000 people, almost all civilians.
"We had feelings," he told the Columbus Dispatch in an interview decades later, "but we had to put them in the background. We knew it was going to kill people right and left. But my one driving interest was to do the best job I could so that we could end the killing as quickly as possible."
After retiring from the Air Force in 1966, he worked for Executive Jet Aviation, a small midwest air shuttle service. He also sold "collectables", including autographed photos of himself in front of his bomber, taken on the morning of his famous mission. Father: Paul Warfield Tibbets, Sr. (candy wholesaler)
Mother: Enola Gay Haggard
Wife: Lucy
Wife: Andrea
High School: Western Military Academy, Alton, IL (1933)
University: University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Medical School: University of Cincinnati
Pacific Aviation Museum Advisory Board
Manhattan Project 1944-45
Air Medal
Distinguished Flying Cross
Distinguished Service Cross
Legion of Merit
Purple Heart
National Aviation Hall of Fame
Stroke
Official Website:
http://www.theenolagay.com/
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