All Together

World War I started in July, 1914, after the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

At that time Paul W. Tibbets Jr. was not yet alive. He was born seven months later on February 23, 1915 in Quincy, Illinois.

When Paul was still three years old, an armistice was signed which ceased hostilities between Germany and the Allied powers on the 11^th day of the 11^th month of 1918.

The Treaty of Versaille, officially ending World War I, was signed on June 28, 1919, when little Paul was just over four years old.

Before Paul was five, before he knew what it really meant, American President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with these words:

“To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…”

WWI was so huge that it was romantically considered “the Great War” to some, optimistically thought of as “the War to End All Wars” by others.

Reflecting the relieved mood of a grateful nation, a site for the Liberty Memorial was dedicated in Kansas City, Missouri in 1921. Today, that towering downtown monument with eternal flame also holds the National World War I Museum. The monument is inscribed with these words:

“In honor of those who served in the world war in defense of liberty and our country.”

With typical speed and after-the-fact thoughtfulness, the U.S. Congress officially recognized the end of WWI by passing a resolution in 1926 which invited everyone to honor and remember November 11^th.

By then, Paul Tibbets Jr. was 11 years old.

In 1937, at the age of 22, Tibbets enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps. That same year, Japan’s Imperial Army invaded mainland China, bombed Shanghai and raped Nanjing.

When 2^nd Lt. Tibbets turned 23, Congress happily passed 52 Stat., 5 U.S. Code, Sec. 87a in 1938, which made November 11 a legal holiday, a day called Armistice Day dedicated to the celebration of world peace.

A year later in 1939, Germany invaded Poland.

By 1940, Germany had acquired Denmark and Norway, was engaged in North Africa and across the Mediterranean, and had already initiated the air battle over Britain. Japan had spread across China and attacked into Southeast Asia.

While Germany turned its attention to the Russian Front, advancing Japanese forces caught Pearl Harbor off guard on December 7, 1941.

By then, 26 year old Paul W. Tibbets Jr. was known as one of the finest bomber pilots in the U.S Eighth Air Force. He was in the lead on the first bombing raids over Europe.

About four hard years later, the Germans surrendered to the Allies in May, 1945.

The then 30 year old Colonel Tibbets piloted a shiny B-29 named after his mother, Enola Gay, from tiny Tinian Island in the Pacific. On August 6, 1945, the Enola Gay with Tibbets in the pilot seat dropped a 500 pound bomb christened Little Boy which brutally flattened Hiroshima, Japan. The estimated death toll from that single bombing attack is still debated but no denying this devastating first military use of a nuclear weapon razed the entire city, instantly vaporized several tens of thousands of the lucky, and painfully maimed a few tens of thousands more.

Two days later, the Russian Army attacked Japanese positions in Manchuria. The next day, on August 9, 1945, the Fat Boy nuclear bomb destroyed Nagasaki, Japan.

The Japanese surrendered on August 15 and the Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed on September 2, 1945.

World War II was over before Paul Tibbets Jr. turned 31 and he’d had a hand in it.

On June 1, 1954, when Tibbets was 39, the U.S. Congress passed Public Law 380 renaming Armistice Day as Veterans Day, in honor of all American veterans of all American wars.

In 1966, at the age of 51, Brigadier General Paul W. Tibbets Jr. retired from the U.S. Air Force. During his nearly 30 years of service he had been rated as a Command Pilot and earned military awards including the Distinguished Service Cross, the Distinguished Flying Cross (which is only awarded for acts subsequent to November 11, 1918), the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.

Tibbets reportedly remarked later in life that he had no regrets about his historic mission over Hiroshima in 1945 and that he “slept fine at night” in spite of the horrific loss of life as a result of that single attack.

He may have been confident in the way he completed all of his duties yet he was dogged by that lone act for all his remaining days. He may have truly believed he was just doing his job well, a job that ultimately prevented even greater tragedy, but other people saw him differently. He was singled out not in the least because he was the first to employ a nuclear weapon. Wild rumors about his sanity chased him. Pointed accusations, confounding historical revisions and “damn big insults” were traded back and forth around him for years.

A week ago, on the first day of the 11^th month in the year 2007, his trail ended. At that age of 92, retired Brigadier General Paul W. Tibbets Jr. died at his home in Columbus, Ohio.

According to family and friends, Tibbets requested his remains be cremated. He asked for no public funeral ceremony. He wanted no headstone and declined any monument to his life or any further recognition of his service to our nation. He wished for no gravesite to become a rallying point for war protestors or anti-nuclear activists. As secure as he was with his legacy, he knew others were not. So he made his final sacrifice, that being his right to even a common burial.

Fortunately, Paul Tibbets Jr. doesn’t need a grave or a headstone. He has his day, instead.

Veterans Day: A celebration to honor America’s veterans for their patriotism, love of country and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good.

For America’s veterans…remember all of them…all of us.

Cheers,
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