Died: Nov. 1, 2007 (Columbus, Ohio) Best Known as: commander of
the Enola Gay Commander and pilot of the Enola Gay, the B-29
that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima at the end of World
War II. Tibbets joined the Army Air Corps in 1937 and led many
bombing missions in Europe during World War II. In September
1944 he was ordered to find the best pilots and train for a
secret mission known as the Manhattan Project. He and his crew
lifted off the island of Tinian on Aug 6, 1945 carrying a
uranium atomic bomb heading to the center of Hiroshima, Japan,
and an important Japanese Army headquarters. They carried out a
flawless mission, delivering the bomb on time. When it exploded
it left tens of thousands dead. Tibbets and his crew were
revered as heroes by Americans for avoiding huge casualties by
ending the war. He received the Distinguished Service Cross for
his efforts. More on Paul Tibbets from Fact Monster: Information
Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights
reserved.