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Paul Tibbets Biography

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On Febuary 23, 1915 Enola Gay and Paul Warfield Tibbets Sr. welcomed their baby boy, Paul Tibbets. Little did they know that he would do great things.

Paul Tibbets Jr. was born in Quincy, IL. Shortly there after his parents moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to raise him. When Paul was 12, his family packed up and moved to Florida where his future would be decided. When they first moved to Florida the barnstorming pilot who was promoting Baby Ruth candy bars gave Paul a ride. This changed his mind and he no longer had as strong of an interest to be a doctor. After this Paul wanted him to fly,however, his parents wanted him to be a doctor. Paul started taking flying lessons at the University of Florida, but his parents convinced him to transfer to the University of Cincinnati to pursue studies in medicine after only a year. Even though he was unhappy he transferred. However, Paul was still left with a passion to fly.

In 1937, at the age of 22, Paul enlisted …show more content…

The top secret mission of the group was to drop the atomic bomb. Paul was in command of 15 B-29's and 1800 men while he was there. While he was still in command the troop went to Wendover Army Air Field in Utah for training. In March of 1945 the 509th group moved overseas to Tinian Island in the Marianas Chain.

“President Harry Truman gave permission to drop the atomic bomb on Japan August 5,1945.” as stated by biography.com. At 2:45 pm on August 6th the Enola Gay, named after Paul's mom, and its 12 man crew were lifting off North Field en route to Hiroshima. At 8:15 am on August 7, local time, the world's first atomic bomb used in war exploded. The blast killed 80,000 people and wounded nearly as many as it obliterated the entire city in seconds. The course of history and warfare was changed forever.

At 2:58 pm Enola Gay and her crew landed at Tinain. They were greted by General Carl

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