Brig. General Paul W. Tibbets: Public Domain photo.Paul Warfield Tibbets, Jr, the man who during World War II piloted the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan, died today at his home in Columbus, Ohio. He was 92 years old.

The bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 was followed three days later by a second nuclear bombing of the city of Nagasaki and marked the beginning of the end of war in the Pacific. Japan announced its surrender to Allied Powers on August 15, 1945.

Over the years, Tibbets has maintained no regrets about dropping the bomb. On the 60th anniversary of the event, he and two other survivors of the mission called it “a necessary moment in history.”

The Enola Gay: The historic aircraft that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima is on display at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington's Dulles Airport. Photo by Mark Ryan.Recognizing the historic importance of his mission, Tibbets named the B-29 Superfortress that he piloted to deliver the bomb, Enola Gay, after his mother.

General Tibbets requested neither funeral nor headstone, believing that opponents of the bombing might use them for protest purposes.

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The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
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Tags : atomic bomb, atomic weapons, Enola Gay, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, nuclear weapons

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