Paul Warfield Tibbets, Jr. was born in Quincy, Illinois on February 23rd, 1915 to Paul & Enola Gay Tibbets. On August 5th, 1945, Tibbets piloted the B-29 Enola Gay to Hiroshima and dropped the world’s first atomic bomb. In 1943 after flying B-17 missions over Europe, Tibbets was assigned to test the combat capability of the B-29. In 1944, Tibbets was assigned to the secret Manhattan Project. His responsibility was to organize and train a unit to deliver these weapons in combat operations and modify the B-29, leading up to his mission as commander of the famous Enola Gay flight. He served in the Strategic Air Command, served a tour with NATO, and was responsible for establishing the National Military Command Center in the Pentagon. Paul Tibbets is enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame.
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