Family’s Fliers Keep ‘Nuclear’ Part of Their Name

By Scott Canon, The Kansas City Star, Mo.

Apr. 15–It’s a family thing. Say “Tibbets,” and you’re talking about hauling nuclear bombs.

At 29, Col. Paul Tibbets Jr. piloted the B-29 known as the “Enola Gay” (named for his mother) that dropped the first atomic bomb — on Hiroshima, Japan — a half-century ago.

At 39, Lt. Col. Paul Tibbets IV took command this week of his grandpa’s old unit — what is now the 393rd Bomb Squadron. It is one of the two outfits flying B-2 stealth bombers — the plane in America’s arsenal most likely to deliver a nuclear bomb — from Whiteman Air Force Base near Knob Noster, Mo.

Paul Tibbets IV first came to appreciate his grandpa’s legacy in junior high school. He wrote a report about him.

“I got an A,” he said. “It helps when you can talk to the guy.”

He grew up with his grandpa’s famous name trailing him through the Air Force Academy and went on to fly the B-2 on two conventional strikes on the former Yugoslavia in 1999.

Both share an appreciation for aircraft and the duties of a pilot officer, Paul Tibbets IV said.

“I guess I ended up thinking about that kind of thing earlier than most people.”

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Kansas City Star, Mo.

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