From his earliest days he exuded a self-confidence that could be, and frequently was, insufferable. He is, and for all of his adult life has been, a most remarkable man. But it was the irascible and often abrasive General Tibbets who piloted the plane, and it is he who is credited with, or blamed for, history’s single most notable act of warfare. Within that hairsplitting context, the late Tom Ferebee actually dropped the weapon. Bomber pilots do not drop bombs, bombardiers do. He is the man who is credited with dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. is one of the most famous men of the 20th century. Perhaps even flirted with greatness.Īlthough not one American in 10,000 can place it, a good case can be made that, absent the name, Paul Warfield Tibbets, Jr. He has the countenance and bearing of a man who has spent time on fields of high adventure and great achievement. Only his hearing betrays him: He is as close to stone deaf as one can get and still hear. His walk has slowed, but he remains erect and dignified. He does look like an old man, but not a 90-year-old man. His gaze, even with the heavied lids of age, is intense. Today, in his nineties, Paul Tibbets is still a handsome man.
