'The vast majority have expressed gratitude (that we) were able to deliver the bombs that ended the war. 'In the past 60 years since Hiroshima, I have received many letters from people all over the world,' said Tibbets, 90, who retired from the Air Force in 1966 as a brigadier general. It unleashed the equivalent of 40 million pounds of TNT, flattening and burning an area which measured 4.1 square miles.Īn estimated 266,000 people either died immediately or as the result of the blast.
The uranium-based bomb delivered by Tibbets' plane was detonated 1,900 feet above Hiroshima. It was Tibbets, a native of Quincy, who piloted arguably the most famous B-29 bomber in history, the Enola Gay, 60 years ago Saturday. Sixty years later, Paul Tibbets has no regrets.
