An+American+military+pilot+2

Name: Paul Tibbets Age: 22 Gender: Male Occupation: flying cadet Appearance: white, stacked hair Location: Hiroshima, Japan Personality/Quirks/Unique Personality Traits: Family: Enola Gay (mom), Paul Warfield (dad) Education: University of Florida Languages you speak: English Your main concerns at this time and in life: winning the war Portrait (an image that you and we can live with):

Diary Entry #1 August 14th, 1937 It has been several months since I have joined the Army Air Corps as a flying cadet at Fort Thomas. It’s been my dream to join the Army Air Corps and become a pilot. Although my family wanted it, I did not think that studying medicine was the thing I wanted to do. The things that we do here are not much different from what I did back in Western Military camp, with all the hazing and general military military training. I guess that doing such things as a younger boy helped me prepare a little. For training, I’ve been flying in PT-3’s and BT-9’s. It took some time to adjust to the settings, but I think that I have gotten used to them. Apparently from what the people say, I could probably be one of the best air pilots that’s in the corps right now. I’m pretty glad that is the case, since I want to be able to do my job well. I hope that we will all be able to gain some experience from this training and use it in the near future. Right now, the world is in a bit of a gruesome state. Europe and the Pacific have been experiencing conflict for some time now. Germany and Japan have been heard to be very active as of now. In Germany, Hitler seems to be gaining more and more power as the days pass, which can’t really be good. Japan seems to be expanding its power as well. Why, just a couple of months ago, I heard that the Japanese attacked China. It is astonishing to hear of how the conflicts are spreading. My thoughts personally, but it could be very well possible that conflict could soon reach us here in the United States. But of course, that is why we are training, to defend our country when the battle comes to us. It is quite surprising to see all the faces that are in the Air Corps. They serve for an air force that could make them lose their lives in battle, but I guess that they are hoping to be able to serve their country and defend it by training. My main reason for enrolling is that it was my dream as a youth to be an air pilot, but I would also like to serve my country as well.

Diary Entry #2 December 8th, 1941 We are now at war with Japan. It was announced yesterday, and I heard it from my radio when I was coming back from one of my flying missions. From what I have heard, the Japanese have bombed Pearl Harbor, heavily damaging the port and the people there. The attack was mainly by aircraft, the attack mainly being directed towards our naval base there. Damn them! How could they commit such treacherous deeds? The attack was also completely unannounced, so we were not able to defend ourselves properly at all. And for what reason would they do so? All I know is that this is a great blow to America and her pride, and shocked us as the citizens. When I looked at the other men in the corps that I am in, I could see my own anger at Japan reflected in their faces as well. I want to do something for the country that I love and was so heavily offended. And it’s not just us, the men in the army, that were impacted by this. All of the United States went into a great shock with the attack, I want to help fight them. There’s a rumor that a pilot Jimmy Doolittle is going to be called for a first raid. There is talk of there being transfers from here to the 29th Bomb Group so that they can test the flight of the new B17. I am hoping that I can be transfered there and hope to be of help. I also heard that Germany could declare war on the United States, as Germany and Japan are allies. We too have allies, and great ones as well. Japan also attacked other countries like Malaya, Thailand, and Hong Kong. This will most likely prompt other countries into declaring war with Japan, like we have. So we will have the United Kingdoms as one of our possible allies for the war. I am not sure of the other nations, but I hope we can defeat Japan, and if it comes to it, Germany. I just hope that we will be able to win this war without losing too many of our own. But we will make Japan pay for attacking us. They picked a war with the wrong country, and we will let them know through our weapons and will. I myself will use my skill as an aircraft pilot to strike back at them, like they have attacked us with their own aircrafts.

Diary Entry #3 I write in this journal in disappointment, for the failure of the US in the battle in the Philippines. The Japanese attacked the Philippines in hopes that they would be able to cripple our naval power. And it indeed worked. In the Philippines, our bases had well trained soldiers, but we did not have an air force there. Without an air force, even with the Philippine reinforcements, we were outnumbered by far. So we, America, decided to abandon the Philippines, for it was a hopeless battle. Though it is a move that does not seem to be orthodox, I believe that it was the best thing to do in the situation. We are fighting this war, but we do not want to fight for a lost cause. To lessen the casualties, it is better to give up on something and take no damage than fight on and receive more losses. Even though I say this, it is frustrating that we have lost such an important area to Japan. The many things that Japan can do with the Philippines, like gaining its resources and the access to invade other lands opens up to them. They gained such a thing for almost no cost of their own as well. How inconvenient is that for us? We do not want a thing like the battle in Philippines again. I hope that in the next battle, we will be able to be thoroughly prepared and fight against the Japanese properly. Let's just hope that Japan's control does to expand any further than it is doing right now.

Diary Entry #4 November 30th, 1944 Some time ago in September, I was given a secret assignment that I was to complete. This assignment could probably decide whether the war would end or not. I could tell it was that big of an assignment. My job was to lead the 509th Composite Group and plan the drop of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Apparently, I am to be the first person in history to actually drop this bomb on another country, which shows how much of a big event this will be. In Wendover, Utah, which is where we decided to make our main base for this project, we went over the many issues that we would have with the plan. We are currently addressing the issue of how to drop the bomb without having to blow up with it, since the shockwave created by the atomic bomb could very well destroy the plane that dropped it as well. According to the scientists, the plane would be able to avoid the shockwave and get destroyed if the plane is at least eight miles away from the explosion. This opened up a lot of problems of how we would initiate the drop, but I think that I have found a way to do so. Since the B-29 would be flying six miles above ground at 31,000 feet, we could perhaps make a sharp turn 155 degrees. With this, we can change the direction that the B-29 is flying in and fly a good extra five miles away from where the bomb will land. But that was also a problem as well, making sure that the bomb would fall in the right destination. So using the Nordan bombsight, we decided to drop the bomb 200 feet from where the bomb would have to land. The list of problems went on, like how we would navigate through the landscape. So with most of the problems with dropping the bombs complete, the only thing we can do now is constantly train in using the maneuver for dropping the bomb and to navigate through the sea and land. This training’s taking place in Cuba, where we are training hard to finish our assignment. Hopefully the bomb will be able to end the war and bring peace back to our country. I remember meeting a high school boy in California, just a brief moment. Thinking of that boy reminds me that many people are fighting out there, so I could only help in contributing an earlier end.

Bibiography "General Paul Tibbets." Motts Military Museum: historical artifacts,American history,military exhibits,NASA display. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2010. . May, 1945, and Tibbets.

"Paul Tibbets and the Enola Gay, Dropped the First Atomic Bomb." WW2 and Aviation - Facts, History, and Pictures. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2010. .

quickly, May 1942 the Japanese had succeeded beyond their wildest expectations. A vast new empire had fallen into their hands so, the southern coast of New Guinea, they could threaten Australia, only 1, and 000 miles from Honolulu. "Brief History of WWII: Japan's Offensive." World War II History Library. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2010. .