Why is it called the enola gay

Some have said it will never occur again. The site that greeted our eyes was quite beyond what we had expected, because we saw this cloud of boiling dust and debris below us with this tremendous mushroom on top. And over the years, I have gotten numerous letters from foreign nationals, as well as Americans, who had been ready to make an invasion with the same basic statement: what you did probably saved my life.

As commander of the B that would drop the first atomic bomb, Tibbets chose to honor his mother, who had always supported his military career, by painting her name on the aircraft's nose. That was my idea. On the other hand, a major conflict with the use of nuclear weapons is something that I can see in the future.

Ryan: Three days later, a second atomic bomb exploded over Nagasaki. Tibbets: Yes, I am. He remembers seeing the mushroom cloud over Hiroshima and feeling the shock wave of the blast, and shares his views on the role of morality during war. World War II came to an abrupt end.

Paul Tibbets: My conception was at that time, if this thing is successful, we will bring this war to a close. Do you think that is correct? Why did it get such a unique name?. The aircraft was named after the mother of pilot Paul Warfield Tibbets, Jr. The Enola Gay got its name from Colonel Paul Tibbets Jr.'s mother, Enola Gay Tibbets.

Tibbets: That is quite a question. The age of atomic warfare began and the nature of human conflict was changed forever. Six hours later, they changed the course of history. I feel that I did just that very thing. Beneath that was hidden the ruins of the city of Hiroshima.

So we turned around to take a look at it. I think in the intervening years, that I have arrived at the same conclusion because by ending the war, we would save lives. Whether we will be able to survive without brushfires, I doubt. The answer is I can see that as a possibility, because it now appears to me that most historians, and most military analysts, are saying that the dropping of that bomb changed the nature of human conflict forever.

I was just wondering, looking back now, have your perspectives on the event itself, on warfare, changed at all? The Enola Gay had a dark intention — the device was scheduled to drop an atomic bomb on an enemy target. Because a military man starts out his career with the idea of serving his country and preserving the integrity of that country.

It was the first time the explosive device had been used on an enemy target, and it destroyed most of the city. In an instant, over four square miles of the city and an estimated 90, of its inhabitants ceased to exist. Enola Gay, the B heavy bomber that was used by the United States on August 6, , to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.

It brought peace to the world at that time. Save lives, not destroy them. After we felt the explosion hit the airplane, that is the concussion waves, we knew that the bomb had exploded, and everything was a success. Paul Tibbets: Well, as the bomb left the airplane, we took over manual control, made an extremely steep turn to try and put as much distance between ourselves and the explosion as possible.

Ryan: Now, so many people seem to have it, or have the ability to produce that bomb. Ryan: General, it has been more than four decades since that event. A single atomic bomb dropped from the Enola Gay exploded over Hiroshima, Japan. I have to say we cannot look at the so-called grimmer aspects of it because there is no morality in warfare, so I do not dwell on the moral issue.

Robert Oppenheimer and General Leslie Groves. The Enola Gay (/ əˈnoʊlə /) is a Boeing B Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets. The thing is it did what it was supposed to do. On 6 August , during the final stages of World War II, it became the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb in warfare.