[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 174 (Friday, November 9, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2386]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO BG PAUL W. TIBBETS, JR.

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                             HON. ZACH WAMP

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, November 9, 2007

  Mr. WAMP. Madam Speaker, each Veterans Day we recognize and pay 
tribute to the extraordinary courage of those who have served in our 
nation's armed forces. The sacrificial service of these brave men and 
women committed to God, family, and country has preserved the freedom 
of this great Nation and granted freedom to millions around the world. 
Though, we must never forget that freedom is not free. The price of 
freedom is paid for with the lives and blood of the men and women of 
our Armed Forces.
  Just 8 days ago on November 1, 2007, our Nation lost retired BG Paul 
W. Tibbetts when he died at the age of 92 surrounded by family and 
friends in Columbus, OH. At a time when our Nation witnessed the rape 
of Nanking, the Death March to Bataan, and the tragedy of Pearl Harbor, 
General Tibbetts fulfilled his call to duty and today we honor him for 
his service.
  February 23, 1915, was a significant day in history as it marked the 
birth of Paul Warfield Tibbetts, Jr. to Mr. Paul and Enola Gay 
Tibbetts. Just 30 years later their son would command the most famous 
single military air strike in world history over Hiroshima, Japan, in a 
plane carrying his mother's namesake.
  In one of his very rare interviews, General Tibbetts, offered his 
perspective on his role in the bombing of Hiroshima. ``I'm not proud 
that I killed 80,000 people, but I'm proud I was able to start with 
nothing, plan it and have it work as perfectly as it did,'' he said 
years later. ``You've got to take stock and assess the situation at 
that time. We were at war, and you use anything at your disposal.''
  This gives us great insight into the life and legacy of BG Paul W. 
Tibbetts, whose unwavering commitment epitomized the words of the 18th 
Century British philosopher John Stuart Mill, ``War is an ugly thing, 
but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral 
and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much 
worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, 
nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a 
miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept 
so by the exertions of better men than himself.''

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