The pilot of the U.S. B-29 bomber that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945 said in an interview published Tuesday that the United States had a plan in place in September 1944 to drop atomic bombs on both Europe and Japan.
Retired Brig. Gen. Paul Tibbets, 87, who piloted the Enola Gay on its mission over Hiroshima, revealed what is believed to be a thus-far undisclosed episode relating to the U.S. atomic bomb strategy during an interview with the Guardian newspaper.
Speaking from his home of Columbus, Ohio, Tibbets told the newspaper that he was informed of the secret targeting plan by Gen. Uzal Ent, commander of the Second Air Force, when he was ordered to prepare for such a mission.
Tibbets quoted Ent as saying, "it was up to me . . . to put together an organization and train them to drop atomic weapons on both Europe and the Pacific -- Tokyo."