Brig. Gen. Paul Tibbets, grandson of the U.S. Army Air Force pilot who flew the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945, has defended his grandfather's act, saying he was committed to the orders of the U.S. president at the time.

"My grandfather was always very clear that he was carrying out the orders of the President of the United States and he did so to the best of his ability," Tibbets said in a written interview with Kyodo News. His grandfather, also Brig. Gen. Paul Tibbets, piloted the B-29 bomber Enola Gay that dropped the Little Boy atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945.

Tibbets said his grandfather knew that such missions "had the real possibility of bringing World War II to an end, saving a substantial number of lives on both sides, and getting Americans home to their families."