The B-29 Superfortress lifted off Tinian Island at 2:45AM for the six and one half hour flight to Hiroshima. Tibbets, of the 509th Bomber Group and pilot of the Enola Gay, received his orders and in the early morning hours roared down a runway bound for Hiroshima. Check has been completely made out and signed by General Tibbets in blue ink and is in FINE condition. Bank check dated 20 April 1992 from Bank One for $124.07 made out to SHELL OIL CO. To those who ask, I quickly reply, 'Not in the least.'' - Publisher. Likewise, I have been asked in letters and to my face if I was not conscious stricken for the loss of life I caused by dropping the first atomic bomb. The intervening years has brought me many letters and personal contacts with individuals who maintain that they would not be alive if it had not been for what I did. In fact, I viewed my mission as one to save lives rather than take them. To me it meant putting an end to the fighting and the consequent loss of lives. 'On August 6, 1945, as the Enola Gay approached the Japanese city of Hiroshima, I fervently hoped for success in the first use of a nuclear type weapon. Signed and warmly inscribed by the author Paul Tibbets. Cloth, 339 pages, 21 unnumbered pages of plates, illustrations 24 cm.
