Customer Reviews

Duty: A Father, His Son, and the Man Who Won the War

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With Father's Day just around the corner I wanted to share a review of "DUTY," one of the best books I've ever read. (I've read nearly all the books in Sallyann's B-29 Reading Room and (hope she can add this excellent title, soon!)

My 22-year old son gave me this book last week for my birthday and I've already sent it onto my Father who served as a Superfort CFC gunner with the 73rd Bomb Wing's 499th.

Greene's book crosses generations and gender gaps -- it is a unique and special historical, yet very personal, look into the lives of the generation we own so much to. The author explores his relationship with his dying father (a WWII Army infantry veteran who fought in Italy). A native of Columbus, Ohio, Bob tries for over twenty years to interview retired General Paul Tibbets, Commander of the Enola Gay. On the morning after the last meal he ever shared with his father, Tibbets agrees to meet with Greene. What unfolds is a simply fascinating and genuine friendship that allowed author Greene to discover things about his father, and his father's generation of WWII soldiers, that he never fully understood before.

I especially enjoyed the chapter where Greene is invited by Tibbets to spend a few days at a Branson, Missouri, reunion of (then) surviving Enola Gay crew members: (the late) Tom Ferebee, Dutch Van Kirk, and Paul Tibbets. Greene is an extraordinary journalist, he brings you into the group and shares it all with a special sensitivity, understand and love.

Please...... beg borrow or otherwise obtain a copy of this book, today -- it's a must read, regardless of your generation, gender, or previously formed opinions on the "single most violent act in the history of mankind."

Lee K. Shuster,

Vietnam-era USAF Vet and Son of a (CFC) Gunner

That one comment has been a common thread through all of the books I have read regarding the men and women involved in World War II. The General was chastising the Author for suggesting that his Father was less important as a Major in the war than General Tibbets. This was not the first lesson that would be taught, and I thought it was great the Author included so many instances when the General took him to task. It was always instructive and formed a series of reference points for the Author that taught him more than he ever expected to learn about his own Father.

The Enola Gay, her crew, and the bomb she dropped remain for some/many an issue left unresolved. Fifty years allows for a great deal of second-guessing and revisionist history. If after reading this book the decision to drop the bomb on Hiroshima is still questionable to you, read "Flags Of Our Fathers". If after you absorb the lives that Iwo Jima, a tiny island consumed I do not believe there is a credible argument that the dropping of the first Atom Bomb was anything other than correct. Not conditionally correct, but absolutely correct for the United States and Japan.

There is a conversation in the book between General Tibbets and Shoji Tabuchi. Mr. Tabuchi was carried by his Mother on her back, while she pushed his Brother in a carriage away from their home that was near Hiroshima after the bombing. Mr. Tabuchi's Father said this about the Bombing, "had the war continued all would have died, the end of the war spared the lives of men women and children all over Japan".

Why is it The Smithsonian Air And Space Museum had so much trouble a few years ago when presenting what had happened during World War II. I went back and checked some of the comments they proposed to display with the plane. I came to the conclusion those involved were either pathetically ignorant, historical revisionists, or simply dullards. General Tibbets responded to the Author as follows when asked about those who make disparaging comments about him, his crew, or the mission, "Those people never had their balls on that cold, hard anvil," he said. "They can say anything they want." I think that makes the point clear enough even for a museum director.

You will meet 2 men who were part of the crew on The Enola Gay, Major Dutch Van Kirk who was the Navigator and, Colonel Tom Ferebee the Bombardier. You will read of the General's meeting with Mitsuo Fuchida the man who led the air attack on Pearl Harbor. He was a guest at the General's home.

"Talk about it? That would be like talking about the air we breathed." This was the General's response when asked why he and his generation did not talk about patriotism and their affection for their Country. He continued, "We grew up knowing that it was expected of us-to love this Country and to treat it with loyalty and respect."

The General did a great service for the Author Mr. Bob Greene. The Author in turn shares his experience, which we all can benefit from. We in this instance means those of us who were not there, we who have never fired a shot in anger, been shot at, or placed our lives at risk, or into the hands of another. We, the group that benefited from those that have been called "The Greatest Generation" by Tom Brokaw.

My thanks go to all the men and women who have ever served this Country, there are 2 men in particular I wish to thank, my Father who at 17 joined the Navy in 1943 and served as a Petty Officer First Class, and my Father in law, Wilfred Ecklin who left the Air Force after a career as a pilot and with the rank of Major, he is now deceased.

So what are you and your Family doing this Monday May 29, 2000?

Bob Greene's moving book is rewarding at two levels.

Hereveals new first-person details of Col. Paul Tibbets and hisHiroshima atomic-bombing mission that convinced the Japanese to finally end the terrible war. He draws out the thoughts and actions of young Tibbets and his men as they planned and carried out their gigantic responsibility.

More profoundly, through conversations with Tibbets today and revealing introspection about his own father's Army service in Italy, Greene uncovers the intricate cultural connections binding the wartime generation and today's America. Asking few questions, making no demands they did their duty, putting their lives on hold and on the line to win the war and secure the peaceful, prosperous post-war nation. Today's generation hardly recognizes these warriors but owes everything to them.

I just recently purchased this book, and I am happy I did. As a Lance Corporal in the US Marines I am always interested in reading military type books, but this was much more than that. It is a story about the relationship the father and son had. It also focuses on the victory in a war in which so many lost their lives. It is great that Tibbets contributed to the writing of this book. Who better to hear it from. Also, Bob Greene is a gifted writer, whether writing a novel or column. This book will be special to almost anyone who reads it, you don't have to be interested in the military to enjoy it. Robert_Ticehurst@Scudder.com

Duty, A Father, His Son and the Man Who Won the War,by Bob Greene, syndicated columnist for the Chicago Tribune, is a requiem for the generation that fought World War II. I recommend it to all who served or who still honor the sacrifices made in the name of Honor,Duty & Country. It is a emotionally gripping story that will hold your attention from beginning to end. Greene is at the height of his story telling ability with this one.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It is a book to be read by everyone whose Parents or Grandparents were of the World War II Generation. This is an honest, insightful, and honorable tribute to the hero Paul Tibbets of the Enola Gay, and to Major Time Greene of the 91st Infantry Division, one of the many unsung heroes that put it all on the line to save the free world. One comes away with a knowledge of how our greatest generation viewed the world and their moral character. One also gets a wake up call as to their opinion of the current generation.

If you have recently laid to rest a Parent of Grandparent from the WWII era, as I have, this book will help you cherish their memory even more.

This quote came from Paul Tibbets, the man who piloted the Enola Gay (named after his mother) to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in August 1945. He was referring to the crews that bombed Japan shortly after the start of the U.S. engagement in World War II, in a stirring symbolic strike at our Pacific enemy of those years. They had no way to come back with their planes, and had to fly onto the Asian mainland and hope to find their way back to the U.S. Many did not survive the mission.

What many do not know is that Tibbets also headed the unit that prepared to drop the atomic bombs. He ordered himself to pilot the first flight, out of his sense of responsibility for getting the job done right.

Many will think this book is a biography of Tibbets, who has remained out of the limelight since World War II. That thought is partially correct.

But the book is much more than that, even though that would have been a lot.

The author became interested in Tibbets because the author's father was so obviously in awe of Tibbets. He would mention seeing Tibbets in their common hometown of Columbus, Ohio, but never approached him.

Inspired by his father's interest, the author finally meets Tibbets shortly before his father dies.

Then begins one of those wonderful human experiences that we each should have, and books like this allow us to experience vicariously. Although Tibbets never met the father, he instantly understood him. In many informal talks and visits, the author came to understand both Tibbets and his own father who had left a tape recorded oral history.

There is a wonderful epiphany near the end of the book when the author finally understands why Tibbets meant so much to his father. I won't spoil it for you, but it's worth reading the whole book to get to this one story.

This book will be very appealing to anyone who read and liked The Greatest Generation. By focusing on the lives of just a few men (Tibbets, two of Tibbets' crew mates, and Greene's father) you get a richness and wholeness to the lives that makes it all come together much better than can happen with briefer stories. In a sense, the two books are companion pieces. In fact, I recommend that most people read Duty first, and then read The Greatest Generation. If you have already read The Greatest Generation, you should reread it after you have read Duty. You'll have many new insights as a result.

My next suggestion is that you then seek out someone who fought in World War II (a relative would be great if you have one) and talk to them about their experiences and what you thought you learned from these two books. You should be able to lift a generational curtain in the process, and make some wonderful human contact that would not have otherwise have been possible. In this way, you can pay real tribute to all those who made our modern world possible. To me, I beg to differ with Paul Tibbets' quote. I think that almost everyone was a hero at one level or another. The differences are not so important. What they did and why they did it are.

When I finished "Duty" I calmly set the book down and spent several minutes thinking about my own dad. To say that this book is touching is an understatement. Bob Greene learns much about his father after his dad dies, through conversations with another World War II military man -- one General Paul Tibbets. It so happens that General Tibbets lives near Mr. Greene's parent's home and, after some 20 years of attempts, agrees to talk with the author. It also so happens that Paul Tibbets is the man who piloted the B-29 that dropped the atomic bomb at Hiroshima.

The many interviews with Tibbets let the reader view the Second World War (in particular the dropping of the first atomic bomb) through the mind of the man who flew the Enola Gay and very probably ended the war.

Think about your dad, then read the book. You may never think about him the same way again.

Mr Greene has written about two men that are very dear to him, his father and General Paul Tibbets, pilot of the Enola Gay. Both men are true heroes and served this country well. Mr. Greene deftly mixes information gathered in numerous interviews with General Tibbets, with information about Bob's own father who served in WWII. The book brings to light fascinating facts about the pilot and crew that came together in the famed B-29, The Enola Gay, and dropped the first atomic bomb. The personal interviews of the crew that were conducted recently in Branson help to explain what the crew felt at the time and how they feel over 50 years later. In an era when many people try to ignore the past or rewrite history, this look at one of the most significant events of this past century should be required reading.

I've always loved WWII history, especially how it affected the common GI. Bob Greene had always hoped to meet "the man who won the war",Gen. Paul Tibbetts, the man who piloted the Enola Gay on the fateful flight that would ultimately end the war. The retired general happened to live in the same town as Bob Greene's father, living a life of relative anonymity. In fact Bob Greene had tried previously to interview him with no luck. But as his own father is dying Gen. Tibbetts suddenly agrees to see him. What Bob Greene discovers about the man who dropped the atomic bomb is how much in common he has with his own father. This is basically the story of two soldiers, one who by a single act in history, the dropping of the atomic bomb, gained fame (or notoriety as some would see it) and how that act affected his life at that time and ever after. And it is the story of Bob Greene's father, an ordinary GI who achieved the rank of major in the wartime Army, but after the war ended put away all traces of his service, never talked about his army experiences, never joined any service-oriented organization and went back to the civilian world after the war and continued his life as if it had never been interrupted. He married, raised a family and worked hard. In other words, both men did their "duty" in and after they left the service. It's a touching tribute to a father by his son and brings a down-to-earth perspective to the decision about the Enola Gay mission, without simplifying it in the least. After reading this book I can see why these men are called "the greatest generation" and how the sacrifices they made are too often taken for granted.