I had more time than I'd like to read this past weekend & read this book. The first 1/3 didn't really pull me in, but after that it did. The book is a first hand look by Greene at his father's death, with whom he'd never communicated well. His father defined much of his life by his experience in WWII. While unimpressed by most people, Greene's father held the heroes of WWII in very high esteem, especially Paul Tibbets, the man who assembled & led the team that delivered the atomic bombs to Japan. He also was the pilot for the first bomb, the one dropped on Hiroshima. Young Greene meets Tibbets & in learning his story, learns more about his father than he'd ever known before.The story is several entwined & well done. We learn about both Greenes, their relationships & history. We also learn about the men that fought in WWII, especially Tibbets, a very tough man who held one of the toughest jobs in history. How he met the challenge & why he was able to are very interesting. ( )

Thinking about WWII vets and Paul Tibbets in particular. He was a humble ordinary guy in Ohio and yet he flew Enola Gay to help end the war at Hiroshima. ( )

Paul Tibbets seems to me one of the lonliest men in the world. He was tasked to organize, plan, and carryout one of the most violent and deadly wartime attacks ever considered or carried out - the bombing of Japan with the first atomic bomb. He did his duty with honor, with zeal, and with little thought about himself. Bob Greene's father, Bob Greene, Sr., also served with distinction during World War II. Greene, Sr., served in both North Africa and Italy and was bound for the shores of Japan before Tibbets flew his B-29 bomber, named Enola Gay for his mother, over Hiroshima and changed the course of human history. During Greene, Sr., last few days of life, his son reached out to Tibbets, knowing that his father carried an immense respect for the pilot. Tibbets and Greene, Jr., become friends and, through an ongoing dialog about Tibbets' career, Greene, Jr., begins to understand his own father.

Using material from a tape recording made by his father and interviews with Tibbets, Greene, Jr., chronicles both his father's World War II experiences and Tibbets'. More than that, Greene, Jr., tries to identify what was different about that greatest generation. In Tibbets, Greene, Jr., sees his father, sees his fathers battles with an ever-changing world; sees his fathers disappointment with an ever softening society. Tibbets and his crew, who shouldered one of the most frightening responsibilities ever, stand for more than just some plattitudes about duty and honor and service. In learning about their service, Greene, Jr., is able to process his own grief and give voice to his father's life.

There were some interesting passages in this book and I enjoyed reading it. The style is simple and quite journalistic, not surprising given the author's primary milieu. I often felt that Greene, Jr., in the course of his endless questions of Tibbets', bordered on cheapening the man and his life. Greene, Jr., asked endless questions about everything, including Tibbets and the crew ate on the flight to drop the bomb. I braced myself for the inevitable question about how they relieved themselves on the long flight but, thankfully, it never came. There were questions about whether Tibbets thought our American society's entertainment was too risque. There were questions about whether Tibbets thought people wearing hand-me-down fatigues were being disrespectful. I wanted to tell Greene, Jr., to leave the man alone, he's done enough.

That said, let me reiterate, the book was worth finishing. I found Tibbets a fascinating man. And Greene, Jr.'s, premise, to name the characteristics of that greatest generation, to understand them so that we might emulate them, was worthy. It just seemed that his own grief and need to reach out to a largely estranged father overwhelmed his purpose and overwhelmed his interactions with Tibbets.

A good read, especially for anyone interested in World War II or atomic history.

3 1/2 bones ( )

A compelling account of Bob Greene's relationship with two men from the same generation: His father, who was a major in World War II, and is now dying, and Paul Tibbetts, who supervised the mission to bomb Hiroshima and flew the Enola Gay to drop the bomb. In the process of learning about both men, Greene learns what united them at that time in our country's history, and how that war shaped their generation. A superior effort from Bob Greene, whom I have always felt a connection with, and the Ohio connection herein deepens that feeling. ( )