Rating: 
Summary: Succeeds on every level.
Review: 'Duty' is a very special book. It takes three individual subjects and, through Bob Greene's rare talent, makes them not only analogous, but seemingly inseparable. It affected me in profound ways. It's a keeper. One you go back to again and again. Interspection, reflection, a hope to reach out to make a connection. It's a story of the human heart. A father's dying days, the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, and the mindset and value system of the twentieth century's most intrepid generation. Greene not only ties those 3 subjects together in a seamless storyline, he changes your mindset, expectations, and definition of the word "duty". Want a great war story? Listen in on the 3 principals who, in their own words, describe how they carried out the single most destructive act in the history of the world. Want a father-son love story? Read the words Greene's father recorded onto an audio tape for his son. Words, spoken years before his last, sickly, dying days, described his life. Words, sounding vibrant and hopeful, that Greene listened to even as at the same time, he could hear his father's frail, confused voice in the next room. Ever wonder what made the Depression/WWII generation tick? Read, in their own words, how they think. What is important to them--how they process and catagorize beliefs, responsibilities, and minutiae--why individual accolades and the collective spotlight is more distraction and frivolous emptiness to them than positive reinforcement. Paul Tibbets (....the man who won the war), gets the most print, but his generation as a whole is the character that drives this book. In Tibbet's own words, " Who knew who doesn't matter". What matters is duty, and a job well done. Well done, Bob Greene. Thanks. Read it. Read it for your own good.
Rating:
Summary: A book about a hero and a father and how much are alike
Review: A great book about a true hero and other's worthy of the same label. A very easy and engaging read. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: A "must read"
Review: After seeing Bob Greene discussing his book on BookNotes, I ordered it, expecting a good read, but nothing more. It turns out to be a fantastic read, however. Greene's efforts to understand his father through Paul Tibbets does not make his father any less inscrutable, but it does make us wonder if his father, and other men who went to war, lived those war years over and over again, but only in their own minds. It doesn't appear that Greene was genuinely close to either of his parents, often rushing through a dinner with his mother to meet Paul Tibbets. And he clearly was enamored with Tibbets. This book is about Duty, but whose duty? Greene's father's war year duty? Paul Tibbets duty? or Greene's own duty to understand his parent?
Rating: 
Summary: Duty or blind conformity
Review: Although I did find Greene's style of folksy reminiscence cathcy, the horrific subject and the way he treats it more than offset any redeeming quality that this book might have had. It is about a man that caused the deaths of over 200,000 people, and 47 American's who were being held prisoner in the city when the bomb was dropped. I just think that calling someone who did that a hero is a bit dangerous. Greene also suggests that this violent act "won the war", when practically every military scholar who has looked at this has said that the war was already over, Japan only wanted an honorable end to it. This book is not about heroism it is about revenge, and the tragedy of "just following orders". This incident is no different from what happened in Germany, Italy or even Japan in WWII. All were just following orders and the most horrible slaughter the world has ever known was the result. One should instead read, "Hitler's Willing Executioners" or "Hitler's Pope", at least those come closer to the truth.
Rating:
Summary: Better than "Greatest Generation" or "Flags of Our Fathers"
Review: An excellent tribute to the World War II generation. This book surpasses "The Greatest Generation" in its investigation of it principal character, Brig. Gen. Paul Tibbets (the hero of Hiroshima), and eschews the victimization and exploitation theories that color the final one-third of "Flags of Our Fathers." Both "Greatest" and "Flags" are well worth reading. However, I found "Duty" to be the superior of the three.Tibbets on those who question the morality of dropping the A-Bomb on Hiroshima: "Those people never had their balls on the the cold, hard anvil." Enough said.
Rating: 
Summary: Touching look at an influential generation
Review: As someone who was 21 at his father's death, I found myself jealous of the chance Greene had to learn more about his father's life through the tapes his father recorded before his final illness and through men of his father's generation. Greene does a fine job of weaving the histories of his father and Paul Tibbets with the presents of both men--his father's last weeks and Tibbet's life in his 80's. Although the abrupt jumps in time and person can be rather disconcerting, links between the topics can be followed with a little care in reading. A couple of problems--1) Greene repeatedly draws attention to how little attention Tibbets draws in public. Well, that is as Tibbets himself would have it, as he has never been a publicity seeker. Although it is sad that many in later generations don't know Tibbets' name, why Greene should find it so upsetting that this man in his 80's is rarely recognized is beyond me. I have long been interested in WWII and Tibbets' deeds were already familiar to me, but I'm sure I would never recognize him in public! That's not tragic, as Greene apparently would have us believe, it's just a fact. 2) Tibbets frequently criticizes the generations that have followed his. Yes, his generation is worthy of high praise for their tremendous sacrifices, but only once--in passing--do Greene and Tibbets ever recognize that it was Tibbets' generation that raised the children who rebelled in the 60's. They blame cultural changes such as music and television, but never clearly accept responsibility for their own role in raising their own children. This is a serious oversight that I have found in several books about the "Greatest Generation." And no, I am not a member of the first generation of children born to those returning veterans. Despite these two caveats, I recommend "Duty" highly and plan to use excerpts from it with my high school students. Read it and see what you think!
Rating:
Summary: A Tribute From a Son to His Father
Review: Bob Greene has written a touching and emotion-filled book about two men who influenced the outcome of World War II; his own father and Paul Tibbets, the pilot of the Enola Gay. Greene's father served as an infantry soldier in Italy, while Tibbets was training his men in Wendover, Utah for a mission which would hopefully end the war. Tibbets and Robert Greene, Sr. lived in the same town in Ohio, but had never met. Bob jr. writes about how his father would speak of Tibbets and call him "the man who won the war". While Bob jr. was back in Ohio to be with his dying father, he drew on his memories of Tibbets. Finally, Bob went to meet Tibbets. What occured was the beginning of an unlikely friendship that spanned a generation and allowed Bob to discover things about his father and his father's generation that he never understood before. Bob found Tibbets to be a very honest and straight-forward man. There was no nonsense from him; everything was in plain terms. Tibbets talked frequently about his mission to Hiroshima on that fateful day in August, 1945. He said several times that he had no regrets for what he did and he always slept easy at night. Tibbets' stories enabled Bob to see that his father and many other men just like him also played large parts in winning the war. Tibbets never liked the phrase "the man who won the war". He was always quick to give credit to the soldiers as the real heroes, just like Robert sr. Perhaps my favorite part of the book is the several chapters which deal with the trip to Branson, Missouri. Bob, Tibbets, Tom Ferebee (bombardier), and "Dutch" Van Kirk (navigator) took a trip to Branson over Memorial Day weekend and they were treated like conquering heroes by the public. But what impressed me was the candor and openness that these men spoke with. I learned a lot about the Hiroshima mission that I never knew before. I found this book a little slow at the beginning, but it definitely picks up over the second half. Read this book and learn about the generation of men who won the war.
Rating:
Summary: A Tribute From a Son to His Father
Review: Bob Greene has written a touching and emotion-filled book about two men who influenced the outcome of World War II; his own father and Paul Tibbets, the pilot of the Enola Gay. Greene's father served as an infantry soldier in Italy, while Tibbets was training his men in Wendover, Utah for a mission which would hopefully end the war. Tibbets and Robert Greene, Sr. lived in the same town in Ohio, but had never met. Bob jr. writes about how his father would speak of Tibbets and call him "the man who won the war". While Bob jr. was back in Ohio to be with his dying father, he drew on his memories of Tibbets. Finally, Bob went to meet Tibbets. What occured was the beginning of an unlikely friendship that spanned a generation and allowed Bob to discover things about his father and his father's generation that he never understood before. Bob found Tibbets to be a very honest and straight-forward man. There was no nonsense from him; everything was in plain terms. Tibbets talked frequently about his mission to Hiroshima on that fateful day in August, 1945. He said several times that he had no regrets for what he did and he always slept easy at night. Tibbets' stories enabled Bob to see that his father and many other men just like him also played large parts in winning the war. Tibbets never liked the phrase "the man who won the war". He was always quick to give credit to the soldiers as the real heroes, just like Robert sr. Perhaps my favorite part of the book is the several chapters which deal with the trip to Branson, Missouri. Bob, Tibbets, Tom Ferebee (bombardier), and "Dutch" Van Kirk (navigator) took a trip to Branson over Memorial Day weekend and they were treated like conquering heroes by the public. But what impressed me was the candor and openness that these men spoke with. I learned a lot about the Hiroshima mission that I never knew before. I found this book a little slow at the beginning, but it definitely picks up over the second half. Read this book and learn about the generation of men who won the war.
Rating:
Summary: Strong Men
Review: Bob Greene shares with the reader his sense of family and his perspective on "The Greatest Generation." This book has two stories that weave together to portray a group of citizens who are rapidly disappearing from our country. It is a highly personal story of his father's protracted death and his struggle to understand the forces that shaped his father's and his own life. It is also a tribute to the men who defended the United States during World War II. This tribute is told through his interviews with the no-nonsence Gen. Paul Tibbets. If you are a "baby boomer" and are lucky enough to still have a father living--read this book.
Rating:
Summary: The Lives of the World War II Generation
Review: Bob Greene takes us by the hand, ever so gently, and forces us to explore many points in the lives of our parents' generation-- from the good-time pre-War days, through the long, drawn-out conflict itself, to the prosperous post-War years of our own birth and coming-of-age, and now to the final chapter of our parents' lives. He leads us on this expedition while sharing some of his innermost feelings & fears (which are often 100% in sync with our own) on each step of the journey. Interwoven in the account of his own family's life (parts of which we already know, as faithful Greene readers since the 1970s), he tells us the story of Paul Tibbets, the man who commanded the crew that dropped the first atomic bomb, which ultimately brought World War II to a close. Tibbets lived for many years in the same small Ohio town as Greene's family, but like so many other GIs, he was unknown to all but a few of his own generation. In meeting Tibbets and recording his thoughts and observations, Greene learned a great deal more about his own father and the World War II generation in general. This and more, he shares with us in poignant detail. Not lost in all of this is the story of a man, his life's work complete, taking his leave of this earth slowly. Greene records many moments--both sad & touching at the same time--of his father's final weeks. To those of us who have already lived this chapter of life with our own family members, or may be facing it all too soon, it is a common-sense road map of just how one family managed to respond. You can almost see the elder Mr. Greene smiling down his approval on all that has been said in this book.
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