Duty : A Father, His Son, And The Man Who Won The War

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Summary: A Requiem for a Generation!
Review: 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.

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Summary: Outstanding book on the man behind the dropping of the bomb.
Review: 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.

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Summary: "Who knew about who doesn't matter." General Tibbets
Review: 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?

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Summary: Bob Greene gets it right in "Duty"
Review: 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.

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Summary: A WONDERFUL MEMOIR AND TRIBUTE
Review: This is a good work. As one disgruntled reviewer pointed out, this is not a history book, but rather a memoir and tribute from a son to his father and to one of the many heros of WWII. Having been raised by a father from that era, it is quite apparent to me that my relationship with my father was my no means isolated, but somewhat the norm. This work struck pretty close to home. Having spent over twenty years in the military myself, I can understand some of their thoughts, but even that cannot bridge the entire gap. Those guys looked at life differently than my generation. The author has approached the subject with great sensitivity and through his conversations with these men, I feel, has been able to understand not only them, but himself. I highly recommend this one to any father and any son. Well done Mr Greene.

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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.

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Summary: A disappointment .
Review: I have seen Bob Greene on some of the news stories on TV. I like his wit and sentiment. I was prepared for a great book on the great generation that produced his and my father. I was disappointed.
First, the book is disjointed. It goes from sentiment to sentiment, and then reverts back again. In his talks with General Paul Tidbitts, I thought he kept dwelling on the same emotions of a hard military decision. That decision was made long ago, and why keep hammering away at it. Bob, just get over it. The U.S. had to bomb Japan to spare the lives of American soldiers and sailors.
Another problem I have with this book is its lack of history. It tells a little of the history of his father, some of Tidbitts, and then a little on the Doolittle Raiders. Other than that, it is pure sentiment, repeated again and again. For a 300 page book, this could have been cut to 80 pages. I read this book, and it was a disappointment. If one wants to remember the Greatest Generation, read something from Ambrose.

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Summary: About Our Dads
Review: I was very touched by Bob Greene's book "Duty: A Father, His Son and the Man Who Won the War." Greene writes with an amazing eloquence and is able to maintain a smooth balance among his reflections of his father, his conversations with General Paul Tibbets and his own thoughts about war, family and life. As a result, he produces what I consider to be one of the best insights into the "Greatest Generation." He examines what motivated them to win the war by looking at their childhoods, their backgrounds and the values they were taught. He shows how both his father, Tibbets and many other servicemen were able to rely on their values to achieve victory against Germany and Japan. For instance, Tibbets was able to organize a bomber squadron that consisted of 1,800 men in order to complete his mission in delivering the atomic bomb to Hiroshima. He was able organize this group with incredible efficiency and secrecy. Could many 29 year-olds do that today? In the end, these men were honorable individuals who followed orders, did the best they could and did it right. I thank Bob Greene for saluting his father, Tibbets and all other World War Two veterans with this fine book. I read it in one day . . . I just couldn't put it down.