And Paul Tibbets, pilot of the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, has died at the age of 92. Tibbets named his plane the Enola Gay after his mother. He remained a steadfast supporter of the bombing until his death. In 1982, the film Atomic Café compiled government propaganda footage designed to reassure Americans that the atomic bomb was not a threat to their safety. Tibbets was among those featured.

Colonel Paul Tibbets: “I have been accused of being insane, being a drunkard, being everything that you can imagine a derelict to be as a result of a guilty conscience for doing this. And as I say, no one’s ever come to my defense in that regard. I look at it this way, that my part in this thing may well have been something that, later or now, that the U.S. government might be looking at somewhat with a guilt complex. And the feeling could be that the less said about it by the United States government, the better.”

He once said that he has never lost a night’s sleep over bombing Hiroshima.