Tag: Manhattan Project

On the Wrong Pilot

Colonel Paul Tibbets was one of the men in charge of choosing the pilots and crew who would be a part of the Manhattan Project, the development and eventual use of the atomic bomb during World War 2. A highly secretive operation, understandably, but Tibbets would help decide which pilots and crew members would form the task force that would change warfare forever as well as the world as we know it with the dropping of that weapon. The eventual crews and support staff would eventually number in the hundreds. But it all was to remain a secret.

Tibbets thus had reams of personnel files to trudge through, people who either applied for a secret project or who were recommended by superiors. This was 1943, and the war still had a couple of years to go, but yet there was no shortage of American pilots who had combat experience. But as Tibbets went through folder after folder, he was looking for something besides experience over enemy territory. Tibbets wanted pilots specifically who had experience leading people, keeping them focused and under control. So, he thought outside the box a bit.

One such pilot who seemed to have those intangibles was one named G.E. Clements. Clements had flown zero hostile missions but seemed to fit the profile for the type Tibbets was looking for. With a background as a high school teacher–who better to know how to keep people focused and calm–Clements seemed an obvious choice. After all, many of the crew members such as the gunners and radio operators on planes like the Superfortress that Tibbets’s squadron would use for the atomic bomb missions were pretty much high school age or a little older. Besides, the academic record for the pilot was exemplary–top of the class in both high school and university. The military intelligence background check on the applicant came back clean. So, G.E. Clements and the others who made this exclusive club all received invitations to join the secret operation

Once the selection of pilots and crew members went out, they all assembled in Utah, at Wendover Air Base which, at the time, was also a top-secret airfield far away from any major population center. But as Tibbets was greeting all the new pilots and crew, he was shocked to see that one of the pilots obviously didn’t qualify for the project. Immediately, he made a bee-line for the soldier who was talking and laughing in a group of some of the other pilots who had assembled. When the group saw Tibbets approach, they straightened up and saluted. Tibbets called out the pilot who was obviously the wrong choice.

“Identify yourself!” Tibbets ordered.

“Clements, sir,” came the reply.

“G.E….Clements?” Tibbets said, shocked by what he was witnessing.

“Yes, sir.”

“At ease, Clements,” Tibbets said, and the pilot stood easy. Tibbets bit his lip in thought.

“Is there something wrong, sir?” Clements asked.

“Well,” Colonel Tibbets began, “I’m awfully sorry. There’s been a mix-up. You see, this project doesn’t allow women pilots.”

On a Wondrous Creation

Bob’s greatest creation, to hear him tell it, was his two children. He and Kitty had a son, Peter, and daughter, a sweet girl everyone called Toni. As everyone reading this is well aware, families are tricky things. A song lyric from the 1990s says, “A family is like a loaded gun; you point it in the wrong direction, someone’s gonna get killed.”

Despite the usual turmoil surrounding families, Bob’s family had added pressures. First of all, Bob’s job was incredibly stressful and caused the family to move often. Secondly, there was tension between Kitty and her children. Kitty had issues with addiction, and those issues often manifested themselves by verbal altercations with her children. Toni developed polio. Bob, despite his deep love for his family, was largely an absent father due to his work.

All of that made Peter grow up with extreme shyness and anxiety of his own. Bob’s family was wealthy, so money was never an issue for them, but money can’t buy happiness or stave off all pressures from a family. Peter’s school career was not stellar, and this seems odd considering that both Bob and Kitty had excelled at school. His shyness caused him to be socially awkward. He preferred to be alone to having friends or even to spend time with anyone else, really. Peter had to leave his prestigious prep school and attend a public school where he barely scraped by.

However, Peter excelled at working with his hands. Today, he is a carpenter who lives in the Sangre de Cristo mountains of northern New Mexico and is renown for his work. Sadly, Bob never really understood Peter despite his complete dedication to his son. The social awkwardness manifested by Peter was foreign to Bob because he never had such issues himself. He was at a loss to try to help Peter overcome his issues.

Bob felt conflicted, you see, because he was so worried about Kitty’s issues with alcoholism and the ongoing and increasing pressures he felt at work. Still, his children’s situations needed attention. The family moved to the Virgin Islands for a while because doctors said that the warm, moist air would help Toni’s polio, but that didn’t seem to help much. He contemplated getting Peter professional help, but his own bad experiences with therapy made him balk at that option.

Yes, Bob loved all his family, deeply. Bob died of cancer in the 1960s. Kitty suffered an embolism and died a few years later. Toni took her own life at the age of 33. As we said, today, Peter works as a carpenter in the mountains of northern New Mexico. He chose New Mexico because it was where the family lived for a short but important time in their lives, and he had good memories of that period of their lives.

Until the time he died, and, despite the issues that the family faced, Bob insisted that the kids were his greatest achievement.

You know Bob for another creation. You see, Robert Oppenheimer is best remembered for creating the nuclear bomb for the United States.