Special Exhibits

Until his death in November 2007, at the age of 92, the Motts Military Museum was honored to have General Paul W. Tibbets Jr. as a member of our Advisory Board.

General Tibbets will be remembered for piloting the Enola Gay, the B-29 "Superfortress" that dropped the first atomic bomb ever used in combat.

He was a loyal supporter and was always willing to help us with fund raising events.

The Motts Military Museum displays the largest collection of Gen. Tibbets memorabilia including his full dress blue Air Force Brigadier General uniform and much more.

Paul Tibbets was born in Quincy, IL., on February 13, 1915. He lived in Iowa and moved to Miami, FL. at the age of 9. At 12, he had his first airplane ride. It was to drop Baby Ruth candy bars at a carnival to the crowd below. With this job, his love for flying was born and would last a lifetime.At the age of 13 he went to the Western Military Academy in Alton, IL. He attended the University of Florida in 1933. While there, he took flying lessons at the Gainsville Airport.

He then went to the University of Cincinnati Medical College, with the expectation of carrying on the family tradition of medical doctors. But, his love for flying became number one in his life. He spent all of his spare time and money taking flying lessons.

He left medical school in 1937 and joined the Army Air Corp. at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio. Here he could fly at government expense.

While stationed at Ft. Benning, GA., and being a shotgun enthusiast, he was assigned to the base Skeet Shooting range. This is where he met George Patton. They became good friends and spent many hours on the shooting range. He also served as Patton’s pilot during tank range maneuvers. He has some great stories to tell about him.

Paul flew B-10 and B-12 aircraft in low flying exercises. Returning from one of these missions in December 1941, he heard on his aircraft radio that the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor. America was at war.

He was then transferred to the 29th Bomb Group to fly the new B-17. He temporarily flew the B-18 on anti-sub duty off the U.S. east coast. He was made Commander of the 40th Squadron, 97th Bombardment Group (Heavy) at MacDill Air Base, Tampa, FL. He trained his crew in the B-17 and flew many hours, day and night. Most of this time, he slept in his clothes.

From Bangor, Maine, he flew across the North Atlantic to England. This was the first group of American-manned, tactical aircraft to reach the United Kingdom in WWII.

Paul was made the Executive Officer of the 97th Bombardment Group (Heavy). On August 17, 1942, he flew the first American plane on a daylight bombing raid over German occupied Europe. The mission was to bomb a rail yard in France. This mission was flown in the aircraft named, “Butcher Shop”, not his regular plane. His future missions were flown in the “Red Gremlin”. Paul had a great attachment to this aircraft and called it, “the Good Gremlin”.

He flew many missions over German occupied territory. On one of these missions he was wounded but was able to return to his base.

Before the invasion of North Africa he flew General Mark Clark on a secret mission to Gibraltar. It was from Gibraltar that General Mark Clark directed the invasion of North Africa, “Operation Torch”.

He later flew General Eisenhower (sitting on a 2 x 4) to North Africa on an inspection tour. Paul flew many missions in North Africa during 1942-43. He was then moved to Algiers and continued to fly missions.

General Doolittle sent Paul back to the states to help develop a new bomber, the B-29. After extensive training with the B-29, he was sent to Colorado Springs where he was selected to lead a top secret mission. He was 29 years old at the time. He would command the 509th Composite Group. From the Island of Tinian, Paul Tibbets would go down in history as the first pilot to drop the Atomic Bomb — the target, Hiroshima.

After the war he was consulted frequently about atomic testing and in the late 1940’s and 50’s he worked very hard to promote the new B-47 Jet Bomber.

The Motts Military Museum, with the tireless efforts of Richard Hoerle is proud to present, on our museum grounds, a historically accurate, “Replica” of the boyhood home of Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker. With the help of our many volunteers, generous patriotic individuals and corporations, the construction of this, full scale replica was made possible.

With the help of the “Capt. Eddie” family, we have furnished the interior of the house as it was when Capt. Eddie lived there. With various “Capt Eddie” memorabilia displayed throughout the house, we believe this will assist the educational process for future generations about the life and times of this American patriot.

When World War One started, Eddie Rickenbacker was 26 years old, too old to enter flight training. Eddie Rickenbacker wanted to fly. He went to France, learned to fly, became an officer and was assigned to the 94th Aero Squadron, becoming its commanding officer. He became an American “Ace of Aces” with 26 aerial victories. Eddie was also the recipient of the Medal Of Honor for action in France. On September 25, 1918, on a voluntary patrol, he discovered 7 enemy planes. He attacked against those odds and shot down 2 enemy planes.

After the war, Capt. Eddie traveled on lecture tours and produced the Rickenbacker automobile until 1928. In 1927 he purchased the Indianapolis 500 Motor Speedway, and sold it in 1945 to the present owners. In 1934, Eddie became the General Manager of Eastern Airlines. He retired as its CEO in 1963.

Until he died in 1973, he lectured and toured as a true patriot of the United States of America.