From the devastation of Pearl Harbor to the flak-choked skies
over Europe and the jungles of the Pacific, Morgan Hill
’s Chip Chiappetta saw more of World War II than most.
From the devastation of Pearl Harbor to the flak-choked skies over Europe and the jungles of the Pacific, Morgan Hill’s Chip Chiappetta saw more of World War II than most.
He watched it begin first-hand as a teenager at Pearl Harbor, he was involved with the first bombing raids on Europe and he flew missions with the crew of the Enola Gay, the plane that ended the war by dropping atomic bombs on Imperial Japan.
In fact, Chiappetta is friends with some of the biggest names in WWII air history, including Enola Gay pilot Paul Tibbets and flight navigator Theodore “Dutch” Van Kirk and famed aviator Chuck Yeager, all of whom he met in the service during the war.
These days, Chiappetta and his fellow veterans are devoting their time to making sure the legacy of that time, a turning point in world history, is not revised by political correctness, and that the men who fought during that time are not forgotten.
In November, Chiappetta invited Van Kirk to speak to the local Rotary Club for Veteran’s Day.
Van Kirk and Chiappetta both have strong feelings about the use of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and they object to recent efforts to apologize for the decision they say was necessary.
Especially onerous, they say, is talk about adding an apology to the Smithsonian Institute’s historical display featuring the Enola Gay. The Smithsonian Institute, located in Washington, D.C., is the national museum of history and science; it calls itself “the nation’s attic.”
“They’re trying to say we were the aggressors and that we didn’t have to drop the bomb, and that’s just false,” Chiappetta said.
“If we didn’t drop the bomb, there would have been millions more killed,” Chiapetta said. “The Japanese were prepared to defend (their nation) to the death – men, women and children. As it was, it took two atomic bombs to get them to surrender. If they had had the bomb, they would have dropped it on us. We didn’t start the war but we sure did end it.”
Chiappetta expresses a total disdain for those who form their opinions about the way the U.S. ended the war without having an educated perspective on the issue. He refers specifically to the Smithsonian display and a San Francisco Chronicle editorial.
“Those revisionists who say we never should have dropped the bomb and never studied (the issue), I think that in today’s world nobody takes the trouble to learn about something before they write about it,” he said.
Van Kirk told the local Rotarians much the same thing, remembering a different time and place when the discussion about whether to drop the atomic bomb was relegated to historical hindsight replete with the luxury of conjecture and semantics.
“What our perspective in 1945 was we just wanted to end the war,” Van Kirk said. “There were 20 million people involved in the war (effort) and we were getting pretty damn tired of it. People (now) say the Japanese were suing for peace. They weren’t. They were suing for better terms of surrender.”
Like Chiappetta, Van Kirk had experienced the devastation wrought on Nazi Germany by Allied bombing raids and well aware that similar, if not greater, destruction would likely be necessary to help bring Japan to its knees. Van Kirk said an invasion would have prompted a massive slaughter on both sides that would have made the effects of the two atomic blasts pale in comparison.
“People looked at what would happen if we didn’t drop the bomb,” Van Kirk said. “The number of casualties would have been horrendous. Japan had a large land army and they were well-placed to toss us off the beaches. (An invasion) would have gone on for a long time. The largest air raid flown over Japan during the war was after (the atomic bomb was dropped on) Nagasaki. It included 1,000 B-29 bombers and as many people were killed then (as by the atomic bombs), and it would have continued.”
Chiappetta agrees that the U.S. decision to drop the atomic bomb saved lives.
“I once asked Tibbets if he would drop the bomb again, and he said, ‘In a heartbeat.’”
Van Kirk said he and his flight-crew mates on the Enola Gay viewed dropping the bomb as their duty, but they were not unaware of its potentially devastating effects.
“We regarded it as just part of our job, something we had to do to end the war,” he said. “The only thing that was under-rated was the effect of the radiation. We knew about the blast area and the number of casualties.”
However, Van Kirk discounts any role he and his fellow bombers may have had in ushering in a new era by dropping the atomic bomb.
“A lot of people say we inaugurated the Atomic Age when we dropped the bomb — that’s hogwash,” he said. “The Atomic Age started when those scientists split the atom. I think the bomb had to be demonstrated and someone would have done it. We just happened to be the ones to do it.”
Chiappetta has also been working through a retired veterans’ organization to preserve veterans’ benefits which he said are under constant threat from legislators. He writes regular letters to U.S. Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein reminding them of their responsibility to the men and women who served in the armed forces, and he works tirelessly with an organization to help out homeless vets.
Chiappetta said the least this country can do is live up to the promises it made to military vets, especially as far as benefits.
“(The veterans) didn’t ask for these benefits but we made a promise to them and we should uphold that promise,” he said. “These (veterans) did a great job when we needed them most. I don’t know if people know how close we came to losing World War II. People need to be reminded about how much these people gave for their country.”
