He has no doubt that the decision to use the weapons was correct. But he does not believe in over-analysing or glorifying what they did. They were aware of a flash, brighter than anything they'd ever seen, and sensed a metallic taste in their mouths. Countless more, slowly, later. It was a terrible thing, say the men of the Enola Gay.
Terrible things happen in war.
And this ended it. Tibbets and his crew executed a difficult, dangerous mission. They were proud of a job well done. But they neither celebrated nor lamented what they did. Van Kirk told Greene.