Duty

A son pays tribute to his father and the generation that fought in World War II in this heartfelt New York Times–bestselling memoir.

“Bob Greene has written a lot of great stuff the past twenty-five years, but his best may be Duty. [Greene] interlaces a stirring tribute to World War II veterans with a moving portrait of how life has changed for them.” —San Diego Union-Tribune

When Bob Greene went home to central Ohio to be with his dying father, it set off a chain of events that led him to know his dad in a way he never had before—thanks to a quiet man who had changed the world. Greene’s father, a World War II soldier, often spoke of seeing the private, almost anonymous, man around town. He was Paul Tibbets. In 1945, at the age of twenty-nine, Tibbets assembled a secret team of one,800 American soldiers to carry out the single most violent act in the history of mankind. He piloted a plane to the Japanese city of Hiroshima, where it dropped the atomic bomb.

On the morning after the last meal Greene ever ate with his father, he went to meet Tibbets. An unlikely friendship developed, allowing Greene to discover the ingrained sense of honor and duty of his father, and his father’s generation of soldiers, that he had never fully understood before. Duty is the story of three lives connected by history, proximity, and blood: a powerful tribute to the ordinary heroes of an extraordinary time. Here is a vivid new perspective on responsibility, empathy, love, and the concept of duty as it once was and always should be: quiet and form the heart. On every page you can hear the whisper of a generation and its children bidding each other farewell.

“Here is one of the most heartwarming books I've ever read. Anyone who remembers World War II will hang on every word. What a fabulous read! Run, don't walk, to your favorite bookstore, and get this blockbuster.” —Ann Landers

“Duty will make you weep, then smile, then laugh, then weep again. It is a deeply human journey of time and generations. If you read only one book this year, this should be it.” —Dallas Morning News

“[Greene] delineates one of the most significant cultural divides in America—between the deeply dutiful World War II generation and its more cynical and radically individualistic descendants.” —New York Times Book Review