She is so unnerved by a crash-landing she witnesses, though, that they see each other only one more time during his tour, meeting for a weekend in the mountains. Although disappointed at their short reunion and concerned for Paul's safety, Lucey accepts the situation and later visits Paul in Wichita. At the airport, Paul lovingly greets Lucey with his usual gift, a bottle of perfume placed in a paper bag and tied with a pink ribbon. Because the testing will be dangerous, Brent informs Paul that he cannot have distractions, therefore Lucey and their young son, Paul, Jr. When they are flying to Washington, Brent tells Paul that he will be sent to Wichita to test a new long-range plane, the B-29. Paul further impresses Brent by not asking what the job is. Brent later tells Paul he has a hunch that Paul is the man for an important job and orders him to return to the U.S. The officious Roberts subsequently turns down Paul's pending promotion to full colonel, but Paul's tenaciousness in standing up to Roberts impresses visiting Maj. Roberts, when he questions an order to fly futile missions.
Tibbets, Jr., she recalls the past two years: In North Africa, Paul, an Army Air Corps pilot, incurs the anger of his commander, Gen. In 1945, as Lucey Tibbets waits at a Washington, D.
