As I always do I read several "Today in History" columns looking for interesting things to blog about or post on my facebook. This morning I found this very unique item about WWII.
During the the last 2 years of WWII the japanese undertook a project called "Japanese Fire Balloons". They would launch large hydrogen filled balloons that had various incendiary or antipersonnel bombs attached to them, with the intention of them reaching the jet stream and then land in the US and start fires, destroy buildings, kill civilians and basically cause a widespread panic. Well these were relatively ineffective weapons and for various reasons the Japanese abanonded the project in April of 1945. However, several hundred if not thousands made it to the mainland of the US and Canada as far east as Iowa. Now the US military found several hundred and destroyed them but there is speculation that several hundred unexploded munitions from these ballons are still in the wilds of the US and Canada.
Now to the "This Day in History", on May 5 1945 in Oregon a young pastor and his wife took several children on a sunday picnic, as they were walking in the forest one of the children yelled that she had found something in a tree. As they to her to see she was pulling on a large ballon, the pastor was lagging behind but his wife and the kids were the first ones there and he watched as the balloon exploded killing his wife and all of the children. Due to a press coverup, the danger of these balloons had not been brought to the attention of the public for fear of a "panic". After this incident the military and the press went on the offensive to warn everyone not to go near any large balloons in the trees or on the ground.
The incident is remembered with a small monument near Bly Oregon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitchell_Monument
and here is a close up of the plaque
http://www.transistor.org/personal/photos/klamath2001/mitchellmonument.jpg
Read more about the japanese fire balloons here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_balloon
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