Volume 12 , Issue 25

Attacks On American Mainland In WWII

Lois Guffy sent us the following link to Attacks on the American Mainland in World War II.

It also professes that it is true that during World War II Japanese bombs struck the USA mainland. Unlike today's 24-hour news networks, the American news media kept these attacks a secret during the war.

It was February 23, 1942, when a Japanese submarine launched a bomb at a Pacific Coast oil refinery in the small town of Goleta near Santa Barbara, California. There were only minor damages. A catwalk and a pump house were destroyed and no casualties. It was the first attack on the American mainland during WW II.

The article goes on to say, "Another Japanese submarine surfaced in Oregon's Columbia River in June 1942. A bomb was launched and again there were no casualties and physical damage was minor: a baseball field backstop near Fort Stevens."

There was another time, on September 9th and 29th, 1942, Japanese planes attempted to start major forest fires by dropping incendiary bombs near Brookings, Oregon. Both bombing attempts carried no casualties or major damage thanks to the quick responses and efforts by fire lookout officers. The first time that the continental United States was attacked by aircraft, there was no trace of the second plane's dropped bomb and it was never found.

It (the article) reports, "From 1944 to 1945, the Japanese launched an estimated 900 fire balloons at the American mainland. In Japan, they called this operation Fu-Go. Each of the fire balloons were made of paper, inflated with hydrogen, carrying 5-kilogram incendiary bombs.

Only one of these 900 balloon bombs to cause any major damage landed near Bly, Oregon.

The Mitchells, a local family, were picnicking in the forest. One of the Mitchell children attempted to dislodge a balloon caught in a tree, causing the bomb to explode. Six members of the Mitchell family died: five children and their mother. A memorial to the Mitchell family was erected and still stands in the forest near Bly, Oregon.   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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