There were more than 400,000 American casualties during World War II, and believe it or not, six of them actually occurred on continental U.S. soil. Except for the deaths in Oregon, no casualties, fires, or serious destruction were attributed to the balloons. Elsie Mitchell and the five children had been killed by a Japanese balloon bomb. They were the only casualties of World War II in the continental United States. Following WWII, the United States developed the E77 balloon bomb based on the Fu-Go balloon. February 23, 1945. By Brian Albrecht, The Plain Dealer. Japanese balloons brought death in 1945. On the morning of Saturday, May 5, 1945, Rev. The nerve-shattering echo of an exploding bomb rolled across the mountain landscape. Share. The most tragic incident involving balloon bombs found a place in history as yielding the only deaths due to enemy action on mainland America during World War II. Comment. “For months the War Department knew that the continent’s airspace was being invaded regularly by strange automated bomb-dropping balloons – they just weren’t reporting it.” AP Photo Using balloons to carry bombs was not a new idea. For the Japanese, at least during the war, the balloons were considered a success with claims of 10,000 casualties had been caused by the bombs and numerous fires had been started. This would short circuit electrical lines by short-circuiting them causing significant damage. Six killed in Oregon by Japanese bomb In Lakeview, Oregon, Mrs. Elsie Mitchell and five neighborhood children are killed while attempting to drag a Japanese balloon out the woods. In 1944–45, the Japanese Fu-Go project released at least 9,300 firebombs aimed at US and Canadian forests and cities. Japanese balloon bomb kills 6 in Oregon. Amherst vet tracked Japanese balloon bombs. The six deaths are the only known fatalities on the United States mainland from enemy attack. All six deaths occurred when a group of picnickers in Oregon found a balloon bomb in the woods, and attempted to … This balloon was intended to disperse an anti-crop agent; however, it was not used operationally. Only about 285 were ever found. Japan’s latest weapon, the balloon bombs were intended to cause damage and spread panic in the continental United States. The deaths of six civilians were the only fatalities caused by fire balloons on American soil during World War II. A memorial was set up for them where the incident took place. Japanese fire balloon made of mulberry paper reinflated at Moffett Field, California, after it had been shot down by a Navy aircraft January 10, 1945. Japan’s wind weapons. Then, a few months later, Japanese planes dropped bombs on Oregon, causing forest fires on two separate occasions. May 5, 2021 — It was on this date in 1945 that a Japanese bomb balloon claimed the lives of six people in Oregon. At the end of the day, Japan’s balloon bombs boasted a kill rate of only.067 percent. From late 1944 until early 1945, the Japanese launched over 9,300 fire balloons, of which 300 were found or observed in the U.S. Marc Lancaster. A Canadian P-40 intercepts a Japanese balloon high above the Pacific Northwest. Share. One of World War II’s best-kept secrets was of the Japanese balloon bomb attack. Courtesy United States Air Force In Japan, radio broadcasts trumpeted the success of the balloon bomb program, claiming that the devices had triggered major fires and caused 500 American casualties. Monument to Elsie Mitchell and five children killed by Japanese balloon bomb on May 5, 1945. In May 1945, however, one balloon bomb killed a pregnant woman, Elsie Mitchell, and five Sunday school students out for a fishing trip. Seventeen years earlier almost to the day, his wife was one of six people killed by a Japanese balloon bomb—the only deaths in the mainland United States caused by a Japanese attack. They are the only World War II U.S. combat casualties in the contiguous 48 states. Cold War United States. In all, there were 285 balloon bomb incidents reported, and six deaths. It was a flop as far as secret weapons go, although the Japanese get points for creativity. The Japanese actually had a precedent to build off of for using balloon bombs. The propaganda broadcasts promised that Japanese soldiers would invade the United States by the millions, all carried to the enemy coast by massive balloons. Wikimedia Commons A Japanese balloon bomb found near Bigelow, Kansas. The Mitchell Monument marks the spot near Bly, Oregon, where six people were killed by a Japanese balloon bomb during World War II. They are the only World War II U.S. combat casualties in the 48 states. A Japanese bomb-carrying paper balloon in the air over North America on July 2, 1945. A huge explosion rocked the placid mountainside. Most of the balloons featured a very long wire that trailed to the ground. Word of the tragedy spread instantly through the surrounding area, but didn’t immediately make the news. How Japan sent bombs thousands of miles across the Pacific and brought World War II to the American homefront. More than 9,000 of these incendiary weapons were launched from Japan … Archie Mitchell and his wife Elsie packed five children from their Sunday school class at the Christian Missionary Alliance Church into their car and headed out on a … They were the only civilian deaths on continental U.S. soil in World War II. These encounters became all too common during the early months of 1945. The incendiaries were carried over the Pacific Ocean by silent balloons via the jet stream. Creation of the Fu-Go The Japanese Balloon Bombs of World War 2. The alleged balloon scrap could be evidence of a unique weapon in modern warfare: the Japanese Balloon Bomb. Designated by the National Register of Historic Places in 2003, this is the only place on the continental United States where Americans were killed by … Japanese fire balloon reinflated at Moffett Field, California, after it had been shot down by a Navy aircraft January 10, 1945. The 9th Military Technical Research Institute, better known as the Noborito Research Institute, was charged with finding a way to bomb America. The bomb was one of about 9,000 launched from Japan during World War II as part of an effort to set forest fires in the United States. The British had about 100,000 surplus weather balloons and decided to float them over to Germany. The balloon bombs aren't the only World War II occurrence largely unknown by Americans today. Two of the Patzke children -- Dick Patzke, 14, and Joan Patzke, 13 -- would be killed in a Japanese Balloon Bomb explosion in May 1945 in Oregon, along with four other people. These were the only casualties of the balloon bombs during the war and the victim’s relatives were provided with a special death benefit after the war ended (in March 1946). Known as Operation Fu-Go, Japan first started toying with the idea of bomb-laden balloons in the 1930s, but the program began to take on a bit more urgency after April 18, 1942. They estimated that only 10% would hit the US, with the vast majority falling into the Pacific ocean. The campaign did prove problematic for U.S. and Canadian forces, which had to redeploy air defense and other assets to chase balloons. Japanese war balloon being shot down (gun camera photo), 1945. The six deaths are the only known fatalities on the United States mainland from enemy attack. On this day in 1945, a balloon bomb launched from Japan killed six people in rural eastern Oregon. 1945:: A Japanese balloon bomb kills six people in rural eastern Oregon. They claimed that “something big” was up, and that “large-scale attacks with death-defying Japanese manning the balloons” would be launched. The Japanese decided to make use of balloon bombs in retaliation for the Doolittle raid, which proved Japan to be vulnerable to American air attacks. On May 5, 1945, Reverend Archie Mitchell took his five-month pregnant wife and a group of five children from the church, where he was the pastor, for picnic and fishing up in the mountains near Bly in Oregon. The balloons would claim six American lives on May 5, 1945, but they were widely considered a military failure. This Website has been designed to provide you with more information and insight into the Japanese balloon bomb attacks. The coroner listed the cause of death as “an explosion from an undetermined source.” Of the thousands of balloon bombs the Japanese launched into the river of air, only several hundred have been found. Updated Mar 28, 2019; Posted Jul 20, 2008. May 5. (June 1, 1945 - Seattle Times) A minister, still dazed by the shock of seeing his wife and five church children killed by a Japanese balloon-borne bomb a month ago [May 5], had War Department approval Friday to tell of the tragic picnic in southern Oregon. It is the only known deaths from the attacks. Lacking a practical means to attack the North American continent, the Japanese constructed 9,000 large hydrogen balloons, attached incendiary and anti-personnel bombs to them, and set them afloat on the high-altitude trade winds towards the United States. Japan halted the operation in April 1945. Just two days before the end of the war in Europe, they became the first — and only — people killed by enemy action on the U.S. mainland during World War II. LAKEVIEW, Ore. --- (UP) --- A minister, still dazed by the shock of seeing his wife and five church children killed by a Japanese balloon-borne bomb a month ago [May 5], had War Department approval Friday to tell of the tragic picnic in southern Oregon. In 1942, a Japanese submarine shelled Fort Stevens on the Oregon coast, which was the only bomb attack of a military base on the U.S. mainland during World War. Between November 1944 and April 1945, the Japanese launched more than 9,300 balloon bombs. In Japan, radio broadcasts trumpeted the success of the balloon bomb program, claiming that the devices had triggered major fires and caused 500 American casualties. Discover Site of a Japanese Balloon Bomb Explosion in Omaha, Nebraska: These experimental weapons brought World War II to Nebraska as well as 26 other U.S. states. How the Japanese bombed Michigan during World War II November marks the 75th anniversary of a mostly unknown chapter of WWII — an attack on the U.S. with bomb-laden balloons… Japanese radio propaganda trumpeted the balloon bombs as being incredibly effective and claimed they had killed thousands. The American public was made aware of the balloons after these tragic deaths, but word of … Those were the only reported combat deaths from any cause on the U.S. mainland during World War II. The incident occurred in 1945 when a Japanese balloon bomb floated into the United States where it killed six people in rural eastern Oregon. Despite the high hopes of their designers, the balloons were ineffective as weapons, causing only six deaths (from one incident) and a small amount of damage. It may surprise you to find that there were actually six civilian casualties in the 48 states during World War II.
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