Death by Balloon Bomb: The Mitchell Monument

On a trip to Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, we spotted a humble rest stop near the small town of Bly in Klamath County.  Rest stops being in short supply on Highway 140, we made a sudden stop.  The restroom was flooded in about four inches of water, but Anne coped.  In the meantime, Bob was reading a sign posted in the grounds.  To our surprise, we learned that this described and provided directions to the nearby location of the Mitchell Monument, which commemorates the location of the only place in the continental U.S. where people were killed due to enemy action during World War II.  The victims were the pregnant wife and five children of Bly minister Archie Mitchell, who unfortunately chose this vicinity for a picnic on May 5, 1945.

The odd cause of their demise was a Japanese balloon bomb.  Not something you find in Fred Meyer’s, these bombs were 70 feet tall and filled with high-explosive and incendiary devices.  Named a fugo, or “wind-ship weapon,” the first balloons were released on November 3, 1944.  The Japanese launched more than 9,000 balloon bombs, of which  the remains of 361 have been found in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.  This included one that exploded near Medford, but caused no significant damage or injuries.  According to local historian Lee Juillerat, a National Register form states that  “This particular event and site are the most recognized representation of the use of a Japanese strategic weapon against the United States during a major global war and documents the first use of an intercontinental ballistic weapon in history.”   Numerous articles about these balloon bombs may be found online using “Japanese balloon bombs” as search terms.    —-  Anne

At left, a more legible version of the poster.  The one above shows the rather attractive Spring background — greenery, flowers in bloom, etc.  If the Japanese had been shown their potential Eastern Oregon target in a picture taken at some other season, they might have abandoned the project.  From a local standpoint, the good news is that Spring is about the only high desert season in which you can be reasonably confident that it is rainwater with which the restroom has been flooded.

Another random mind-misfire — the bomb is a fugo, and I think the intoxicatingly toxic puffer fish prized by the Japanese is a fugu. Imagine bloated spiny fish raining out of American skies as a result of a Japanese military miscommunication.  Which reminds me — I was told by a former chemical warfare type that there is a minor impurity in phenolphthalein (look it up) that is an extremely potent laxative.  During WWII an Army lab is said to have isolated a substantial amount of the material, albeit with numerous episodes of downtime.  The original plan was to drop it in the Tokyo reservoir, but for some reason that was never implemented.  They probably would have had to ditch the B-29 used for the mission.

A borrowed picture of the actual monument/location

directions: From Bly travel E on Hwy 140 to Campbell Road (1210).  Turn left,
go to Forest Service Road NF 348, turn right and go about 10 miles to the Monument

Once again, we hope that we have slaked your thirst for offbeat knowledge, and equipped you to explore with pleasure and anticipation some the more remote corners of our little piece of the Northwest — Bob