[Grovenet] Embalmed Whale and things that go "boom" (WAS: Peace in Iraq/WWII plans)

Sat Oct 7 16:37:03 PDT 2006

Ha, ha! I've heard of that embalmed whale too, but I've never seen any
references to its current location. 

That story about the children being killed by the bomb may be the one I'm
thinking of. I might be mixing up two accounts, so I'm not sure, but I've
seen pictures of a balloon device that was found by people on a picnic
including a bunch of kids, and I thought that was the one that went off when
it was disturbed. 

Back in the 'Nam days, we dropped devices with explosives that weren't
triggered until the device was disturbed. The fuse was armed by the impact
with the earth, then, if  it was disturbed (i.e. found by someone and
moved), a timing device was activated that set of the explosives about an
hour or so later - time enough for it to get to a shop where a bunch of VC
would be looking it over. 

They weren't designed as anti-personnel devices. They were monitors that
radioed back the movements of people and equipment nearby. The
anti-personnel idea was to make it nearly impossible for the VC to
disassemble one and figure out exactly what it did. But we dropped a huge
number of them in the jungles and it's sure not all of them were found, not
yet anyway. They are still there, intriguing devices just waiting for
someone to take one home...

I saw a fictional TV drama - one of the JAG series - about a Naval officer
visiting a forward site in Iraq during Gulf War I (I think it was) and being
warned to stay on the road because the surrounding fields had not yet been
cleared of mines. As he was walking along he saw a child playing in the
mined area and shouted at the child to stay put and not move. The kid looked
up at him and then started to walk toward him. Afraid for the child, the
officer went into the field to stop the child and stepped on a mine. The
officer survived, minus one leg, only to learn that the child knew very well
that the field was mined. He had watched it done and knew exactly where
every mine was. 

That story was fiction, but it had a ring of bitter truth to it about such
devices: we're lucky to live in a country where we don't have to be afraid
to take a step off of a known path, or where we have to be suspicious of
every piece of rusty pipe or odd-looking rock we come across. 

Ron D'Eau Claire 

-----Original Message-----
From: grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com [mailto:grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com] On
Behalf Of Steven
Sent: Saturday, October 07, 2006 10:28 AM
To: Forest Grove local interests list
Subject: Re: [Grovenet] Peace in Iraq/WWII plans

I remember in the '70 reading an article in a hiking mag about a japzero
that was found on an island in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. That's why I did
a search. But I can find no google hits.

Other odd stuff I can't find. Somewhere in Oregon is an embalmed whale.
Thing had gotten into the Willamette about 1900 and became an attraction.
When it died, it was preserved. But eventually became not profitable and was
dumped out somewhere. But I digress.

Here's another quote:
And 90-year-old Jack Smith, '39, still oversees a 300-acre tree farm. He was
Yamhill County Tree Farmer of the Year in 2003. Smith delighted classmates
with tales of his days with the Forest Service in Southern Oregon. He helped
lead rescue operations when a Japanese bomb killed six children in 1945 near
Gearhart Mountain and also led a search for victims of a plane crash in
1947, which killed Oregon Gov. Earl Snell, along with the attorney general
and state senate president.

And you might like this list. http://www.ww2pacific.com/attacks.html

> -----Original Message-----
> From: grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com [mailto:grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com]On
> Behalf Of Ron D'Eau Claire
> Sent: Saturday, October 07, 2006 10:14 AM
> To: 'Forest Grove local interests list'
> Subject: Re: [Grovenet] Peace in Iraq/WWII plans
>
>
> Those are great links Steven. Thanks.
>
> Here are more pictures of the "Vengeance Balloons":
>
> http://web.umr.edu/~rogersda/forensic_geology/Japenese%20vengenanc
> e%20bombs%
> 20new.htm
>
> I don't think I've ever heard about the aircraft attacks! I've read 
> about their experiments with stowing a seaplane on a submarine but 
> didn't realize they had tried to use it against the mainland USA.
>
> The shelling of the oil refinery I was thinking of is called the 
> Elwood Incident and is described here:
>
> http://www.militarymuseum.org/Ellwood.html
>
> Ron D'Eau Claire
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com [mailto:grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com] 
> On Behalf Of Steven
> Sent: Saturday, October 07, 2006 9:46 AM
> To: Forest Grove local interests list
> Subject: Re: [Grovenet] Peace in Iraq/WWII plans
>
>
> Here are some links http://www.outwestnewspaper.com/bomboregon.html
> On August 15, 1942, Fujita boarded a 1950-ton Japanese submarine for 
> the trip to the American shore. Stored on-board the small sub was a 
> single-engine airplane which would transport him and his navigator 
> Yukio Okudaon their daring raid.
>
> By early September, the ship had reached its planned position off the 
> Oregon coast. Every morning for days thereafter, the periscope would 
> be raised only
> to reveal weather too foul to fly in. Dejected, Fujita would
> retreat to his
> room to wait for the next day.
>
> http://www.historynet.com/magazines/aviation_history/3037331.html
> Most Americans probably believe that continental United States has 
> never been bombed. The relative isolation of America, plus the 
> defensive strengths of its Air Force and Navy, have supposedly 
> eliminated such a threat. But is
> that really true? The answer is no--America has been bombed from the air,
> not once but twice. These little-publicized events took place in September
> 1942, and the attacker was an aircraft launched from a submarine of the
> Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN).
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balloon_bomb
> The bombs actually caused little damage, but their potential for 
> destruction and fires was large. The bombs also had a potential 
> psychological effect on
> the American people. The U.S. strategy was to not let Japan know of the
> balloon bombs' effectiveness. Cooperating with the desires of the
> government, the press did not publish any balloon bomb incidents. As a
> result, the Japanese only learned of one bomb reaching Wyoming,
> landing and
> failing to explode, so they stopped the launches after less than
> six months.
>
> http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tips/getAttraction.php3?tip_Attract
ionNo==104
2
In the mountains east of Brookings, Oregon, you can hike a trail and see
where a Japanese bomb landed during WWII. There were no people there then,
and there aren't any now, on 1/7/00. [Janebird, 01/08/2000] (Japanese Bombed
Here: Brookings, OR Directions: From South Bank Rd., six miles on Wheeler
Creek Rd. to east side of Mt. Emily, the hiking trail extends one-half mile
to the top -- may be called the Bombsite Trail. )

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