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That time in World War II when Japan used a hot air balloon to bomb Oregon and kill six people.

Japanese balloon, Fu-Go, left center, in flight prior to landing at an unknown location

It may surprise you to find that there were actually six civilian casualties in the 48 states 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. They are the only World War II U.S. combat casualties in the contiguous 48 states.  Up until their deaths, U.S. officials kept news of the deadly weaponized balloons from the public to avoid panic. Today we know the Japanese launched an all-out assault on the United States using thousands of deadly Japanese Fu-Go balloons.

The death of Elyse and five children in Oregon

Family photo of Elsye Mitchell

On May 5, 1945, as the United States and Japan were locked in the final stages of World War II, Reverend Archie Mitchell and his wife were driving five young teenage students to a Saturday afternoon picnic. They were driving the muddy dirt roads through the Ponderosa pine forest on Gearhart Mountain when Elyse Mitchell, who was pregnant, became car sick. Mitch pulled to the side of the road and waited until Elyse began feeling better. As they stood by the car on the side of the road, Mitch began talking to a road crew who were attempting to free a road grader stuck in the mud. As he talked, Elyse and the students walked down the hill, checking out the beautiful, wooded scenery.

From the seat on his road grader, Richard “Jumbo” Barnhouse could see Elyse and the children pointing at something on the ground. Elyse and the students were about a hundred yards from the car when she shouted back, “Look what I found, dear!”

One of the road-crew workers described what happened next.

“There was a terrible explosion. Twigs flew through the air, pine needles began to fall, dead branches and dust, and dead logs went up.”

The minister and the road crew ran down the hill towards the sound of the explosion. At the bottom of the hill, they found Jay Gifford, Edward Engen, Sherman Shoemaker, Dick Patzke and Elyse were all dead, strewn around a large hole in the ground. Elyse’s dress was on fire and Dick Patzke’s sister Joan was barely alive (she died minutes later).

City of Gustav newspaper headline - Bly scene of only deaths in US caused by enemy

The road crew sought help from a nearby ranger station. When paramedics arrived, they found six bloodied bodies near a deflated white paper balloon that was partially buried under a snowdrift. The six (plus Elyse’s unborn baby) had become the first (and only) combat deaths on the U.S. mainland.

Elyse and the children were victims of Japan’s Fu-Go (fire balloon) campaign which used 33-foot hydrogen-filled balloons designed to travel across the Pacific to North America where they would drop incendiary devices and anti-personnel explosives on unsuspecting citizens. At the time, the strikes on North America were the longest ranged attacks ever conducted in the history of warfare (a record that was held until 1982).

The Japanese Fire Balloon campaign

The balloons were constructed of rubberized-silk (later made of washi paper) and used barometer-assisted valves to release hydrogen to make the balloon fall or drop sandbags if it lost too much altitude. Each balloon carried over 1,000 pounds of gear and explosives.

In all, the Japanese released over 9,300 fire balloons with hopes that about 10% would reach the mainland. At least 342 were proven to have reached the mainland United States drifting as far as Nebraska. It is believed many more landed in unpopulated rural areas.

The US government’s dirty little secret

The U.S. government knew the balloons were coming. On November 4, 1944, a United States Navy patrol craft discovered one of the first fire balloons floating off San Pedro, Los Angeles. Later more were found in Wyoming and Montana. However, officials didn’t want to panic the public nor let the Japanese know the balloons were reaching the mainland. The Office of Censorship sent a message to newspapers and radio stations asking them to make no mention of the balloons and balloon-bomb incidents. After the deaths of Elyse and the children, citizens were finally told to watch out for balloon bombs.

Hundreds of dangerous fire balloons land throughout the United States

Japanese fire balloons shot down near Attu in the Aleutians shown on gun cameras
Japanese fire balloons shot down near Attu in the Aleutians shown on gun cameras. P-38 in lower right frame.

In all, the balloons arrived in Oregon, Kansas, Iowa, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta, the Yukon, Northwest Territories, Washington, Idaho, South Dakota, Nevada. In Nevada, one landed near Yerington and was discovered by cowboys who cut it up and used it as a hay tarp. Another was found by a prospector near Elko who delivered it to local authorities on the back of a donkey. A P-38 Lightning shot one of the balloons out of the air near Santa Monica and bits of washi paper were found scattered in the streets of Los Angeles.

On February 1, 1945, a Japanese bombing balloon was spotted by several local residents drifting over the Trinity National Forest area and slowly falling towards the ground. No one knew what it was, but an alert forest ranger called the military authorities and reported it. Meanwhile, the balloon came to rest atop a 60-foot dead fir tree in the forest near a local road. In the next few hours, several people gathered in the area to gaze up at the strange object.

Japanese bomb-carrying paper balloon in air over North America July 2, 1945

Shortly after dark there was a tremendous blast. The balloon’s gas bag disappeared in a fireball and the balloon’s undercarriage came crashing to the ground. Fortunately, no one was hurt. Forest rangers kept the curious far away from the fallen debris until Army personnel could arrive and contain the situation.

Upon examination, it was found to be a Japanese bombing balloon with four incendiary bombs and one high explosive bomb still attached. It later proved to be one of the most intact bombing balloons yet to fall into American hands. Locals who witnessed the event were told what the device was, the danger it presented, and were asked to keep secret what they had seen

Ironically, on March 10, 1945, one of the last paper balloons descended in the vicinity of the Manhattan Project’s production facility at the Hanford Site. This balloon entangled in nearby power lines, which supplied electricity for the nuclear reactor cooling pumps, and shorted out the circuits. Backup safety devices restored power almost immediately and the plant continued to produce the plutonium for the bombs that the USA would soon drop on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Aftermath

That last balloon-bomb was discovered in October 2014 in Lumby, British Columbia. A Royal Canadian Navy ordnance disposal team detonated the device.

Elyse Mitchell is buried in the Ocean View Cemetery in Port Angeles, Washington. A memorial, the Mitchell Monument, is located at the point of the explosion, sixty-eight miles northeast of Klamath Falls in the Mitchell Recreation Area.

Additional information

The six (plus Elyse’s unborn baby) victims – the only combat deaths on the U.S. mainland

Mrs. Elsie Mitchell……….. Age 26

Jay Gifford………………….. Age 13

Edward Engen …………….. Age 13

Dick Patzke…………………. Age 14

Joan Patzke…………………. Age 13

Sherman Shoemaker…….. Age 11

Pictorial gallery

Check out pictures of the Japanese Fire Balloons in the pictorial gallery below.

1945 Memorandum to Oregon’s Governor Snell regarding the Fu-Go balloons

January 13, 1945
MEMORANDUM TO GOVERNOR SNELL:

During the course of the afternoon of Wednesday, January 10, a number of reports of Japanese balloons reached the military authorities. The first report involved the Alsea area and occurred shortly after noon. The second report came from residents in the area between Harrisburg and Coburg. The third report can from a State Police officer who apparently sighted the balloon in the vicinity of Cheshire. The fourth report came from the vicinity of Sutherlin. The fifth and most interesting and important, from the standpoint of the military authorities involved the pilot of a Grumman fighter from the Marine Base at Klamath Falls who reported to his base that he had sighted a balloon, was flying along side of the balloon, had taken pictures and intended to shoot it down.

This occurred at an altitude of 28,000 feet and when the attempt was made to shoot the balloon down the pilot found that his guns had frozen. By diving on the balloon from above, the pilot was able to bring the balloon down to an altitude of approximately 8,000 feet where he was joined by a non-combat ship from the same base. Many more pictures of the balloon were taken by this latter craft from all angles and the pilots reported that they had brought the balloon down, from an altitude of 6,000 feet by what they described as a “squeeze play”.

The general area in which the balloon finally came to earth is described as in the area of Alturas, California. Search parties are in the area and it is expected that they will be able to recover the entire assembly. Previous incidents have not permitted complete recovery of all parts of the balloons because of the activation of the explosives which are part of the assembly and for this reason the Klamath Falls incident is looked forward to with great expectation by the military.

Respectfully submitted,
Jack A. Hayes, Acting Administrator

Image Credits

In-Article Image Credits

City of Gustav newspaper headline - Bly scene of only deaths in US caused by enemy via Can you Hear Me with usage type - Public Domain
Japanese schoolgirls were conscripted to make the balloons via Smithsonian Magazine by Robert Mikesh Collection, National Museum of the Pacific War with usage type - Public Domain
Family photo of Elsye Mitchell via Smithsonian Magazine by On Paper Wings with usage type - Public Domain
A Japanese fire balloon filled with gas via Smithsonian Magazine by Robert Mikesh Collection, National Museum of the Pacific War with usage type - Public Domain
Details of one of the bombs found by the U.S. military via Smithsonian Magazine by Robert Mikesh Collection, National Museum of the Pacific War with usage type - Public Domain
Japanese fire war balloon via Wikipedia Commons by Department of the Interior. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Aberdeen Area Office. Cheyenne River Agency. with usage type - Public Domain. 1945
Japanese war balloon via Wikipedia Commons by Department of the Interior. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Aberdeen Area Office. Cheyenne River Agency with usage type - Public Domain. 1945
Japanese fire balloon recovered in Oregon via Atomic Heritage Foundation with usage type - Public Domain
Japanese bomb-carrying paper balloon in air over North America July 2, 1945 via Business Insider with usage type - Public Domain. July 2, 1945
Japanese fire balloons shot down near Attu in the Aleutians shown on gun cameras via Wikipedia Commons with usage type - Public Domain. April 11, 1945
Japanese balloon, Fu-Go. Aerial photograph of Japanese balloon taken by a pursuing Bell P-63 “Kingcobra” aircraft via Wikipedia Commons by National Museum of the U.S. Navy with usage type - Public Domain. Received February 8, 1946 from HQ. Fourth Air Force, San Francisco, California. U.S. Army Air Corps (Air Force) photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
Japanese balloon, Fu-Go, left center, in flight prior to landing at an unknown location via Wikipedia Commons by National Museum of the U.S. Navy with usage type - Public Domain. Received February 8, 1946 from HQ. Fourth Air Force, San Francisco, California. U.S. Army Air Corps (Air Force) photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
Men chop down a tree to get a Japanese balloon, Nixon, Nevada, March 29, 1945 via Wikipedia Commons by National Museum of the U.S. Navy with usage type - Public Domain. Print received August 1945 from Publications Sec., AC/AS, Intelligence. Used in August 1945 issue of Impact. Copied August 27, 1945. U.S. Army Air Corps (Air Force) photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
Japanese balloon, Fu-Go, with bombs attached was found near Bigelow, Kansas, February 23, 1945 via Wikipedia Commons by National Museum of the U.S. Navy with usage type - Public Domain. Print received August 1945 from Publications Sec., AC/AS, Intelligence. Used in August 1945 issue of Impact. Copied August 27, 1945. U.S. Army Air Corps (Air Force) photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
Captured Japanese fire balloon inflated at a California base via Atomic Heritage Foundation with usage type - Public Domain
Japanese balloon Fu-Go demolition block tin container via Wikipedia Commons by National Museum of the U.S. Navy with usage type - Public Domain. February 8, 1946
Japanese rubberized balloon recovered from sea. U.S. Army Air Corps via Wikipedia Commons by National Museum of the U.S. Navy with usage type - Public Domain
An exploding fuse releases a sandbag from a "chandelier" on a Japanese Fu-Go balloon bomb via Business Insider by US Army Air Corps with usage type - Public Domain
Japanese balloons, Fu-Go, found in California with weight release mechanism via Wikipedia Commons by National Museum of the U.S. Navy with usage type - Public Domain
Japanese fire balloon reinflated at Moffett Field, CA after shot down via Wikipedia Commons by US Army with usage type - Public Domain. January 10, 1945

Featured Image Credit

Japanese balloon, Fu-Go, left center, in flight prior to landing at an unknown location via Wikipedia Commons by National Museum of the U.S. Navy with usage type - Public Domain. Received February 8, 1946 from HQ. Fourth Air Force, San Francisco, California. U.S. Army Air Corps (Air Force) photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

 

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