above the Klamath River (and is the Onion Mountain mentioned in regard to the Patterson alleged bigfoot film in Bluff Creek). My father was in Europe.
When Six Americans Were Killed By a ‘Balloon Bomb’
A balloon used for warfare by the Japanese resulted in the only Americans to die on U.S. soil from enemy action in during World War II.
May 5, 2022, marks the 77th anniversary of the deaths of six Americans, the only Americans to die on U.S. soil from enemy action in World War II. They were killed by a Japanese Fu-Go, also known as a balloon bomb.
Fear, Panic and Forest Fires
In 1944, the Japanese military tried to instill panic in the U.S. by launching thousands of bombs carried across the Pacific by means of hydrogen-filled balloons. The bombs were designed primarily as incendiary devices. The target was the forests of the Pacific Northwest. Because they were made of paper, it was believed the balloon bombs would explode and burn, leaving no trace. According to Japanese documentation, it was thought the fires would pull resources away from the military and the stealthy nature of the balloon bombs would unnerve and terrify the populace.
https://www.flyingmag.com/when-six-americans-were-killed-by-a-balloon-bomb/
Nobuo Fujita
Nobuo Fujita (藤田 信雄, Fujita Nobuo) (1911 – 30 September 1997) was a Japanese naval aviator and warrant flying officer of the Imperial Japanese Navy who flew a floatplane from the long-range submarine aircraft carrier I-25 and conducted the Lookout Air Raids in southern Oregon on September 9, 1942, making him the only Axis pilot during World War II to aerial bomb the contiguous United States.[1][2][3] Using incendiary bombs, his mission was to start massive forest fires in the Pacific Northwest near the city of Brookings, Oregon with the objective of drawing the U.S. military's resources away from the Pacific Theater. The strategy was also later used in the Japanese fire balloon campaign.
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Later life
Fujita continued as an Imperial Japanese Navy pilot, mainly in reconnaissance duties, until 1944, when he was transferred to the training of kamikaze pilots. After the war he opened a hardware store in Ibaraki Prefecture, and later worked at a company making wire.[4]
Fujita was invited to Brookings in 1962, after the Japanese government was assured he would not be tried as a war criminal. He gave the City of Brookings his family's 400-year-old katana in friendship. Ashamed of his actions during the war, Fujita had intended to use the sword to commit seppuku if he were given a hostile reception.[4] However, the town treated him with respect and affection, although his visit still raised some controversy.[8]
Impressed by his welcome in the United States, during his visit, he promised to invite Brookings students to Japan. Despite the bankruptcy of his company, Fujita made good on his promise by co-sponsoring the visit of three female students from Brookings-Harbor High School to Japan in 1985.[9][10] During the visit, Fujita received a dedicatory letter from an aide of President Ronald Reagan "with admiration for your kindness and generosity."
Fujita returned to Brookings in 1990, 1992, and 1995. In 1992, he planted a tree at the bomb site as a gesture of peace.[11] In 1995, he moved the samurai sword from the Brookings City Hall into the new library's display case. Fujita helped to gather money to build the library.[12]
He was made an honorary citizen of Brookings several days before his death at a hospital in Tsuchiura, Ibaraki Prefecture, on September 30, 1997, at the age of 85.[13] In October 1998, his daughter, Yoriko Asakura, buried some of Fujita's ashes at the bomb site.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobuo_Fujita
Excuse me for going over the 4 paragraph limit but this is such a good tale, but it is wiki and made this dying old man cry.
