A Fateful Picnic in Bly
On May 5, 1945, Elsye Mitchell, pregnant with her first child, joined her husband, Rev. Archie Mitchell, and five Sunday school children for a picnic near Gearhart Mountain, Oregon. While Archie parked the car, Elsye and the children stumbled upon a strange object. Moments later, it exploded, killing Elsye, her unborn child, and the children: Eddie Engen, Jay Gifford, Sherman Shoemaker, Dick Patzke, and Joan Patzke.
Japan’s Secret Weapon
The explosion was caused by a Japanese balloon bomb, part of a campaign to deliver explosives to the U.S. via the jet stream. Constructed by schoolgirls using paper and paste, the balloons carried bombs meant to spark forest fires and terror. Of the 9,000 launched, about 1,000 reached North America.
The Silence and Aftermath
Government censorship had suppressed warnings about the bombs, making this the only known fatal attack on U.S. soil during World War II. Families in Bly endured grief compounded by skepticism about their tragedy. Decades later, Japanese women who had helped make the balloons sent 1,000 paper cranes as a gesture of regret.
On May 5, 1945, a Sunday school picnic in Bly, Oregon, ended in tragedy when a Japanese balloon bomb exploded, killing Elsye Mitchell, her unborn child, and five children. This marked the only civilian deaths by enemy weapons on U.S. soil during World War II. 🧵1/3 pic.twitter.com/MW0RfqaSkH
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