Lookout Air Raids

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Lookout Air Raids
Part of the
American theater and Pacific theater of World War II

Lookout air raid schema
DateSeptember 9 and September 29, 1942
Location
Oregon Mountains, near Brookings, Pacific Ocean
Result Japanese failure to ignite
forest fires
Belligerents
 United States  Japan
Commanders and leaders
Keith V. Johnson Tagami Akiji
Nobuo Fujita
Strength
1 patrol of
fire lookouts
 Sea:
1
American Theater (WWII)

The Lookout Air Raids were minor but historic Japanese air raids that occurred in the mountains of Oregon, several miles outside Brookings during World War II.[1]

On September 9, 1942, a Japanese

forest fire. However, with the efforts of a patrol of fire lookouts[2] and weather conditions not amenable to a fire, the damage done by the attack was minor.[3] The attack was the first time the contiguous United States was bombed by an enemy aircraft.[a] It was also the second time the continental United States was attacked by enemy aircraft during World War II, the first being the bombing of Dutch Harbor
three months earlier.

Lookout Air Raids

The Japanese Submarine I-26, a sister vessel to the I-25. Note the aircraft hangar immediately forward of the conning tower.

On Wednesday morning, September 9, 1942, the

incendiary bombs of 76 kilograms (168 lb) each.[5]

Howard "Razz" Gardner spotted and reported the incoming "Glen" from his fire lookout tower on

Siskiyou National Forest
.

Although Razz did not see the bombing, he saw the smoke plume and reported the fire to the dispatch office. He was instructed to hike to the fire to see what suppression he could do. Dispatch also sent USFS Fire Lookout Keith V. Johnson from the nearby Bear Wallow Lookout Tower.[citation needed] Fujita dropped two bombs, one on Wheeler Ridge on Mount Emily in Oregon. The location of the other bomb is unknown. The Wheeler Ridge bomb started a small fire 16 km (9.9 mi) due east of Brookings.[6]

The two men proceeded to the location and were able to keep the fire under control. Only a few small scattered fires were started because the bombs were not dropped from the correct height.[

fire crew arrived to help. A recent rain storm had kept the area wet, which helped the fire lookouts contain the blaze.[citation needed
]

Aftermath

Nobuo Fujita standing by his Yokosuka E14Y "Glen" seaplane.

A full investigation was launched by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which resulted in locating several bomb fragments. The story was reported in several newspapers on September 10, 1942.[citation needed] Lieut. Gen. John L. DeWitt, the area commander announced,

The Western Defense Command is investigating the circumstances surrounding the discovery on Sept. 9 of fragments of what appears to have been an incendiary bomb. These fragments were found by personnel of the United States Forestry Service near Mt. Emily nine miles northeast of Brookings, Or. Markings of the bomb fragments indicated that the missile was of Japanese origin.[2]

The floatplane carried two bombs. Both were dropped, according to the Japanese records, but no trace has yet been found of the second bomb.[citation needed] One of the bombs left a foot-deep crater.[2] Fujita and his observer made a second attack on September 29, again causing only negligible damage.[citation needed]

Postwar

Twenty years later, Fujita was invited back to Brookings. Before he made the trip the

samurai sword to the city as a symbol of reconciliation. Fujita made a number of additional visits to Brookings, serving as an "informal ambassador of peace and friendship".[7] Impressed by his welcome in the United States, in 1985 Fujita invited three students from Brookings to Japan. During the visit of the Brookings-Harbor High School students to Japan, 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. In 1995, he moved the samurai sword from the Brookings City Hall into the new library's display case. He was made an honorary citizen of Brookings several days before his death on September 30, 1997, at the age of 85.[8]
In October 1998, his daughter, Yoriko Asakura, buried some of Fujita's ashes at the bomb site.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ As well as only the second time in history that the contiguous U.S. was bombed by someone working for a foreign power, the first being the bombing of Naco, Arizona by Patrick Murphy, although the Murphy bombing inside the U.S. was an accident.

References

  1. ^ a b Bingham, Larry (2008-10-02). "Oregon coast trail dedicated for World War II bombing". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2009-02-04.
  2. ^ a b c Jap Incendiary Sets Forest Fire. DeWitt's Announcement Hints Raider May Have Been Launched From Submarine Off Coast, Later Attacked by Patrol Planes
  3. ^ The Journal of military history, Volume 53, p. 172. Virginia Military Institute, American Military Institute, George C. Marshall Foundation, 1989
  4. ^ CBS News. Steve Hartman. A Soldier's Story: Steve Hartman Talks To An Oregon Veteran
  5. ^ Mochitsura Hashimoto (1954). Sunk.
  6. ISBN 978-0875952369
    .
  7. ^ Burel, Patty (2008-09-19). "Trail Dedication at Japanese Bombing Site Set". FS Today. Archived from the original on 2015-10-03. Retrieved 2011-09-07.
  8. New York Times
    . Retrieved 2009-03-04.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lookout Air Raids.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lookout_Air_Raids&oldid=1184591692"