The Fire Balloons released from the Japanese mainland resulted in the only deaths in the US attributed to the enemy. A balloon had landed near Klamath Falls, OR, was found by a group of students and their teacher. Five students and 1 adult were killed when the explosives detonated.
In all, the Japanese released an estimated 9,000 fire balloons. At least 342 reached the United States. Some drifted as far as Nebraska. Some were shot down.There were also two aircraft bombings in Oregon near Brookings, neither one having much effect. A light bomber was carried by submarine to the Oregon Coast, dropped two incendiary bombs inland hoping to start a wildfire, but the forest was damp and the winds light, and fire crews suppressed the fires.
Some caused minor damage when they landed, but no injuries. One hit a power line and temporarily blacked out the nuclear-weapons plant at Hanford, Washington.
But the only known casualties from the 9,000 balllons — and the only combat deaths from any cause on the U.S. mainland — were the five kids and their Sunday school teacher going to a picnic.
On the ground, forest service lookout Howard Gardner heard what sounded to be a Model A Ford backfiring when the bomb hit. He scanned the foggy skies and caught a glimpse of the retreating airplane. When he called the ranger station to report it, the operator who received the call assumed it was just a patrol plane that had spooked the lookout. But when the fog lifted Gardner saw smoke. He called for help then set off towards the fire, which he assumed was a remnant from a lightning strike fire that had sparked the previous day. What he and his men found was a smoldering fire covering a circular area 50 to 75 feet across. They quickly got the fire under control and found a crater about three feet in diameter and about one foot deep at the centre of the site. Inside was evidence of intense heat, hot enough to fuse earth and rocks.
Further investigation determined that a bomb had struck a fir tree. The bomb’s fin had sheared an oak tree. Fragments were scattered over an are 100 feet in diameter. It was clearly a bomb, though the men at the scene assumed it had been dropped accidentally by an American crew. Not until the bomb’s nose cone as well as a casing fragment was found the next day with Japanese markings did it become clear that this had actually been an enemy strike.Also, the same submarine that was involved in the shelling had earlier in the war managed to shell a US military facility at the mouth of the Columbia River.
The only attack on a mainland American military site during World War II occurred on June 21, 1942, on the Oregon coastline. After trailing American fishing vessels to bypass minefields, the Japanese submarine I-25 made its way to the mouth of the Columbia River. It surfaced near Fort Stevens, an antiquated Army base that dated back to the Civil War. Just before midnight, I-25 used its 140-millimeter deck gun to fire 17 shells at the fort. Believing that the muzzle flashes of the fort’s guns would only serve to more clearly reveal their position, the commander of Fort Stevens ordered his men not to return fire. The plan worked, and the bombardment was almost totally unsuccessful—a nearby baseball field bore the brunt of the damage.
