Petaluma Bombing Target Archive Search Report ... - Corpsfuds.org

ARCHIVES SEARCH REPORT – FINDINGS
Petaluma 12th Naval District Target No. 9
Petaluma, CA
5. Tracking their progress with a GPS unit 1 , the team found the weathered wooden
remains of the footbridge across the Mira Monte Slough at the location visible on the
aerial imagery of the site from 1945. Mr. Sipes remained with the boat as the ASR team
traversed across the marsh lands, which were generally solid. Based on imagery analysis
the target lay about 1,000 feet to the ESE from the footbridge. The team was able to
follow a wooden plank walkway part of the way through the marsh to the target.
Although it approximated the path on aerial imagery, it was unclear if these were the
remains of the Navy’s path or a reconstruction by duck hunters. The team came across at
least half a dozen duck blinds in the area around the target center.
6. The target remains were partially located within an area of pooled water that appears
to be essentially the same as in the 1940s. The remains were found within a couple
hundred feet of the location as identified on aerial imagery. The team located weathered
wooden posts in the water arranged in a circular manner. These weathered posts are
ostensibly from the 100-foot diameter boardwalk ringing the target, which were visible
on aerial imagery. The team traversed both sides of the water body and along it’s edges,
but did not find any trace of OE debris. The low-lying vegetation of the marsh partially
obscured the ground but it appears that all OE evidence must be beneath the surface. The
team did observe a number of small (less than 5 feet across) and shallow (less than 1-2
feet deep) pools of standing water around the perimeter of the target. They appeared
1 Target feature coordinates were determined using georeferenced historic aerial imagery. The resulting
waypoints were uploaded into a Garmin Etrex Legend GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver using
mapping datum WGS 1984
Appendix L – Site Safety and Health Plan / Site Inspection Report
Page 2 - Site Safety Inspection Report