Balloon Bomb - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

Figure 85. The Mitchell Recreation Area was established on 20 August 1950, one year
after reparations were paid by our government to the next of kin of the casualties.
Figure 86. The bronze plaque inscription reads:
"Dedicated/ to those/ who died here/ May 5, 1945/ by/
Japanese/ bomb explosion." Following the list of six
names, it continues: "The only place/ on the/ American
continent/ where death resulted/ from enemy action/
during World War II.'"
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War II. In May 1949, the Senate Judiciary Committee
approved a House-passed bill to pay $20,000 to the
bereaved families. The bill, first introduced by Representative
William Lemke, Republican, North Dakota,
granted $5,000 to the widower of Mrs. Mitchell, and
$3,000 to the parents of each of the children.
Senator Guy Gordon, Republican, Oregon, and other
proponents of the measure said that the public had not
been warned of the danger from the airborne bombs,
although the armed services knew that several had
reached this country.
The Weyerhaeuser Company, of Klamath Falls,
Oregon, established the historic spot as a patriotic
shrine, to be known as the Mitchell Recreation area. The
dedication centered around a native-stone monument
bearing a bronze plaque with the names of the victims.
Other developments included outdoor fireplaces, appropriate
signs for the memorial, and a protective iron
fence around the site of the tragedy and monument.
Thus, the United States paid another lasting tribute to
its war dead.