19. Balloon Bomb Victims, May 5, 1945. The renovated monument ...

19. Balloon Bomb Victims, May 5, 1945.
The renovated monument commemorates the lives of
three children—Joan Patzke (13), Dick Patzke (14) and
Edward Engen (13)—killed by a Japanese balloon bomb
during a church picnic near Bly on May 5, 1945. The
three were among five children killed that day. The
explosion also killed the minister’s wife. These victims
were the only civilians killed on the U.S. mainland
during WWII. The monument also includes the grave of
the Patzke children’s brother, Jack, a young Air Corps
man killed while a German prisoner of war during World
War II.
Between November 1944 and April 1945, Japan
launched more than 9000 balloon bombs—experimental
weapons intended to kill and cause fires. The balloon
bombs were 70 feet tall with a 33-foot diameter paper
canopy connected to the main device by shroud lines.
Balloons inflated with hydrogen followed the jet stream
at an altitude of 30,000 feet. The high-explosive anti-personnel and incendiary devices were
rigged to self-destruct and leave no evidence. The Japanese hoped the bombs would start forest
fires and create panic, according to documents found after the war (Juillerat 2003, 2008).
U.S. Air Force officials estimate 1000 of these balloons reached the continent, but there were
only about 300 reported sightings, mostly on the West Coast (Burns 2012). Eventually, 361
remnants of the bombs were found in 26 states, Canada and Mexico (Juillerat 2008).
The fire balloons were mass produced in Japan mainly out of mulberry paper, which was quite
sturdy, and then glued together in several layers with a paste made from the edible knojac plant
the Japanese call konnyaku, also used to produce a flour and jelly. Young school girls were
recruited to do most of the assembly of the balloons, working long hours, yet not complaining as

everything in their country’s war effort was for Emperor Hirohito and the glory of Japan, who
they perceived, would never lose the war (Burns 2012, Sol 2008).
The configuration of the balloons included up to four or five incendiary bombs and one highexplosive
bomb. The balloons relied on an intricate ballast system as it would rise and lower
over the Jet Stream with the use of bags of sand that would drop off in set intervals until the last
bag dropped, lowering the balloon to its eventual landing and intended detonation of its
destructive payload (Burns 2012; Webber 1988).
The first bomb was spotted southwest of San Pedro, California, on November 4, 1944. On
January 4, 1945, two men working near Medford, Oregon, heard a blast, saw flames, and found a
twelve-inch-deep hole in the ground where the bomb had exploded. The U.S. Office of
Censorship asked the news media not to publish reports for fear it might cause panic (Burns
2012, Juillerat 2008).
On Saturday morning, May 5, 1945, Archie Mitchell, the pastor of the Christian and Missionary
Alliance Church in Bly, Oregon, drove his wife Elsye and five children who attended his Sunday
school on a fishing trip near Gearhart Mountain. Elyse, five months pregnant and feeling carsick,
got out with the children to walk down to Leonard Creek while Archie parked up the road (Most
2003). Mitchell later remembered: "As I got out of the car to bring the lunch, the others were not
far away and called to me they had found something that looked like a balloon. I heard of
Japanese balloons so I shouted a warning not to touch it. But just then there was a big explosion.
I ran up there—and they were all dead" (Juillerat 2008).
A stone monument to the victims was placed at the site of the explosion near Bly, Oregon
(Donnelly 2002; Most 2003). When the stone monument was dedicated on August 20, 1950,
Oregon Governor Douglas McKay said the members of the Mitchell family were casualties "just
as surely as if they had been in uniform" (Juillerat 2008). These victims were the only civilians
killed on the U.S. mainland during WWII. The site was designated on the National Register of
Historic Places in 2003.
Two years after the balloon bomb incident in Bly, Oregon, Pastor Archie Mitchell married Betty
Patzke, the older sister of victims Dick and Joan Patzke, who perished in the incident. Archie and
Betty had four children. In 1962 Archie was performing missionary work in Vietnam and was
captured with other workers by the Vietcong and was never seen again (Burns 2012; Annie and
Maxine Patzke, Personal Communications, 2010).
Jack Patzke (February 8, 1924 – April 8, 1945)
The monument also includes the grave of Jack Patzke, older brother of the Patzke children who
was killed on April 8, 1945, a few weeks before the children. He was serving with the 99 th
Bomber Group, 347 th Bomb Squadron, when his plane was shot down on April 30, 1944, near
Bologna, Italy. He was taken by the Germans as a prisoner of war and detained at Stalag Luft III
Sagan-Silesia, Bavaria. In the winter of 1945, along with 10,000 other prisoners, he was forced
on a 200-mile march to Nuremberg. He was killed while trying to escape during the march; his
death was reported on April 8, 1945 (KCM n.d.). Jack’s body was shipped home in 1950 and he
was buried at Linkville Cemetery (Annie and Maxine Patzke, Personal Communication, 2010).

Cemetery Monument Restoration
In 2010, the Klamath Falls City Parks and Cemetery Division totally restored the monument,
which was funded in part by a grant from the Oregon Commission on Historic Cemeteries (Hay
and Budy 2010). The original concrete cover was broken and collapsed by shrubs edging the
monument. The children’s photo plaques had been defaced by vandals. City Parks’ staff removed
the shrubs; contractors replaced the concrete cover and reset the monuments. Maxine and Annie
Patzke provided family information and guidance throughout the restoration as well as
replacement photos for the children’s marker. Finally, a special dedication of the restored
monument was held on September 11, 2010 (Herald and News February 17, September 9, and
September 19, 2010).
Sources
Burns, Bridget. (2012). “Fu-Go: Fire from the Sky.” Paper presented at the State of Jefferson
Meetings in Klamath Falls, Oregon, May 3, 2012.
Donnelly, Robert. (2002). “War Memorial, Lake County.” The Oregon History Project: Oregon
Historical Society. Available online at www.ohs.org/.
Hay, Ken, and Elizabeth Budy. 2010. Final Project Report for the Historic Cemetery Grant. CG-
09-12. Submitted to the Oregon Commission on Historic Cemeteries, Salem, Oregon.
Juillerat, Lee. (2003). "Mitchell Monument: A Place Remembered." Service & Sacrifice:
Klamath Basin Life Through Two World Wars. Journal of the Shaw Historical Library,
Vol. 17.
Juillerat, Lee. (2008). “Balloon Bombs.” The Oregon Encyclopedia. Available online at
http://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/entry/view/balloon_bombs/
Klamath County Museum (KCM). (n.d.). “Killed in Action and Missing in Action Files. On file
Klamath County Museum, Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Most, Stephen. (2003). “Death by Balloon Bomb.” The Oregon History Project: Oregon Historical Society.
Available online at www.ohs.org/.
Sol, Ilana. (2008). On Paper Wings. Film. Portland, Ore.: Ilana Sol, 2008.
http://www.onpaperwingsthemovie.com/index.html.
Webber, Bert. (1988). Silent Siege-II: Japanese Attacks on North America in World War II.
Webb Research Group. Medford, Oregon.
Newspapers
"Blast Kills 6, Five Children, Pastor's Wife in Explosion: Fishing Jaunt Proves Fatal to Bly
Residents," Klamath Falls Herald and News, 7 May 1945, page 1.
“Grave Issues at Linkville Cemetery,” Herald and News, Wednesday, February 17, 2010.
“Restoring History at the Linkville Cemetery: Volunteers, City, Grants Help Fix Historic
Klamath Falls Graveyard,” Herald and News, Thursday, September 9, 2010.
“Monument Dedicated at Linkville Cemetery,” Herald and News, Sunday, September 19, 2010.
Personal Communications
Annie and Maxine Patzke, Personal Communications, 2010.

Compiled by Bridget Burns and Elizabeth Budy 2013