9. Fu-Go’s Sole Casualties
On May 5th, 1945, Reverend Archie Mitchell of Bly, Oregon, decided to take advantage of the nice spring weather by organizing an impromptu picnic. So he took five children from his Sunday school class to a picnic area in nearby Gearhart Mountain. His wife, Elyse Winters Mitchell, five months pregnant with the couple’s first child, decided to accompany her husband.
Upon arrival, Mitchell began unloading the lunches from his car, when one of the kids spotted a strange white canvas on the floor. Elyse called out: “Look what we found. It looks like some kind of balloon“. Mitchell turned around and saw the kids and his wife gathered in a tight circle around the oddity, about 50 yards away. He remembered warnings he had heard on the radio, and opened his mouth to warn against touching the balloon, but it was too late. A huge explosion rocked the mountainside, instantly killing Elyse, her unborn child, and the five kids. They were the sole casualties of the Fu-Go Operation.
