Bomb Scare
During the battle that took place here in WWII the island of Roi-Namur was peppered with bombs and ammunition. Many of them did not immediately explode and are still present on the island. Residents here are warned never to touch any they happen to find and if they do see some to contact the authorities who will safely dispose of it. Last week an incident took place that could have proved fatal. Here is the story as it was told to me by the police lieutenant here.
A Marshallese child was playing in the jungle on Namur and found a mortar shell that had not exploded yet. He decided to carry it back for others to see. An American woman working here saw him and told him to call the police but did not do anything about it. Next, a Marshallese man saw the boy and took the shell away from him and carried it onto the island bus. There is some conflict in the story because I also heard that the child carried the shell onto the bus. Once on the bus, an American man saw the bomb and took it away from the man or the child depending on who told the story to me. This American should have known to stop the bus immediately and have everyone evacuate. Instead he rode with it on the bus to the most heavily populated area of the island. He got off the bus at the cafeteria and carried the shell into the cafeteria where he handed it to a group of firemen dining there. Finally, the firemen exhibited some common sense and carried the bomb outside and set it down and called the police. The police immediately evacuated the area and called the bomb squad on Kwajalein. This proved disastrous for my lunchtime plans as I arrived right about that time and was told I could not eat at the cafeteria. Fortunately the snack bar was open so I was still able to get some nourishment (if you call a hamburger and fries nutritious). It took the bomb squad some time to fly up here. We went back to work and had almost forgot about the incident when about 3:45 or so we heard an explosion and felt the building shake. Some of the workers thought a transformer had blown and started shutting down systems. It occurred to me that it was the bomb squad detonating the shell. That proved to be what happened. They carried it back over to Namur where our office is and exploded it on the beach. We all thought some notification might have been in order. When I think back to them carrying the shell on the bus and the women and children who could have died when it exploded I almost feel sick. It is a scary thought. But thank God no one was hurt and perhaps people learned a lesson. They have since put up signs warning people not to pick up things that could explode and kill them. That is also one of the things they cover during the introduction sessions they have here for new employees. I picked up something that could sting me yesterday but I’ll leave that for my next story.
One Response to “Bomb Scare”
 Comment by Leroy Huber Jr. October 24th, 2007 at 7:35 pm |
I remember that day quite well. as I rode in from work from the WWTP om the SW of Roi Island where I was working at the time as its only (Manager, operator, lab tech, sludge shoveler) etc. As I ws leisurely cruising up around Speedball area, I saw that the only thing between me and the Roi Dining Hall was a wide expanse of yellow ribbon stating “Do Not Cross”. So I rode up on my Blue Sun Cruiser where two fireman were sitting in the Roi Fire Pumper Truck. They were keeping a vigilant watch on the area so no one who would enter the perimeter and disturb the motar shell. They spoke to me for a while about a whole 10 minutes of explaining the situtation and how The ” Downtown Area of Roi Namur” would be shut down until 4:00 PM or so I thought . I shook my head in amazement and pondered on the stupidilty of the driver of the bus who should of evacuated everybody . and rode onwards to my BQ to get some rations I stored in my fridge just in case . I dont remember anything that was slighlty interesting after that happening on Roi, except for the EQUIS ll missons in August - October of 2004. That is the only excitement I ever recalled on Roi Namur. |