Weekend Warriors BEWARE:
 Even
today, thousands of WWII vintage munitions remain "deadly"
Still functional "booby traps,"
hidden landmines and unexploded shell casings are among the many surprises
MIA specialists contend with.
by Marauder Joel Rex, Training Instructor, U.S.
Army Hazardous Devise School, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama
Tropical breezes and the open seas. Seemingly endless natural
beauty and the lure of distant islands. The wondrous feeling we experience when
giving the gift of closure to a family who once sacrificed a loved one to gain
the bounty of joys that freedom brings to each of us today.
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Journeying to the far-flung battlefields of the Pacific can be a
very fulfilling experience.
But heed a word of advice: there is an element of man-made
danger lurking in the lush jungles once you step off the
tourist's beaten path – a danger more malevolent than Mother Nature's
predators.
For MIA hunters like me and
my Marauder teammates, this danger is a man-eater, thirsting for one of
us to make that fateful wrong move so it can tear us all limb from limb.
Unexploded Military Ordnance.
In the
hunt for MIAs throughout the Pacific, it is common to chance upon a vast
array of unexploded, vintage munitions and
projectiles. |
Marauder Matt
Christiansen (out of picture) in the process of disarming this WWII vintage Japanese
type JE Anti-boat mine.
It
weighs 106.5 lbs and has 46.5 lbs of type 98 explosive filler inside.
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Some were manufactured by the U.S. and
Allied countries. But the majority that we find today -- still strewn across
20th Century Pacific battlefields by the tens of thousands – are those expended
by Japan. Late in World War II, that nation was desperately lacking in natural
resources – including the chemicals needed to stabilize explosive compounds.
“Japan would reduce the amount of stabilizing
additives packed into one explosive in hopes of manufacturing two or
three more at a reduced cost. This practice made all Japanese
explosives hard to handle 60 years ago -- and even more dangerous to handle
today.”
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Stash of unexploded
Japanese mortar shells found in a cave in the Marianas Islands. The cave
was a former Japanese defensive stronghold.
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The majority of Imperial Japan's munitions are grossly unstable.
Wartime Japanese military ordnance manufacturers also used an
acid-based explosive that, with time, degrades into a kind of salt known
as "picrates".
These salts are extremely sensitive. The slightest jar or even the
abrupt change in altitude caused by picking them up then suddenly can be
enough to detonate their explosion.
Even
if you have disciplined yourself not to react with excitement when you
find a unique piece of ordnance in the jungle, there are still many
unforeseen dangers. |
Pins that once allowed grenades to be transported
by a soldier in the field have, with time, rusted away, making the once-safe
weapon into a lethal booby trap just waiting for someone to mistake it for a
fallen fruit or a stone and kick it out of the way.
Many larger Japanese exploding devices -- like
anti-tank mines -- have brass fuses with cocked firing pins that will explode
with the slightest jar. Some munitions have a color code or stenciled shapes
which reveal what is inside.
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But these markings are tricky even for experts. Time has worn away
the stencils and faded the color codes, so what a shell or mine contains
is anyone's guess. The danger isn’t only from high explosives; chemical
or biological agents were also used by the Japanese in numbers most
people today wound find utterly shocking.
The problem that remains paramount on every Marauder's mind is the
booby-trap, the lethal surprise left purposefully behind by the enemy
soldier – or even the friendly one.
Armies
tend to place booby traps in locations they occupy, but which they
suspect may soon be overrun by an advancing enemy. This was exactly
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Unexploded Japanese grenades blend in so well that
they are virtually indistinguishable from the foliage along this jungle
trail.
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the scenario
unfolding in the Pacific Islands in the mid 1940’s.
Many of these islands were honey-combed with
thousands of caves and tunnels. My fellow Marauders and I have recently explored
caves which have clearly seen no occupants since the days of the great war. One
was literally filled with munitions, floor to ceiling.
To successfully explore these caves, you must find
all the booby traps before you lose one or all of your team members.
Before we touch or move any item, we have
one of our Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technicians positively identify the item
and provide his fellow teammates with an operational assessment. Our EOD
Technicians together have over 40 years working with military munitions and have
been involved in many military campaigns.
So here's the bottom line: If you want to go looking for an MIA,
call us. We'll be glad to help, and most importantly, help keep you safe
About Moore's Marauders...
 Moore's
Marauders is a non-profit organization that receives no government funding. We
rely solely on your contributions to help us locate the 35,000
WWII MIAs the
U.S. government maintains are still recoverable.
For as
little as 30 cents a day, you can help us bring home the thousands who made the
ultimate sacrifice so that we could live in freedom.
Donate today.
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