Comanche Chief (Comanche, Tex.), No. 33, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 11, 2008 Page: 13 of 20
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The View from
The Fleming Oa
A look al Comanche County's
historical roots
By Fredda Jones
i he Bombing of Texas
The following informa-
tion was sent to me by Patsy
Murphey, and I thought I
would include it before we
leave World War II behind
for the moment. It was writ-
ten by Mike Kingston and
was first published in the
1992-1993 Texas Almanac
(Before I forget, I under-
stand that we need to grab
a copy of the ’09 Almanac.
I understand that there is a
great article on, believe it or
not. Global Cooling in it!)
"In the spring of 1945,
the war in Europe was near-
ing an end, and attention
was turning to finishing the
job against the Japanese in
the Pacific. Both conflicts
were thousands of miles
away from the rural Texas
communities of Woodson
in Throckmorton County,
and Desdemona in Eastland
County. While both com-
munities sent people to the
armed forces, the daily dan-
gers of wartime were hardly
a consideration.” However,
it seems that on March 23-
24, 1945. both Woodson and
Desdemona were "bombed"
by the Japanese!
Apparently, it was on the
afternoon of the twenty-third
that fourteen-ycar-old Des-
demona boy C.M. Guthery,
better known as Pug, was
getting off of the school bus
when he saw a “giant bas-
ketball” floating down to the
ground.
Pug, like any student of
today, took off, chasing the
object for about two miles
before it finally landed.
(O.K., I’m not sure that many
of today’s kiddos would run
two miles for anything, but
maybe a few would!) Any-
way, another bus driver was
obviously as interested as
Pug because he turned his
bus and began chasing the
object himself. By the time
Pug arrived, this school bus
driver and his passengers
were already examining the
strange object. It was gray,
with a “large, fading rising
sun” on it.
According to Pug Guth-
ery, he backed off from the
object very quickly because
of its horrible smell, “like
creosote."
“The other youngsters,
however, busily gathered
souvenirs. Some cut lengths
of the quarter-inch grass
rope that encircled the bal-
loon, and others took pieces
of the balloon itself.” Ac-
cording to Guthery, it ap-
peared to be made of some
type of leather, or at least a
very tough material.”
The next day, the govern-
ment showed up to retrieve
the "thing," and they made
a trip to the Desdemona
school to ask that all souve-
nirs be handed over so that
the government could recon-
struct the object. This was
done, and the basketball/bal-
loon/UFO story faded back
to wherever it is that we file
such weird happenings.
Well, the crazy thing was
that about the time that gov-
ernment officials showed up
in Desdemona, Texas, anoth-
er weird object was found in
Throckmorton County. This
time, a cowboy from the
Barney Davis ranch (eight
miles north of Woodson)
named Ivan Miller found
a collapsed balloon. Years
later, according to Miller’s
widow, the balloon’s cir-
cumference equaled that of a
house. This balloon also had
the rising sun on its top, and
several smaller suns were
painted on the bottom.
Once again, it was not
long until government of-
ficials were on the spot, but
not before the children of
this county took their souve-
nirs from the strange object.
Of course, the agents went
to the school and asked that
all souvenirs be returned for
“reconstruction.”
What no one knew at the
time was that these balloons
were only two of the 6,000
or so that were released by
the Japanese in late 1944 and
early 1945. They were made
by Japanese girls from “pa-
per and paste.”
“The Japanese figured
that the Fugo bombs, about
70-80 feet high, 30 feet in
diameter and filled with hy-
drogen, would ride eastward
on the jet stream, each car-
rying a couple of incendi-
ary bombs and a 33-pound
antipersonnel bomb. When
they descended, they would
explode, start hundreds of
fires, and frighten-and per-
haps kill-Americans in the
process.”
There were about 360 of
these bombs found in North
America, and six people in
Oregon were killed while
children played with one of
the discovered balloons.
All of the discoveries
were kept very quite, the
hope being that the Japanese
would quit the project if they
never received a reaction
from the Americans.
OPEN Mon-Sat 10a-5:00p
Closed Sunday
anche
Nursery
Produce & Market
PREMIUM
CHRISTMAS TREES
louglas Fir
trees 6-7'
jee only - $19*99
ile Firs - 8-9'
irand Firs 4*-8#
Christmas Wreaths.
The Comanche Chief / Thursday, December 11,2008, Page IB
GRAND CHAMPION BREEDING MEAT GOAT:
Thomas Hohertz won grand champion honors among the
breeding meat goats at the Comanche Project Show.
They did stop the project
in April of 1945, and don't
you just get weary of people
who seem to have one goal
in life...to kill Americans?
Thankfully, the story of
this particular enemy lives
in the past, and as for our
present enemies.... well,
you know what the Bible
says about praying for them.
Not an easy task, but I guess
we'd better try, don’t you
think? Of course, as long-
ago Methodist minister Pe-
ter Ciravis once said, it never
hurts to keep an eye open
and a pistol on the pulpit,
just in case.. .no disrespect
intended, you understand!
Gravis was referring to the
terrorists of his day, the
American Indians: however,
I would think that the same
would apply to the terrorists
of the 21st century as well.
RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION MARKET SWINE:
Rachel Clawson is pictured with her champion Cross mar-
ket swine at Saturday's Comanche Project Show.
Ladies Luncheon Bridge Club Meets
The Ladies Luncheon
Bridge Club held their
monthly meeting on De-
cember 5, 2008 at the CJ’s
Diner.
Those attending were:
Lou Riley (1st): Doris Gore
(1st); Juanita Perkins (2nd);
Evelyn Gray (2nd); Jamie
McQuay, Susan Gossett,
Suzanne Wilson, Diana Hill-
iard. Myra Nell Gore, Sibyl
Switzer, Mary Nell Morgan,
Wilma Keen, Billie Butler,
Alta Taylor, Arlene Pies,
Ruth Ann Gilbert, Ann Jay,
Ruthette Swift, Netta Jarrett,
Peggy Moore, June King,
and Cherry Steward.
Notice: Since the 1st
Thursday of January falls on
the 1st day, we will not play
until February 5, 2009.
Please make your reserva-
tions no later than Wednes-
day at noon, the day before.
Call (254)879-3890.
Christmas at
Taylor’s Chapel
Christmas at Taylor's
Chapel Church, on C’R 140,
will be on Sunday, Decem-
ber 14th at 5:30 p.m. There
will be singing of Christmas
Carols, and special music bv
members of the congrega-
tion. Fellowship will follow
the program.
Congratulations to all Exhibitors! We wish you
continued success at the January County Show!
Comanche
National Bank
7 Da. i<2
Since 1889
325-356-2577. www.comanchenational.com
PD|C bookkeeping; 325/356-5288 time & temperature: 325/356-1227
Congratulations
for a great show!
Comanche FFA and 4-H
ow.
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Wilkerson, James C., III. Comanche Chief (Comanche, Tex.), No. 33, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 11, 2008, newspaper, December 11, 2008; Comanche, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1141332/m1/13/?q=%22%22~1&rotate=270: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Comanche Public Library.