Florida town was accidentally bombed in 1944.....mistaken for Avon Park.

[madfloridian]

Frostproof Once Mistaken For Bombing Range

http://highlands.tbo.com/news/MGBPAY4BR5E.html
SNIP..."
Frostproof Once Mistaken For Bombing Range

By BOB BALGEMANN
[e-mail]
Published: Mar 1, 2005

FROSTPROOF — "Practice runs were going on at the U.S. Air Force Bombing Range during World War II.
But not all the projectiles reached the 106,000-acre property.

The nearby city of Frostproof was bombed not once but twice over a three-day period in August 1944. While no one was injured, there was one very close call."

"Residents of the city may bring that up tonight, though few if any of them probably were alive when the mishaps occurred. Still, it’s part of the legacy of the range that could be an issue when military officials have a public meeting from 7-9 p.m. at Frostproof Junior-Senior High School off State Road 17, on the north side of town.

The U.S. Navy wants to step up use of the range and those plans will be discussed at this meeting.

Second Lt. Alexander Shockey was executive officer of the range in August 1984, when a story about the mishap appeared in the Polk County edition of the Tampa Tribune. He said there never could be a repeat of what happened 40 years earlier...."

And what will happen as bombing is escalated there:
SNIP...." Planes reportedly will be flying to the range from air craft carriers stationed in both the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. When coming from the west they would have to fly over Frostproof or the city of Avon Park, which is about 11 miles west of the range. The city of Sebring could be a possibility as well...."

Nothing to worry about, go back to sleep.

[kittenpants]

1. maybe that's why * cancelled his trip to Sarasota today n/t

[DELUSIONAL]

2. Wasn't it just last year that a school in New Jersey was

shot at by a military plane???

Yep that could never happen in Frostproof. Yep, you can believe anything the military says. Yep, sure, ya bet.

[madfloridian]

5. I had not heard that.

Do you remember what city?

[DELUSIONAL]

7. Close to one of the Naval air bases - Little Egg Harbor, N.J.

I'll google it -- results:

http://www.newstarget.com/002234.html

News summary:
Source: http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=104&sid=321183

* NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Calling the accidental strafing of a school by a fighter jet "totally incomprehensible," Sen.
* Frank Lautenberg called on the Air National Guard to halt all training flights over New Jersey until an investigation is complete.
* The New Jersey Democrat on Friday demanded a "guarantee that nothing like this can ever happen again."
* Nobody was injured when the rounds hit the Little Egg Harbor Intermediate School just after 10 p.m.
* A custodian was the only employee in the section of the building that was hit; she was not hurt.
* National Guard officials are trying to figure out why the pilot opened fire from 7,000 feet with 25 rounds from a wing-mounted M61-A1 Vulcan cannon.
* At least eight of the 2-inch-long bullets penetrated classrooms, Little Egg Harbor Police Chief Mark Siino said.
* The jet belongs to the 113th Wing of the District of Columbia National Guard, and is based at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.
* Sheldon Smith, a spokesman for the District of Columbia National Guard, said of Lautenberg's request, "I think we have suspended flying over there until this investigation is complete."
* Smith could not say how long that would take.
* "They're going to be looking at the gun and anything else they can to determine why the weapon fired, as well as interviewing the pilot," he said.
* Smith said this was the unit's first accident with its F-16s in 14 years of flying them.
* The 113th has been in the air over Washington 24 hours a day since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
* Some of its pilots have flown missions during the Iraq war, and in the no-fly zones above Iraq before the war, Smith said.

[madfloridian]

8. Thanks for finding that info. Sure have not heard about it.

Well, in fact, I had never heard about the Frostproof bombing, either.

[madfloridian]

3. They did germ warfare there in the 50s...maybe later.

http://www.peace.ca/usabiologicalwarcolumbia.htm

"Savannah, Georgia and Avon Park, Florida were the targets of repeated
Army bio-weapons experiments in 1956 and 1957. Army CBW researchers
released millions of mosquitoes on the two towns in order to test the
ability of insects to carry and deliver yellow fever and dengue fever.
Hundreds of residents fell ill, suffering from fevers, respiratory
distress, stillbirths, encephalitis and typhoid. Army researchers
disguised themselves as public health workers in order photograph and test the victims. Several deaths were reported."

I also saw more on this at Senator Nelson's website, will have to check. He has several sections on this type of war fare, investigating it.

[kittenpants]

4. that's scary...I find myself saying that a lot these days.

[madfloridian]

6. Oh, boy, I say that a lot, too.

And I am not the scary type.

[soup]

9. Here's an old article from 2002 that might interest you.

It's about the Pinecastle range - not Avon Park, but relevent to the fears of a 'miss'. Definitely worth a read.

Bombs away

By THOMAS C. TOBIN
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 27, 2002

>snip<
In a recent interview with the Orlando Sentinel, John Childers, director of the range, referred to the roar of planes and the explosion of bombs as the "sounds of freedom." Before bombing, he said, the range is scanned with remote-controlled cameras to ensure the area is free of civilians.

The chance of a bomb hitting outside the buffer is remote, the Navy says.

But once in awhile, one gets away. In 1983, a Navy jet missed its target by a half-mile with a 500-pound bomb that struck a nearby road. A Wildwood man, Johnny Teate, was driving his dump truck when he crashed into the 3-foot crater.

Teate's injuries were slight and the bomb did not detonate, but the incident exploded in controversy. A Navy report the next year found 18 severe bombing mistakes since 1979 with explosives or aircraft parts dropping up to 17 miles from the targets.

Today, the 17-mile radius from the bomb site includes five small towns, two elementary schools, a middle school, a high school and four campgrounds. The Navy contends the area around the range is still out of the way and sparsely populated. It also says it never trains at Pinecastle during high winds that might affect the flight of bombs.
http://www.sptimes.com/2002/01/27/Floridian/Bombs_away.shtml

---
Hope it doesn't break the copyright code, but I just have to add this bit of 'brilliance' from Sylvia:

The pro-bombing sentiment is shared by many area residents, including Sylvia Parker, who works part time at the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post and whose husband once worked on the range's small staff, digging up used bombs from the forest floor. Parker, 62, lives in Astor, a town of 1,500 about 6 miles east of the range.

"We ain't going to worry about them," she said of the people who want the range gone. "It's only a few of the . . . uppities down in Eustis that want to grumble and complain. And if the guys don't have a place to practice, how are they going to hit what's-his-face in the caves?"

"uppities down in Eustis"??? "what's-his-face"???

Do you think she votes?