Guard drops a bombshell — literally
Guard drops a bombshell — literally

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By Larry Levy and Johnny Johnson

Published: March 15, 2008
Modified: October 30, 2008 at 6:22 pm

TULSA — Before he flipped on the bathroom light switch Thursday night, Jeremy Isbell probably didn't feel like the luckiest man alive — but then again, he probably didn't expect his Canyon Creek apartment to have been bombed by his own government while he and his wife were out.

Isbell's bathroom tile was knocked out by a 22-pound dummy bomb. The bomb was released by an F-16 fighter jet, and was intended to be used in an Air National Guard training mission over a practice field in Kansas.

As strange as the situation was, Tulsa was not the first Oklahoma city to be accidentally bombed by American forces. Boise City lawyer Stan Manske said his town, which has long claimed to be the only U.S. city bombed by its own country, is happy to welcome Tulsa to the fold. "We will share the glory, with all due respect,” Manske said.

About 3 p.m. Thursday, a National Guard jet pilot left the Tulsa Air National Guard Base for the Smokey Hill Gunnery Range in Salina, Kan., on what Guard officials said was a routine mission.

Shortly after takeoff, a BDU-33, one of six dummy training bombs, was inadvertently released from the Air Guard aircraft and crashed through the apartment complex.

The military pilot apparently never knew the bomb had been released, and continued to the Kansas test field to complete the mission. Col. Bruce Butter, vice commander of the Oklahoma Air National Guard's 138th Fighter Wing based at Tulsa International Airport, said each of the two planes on the mission made six passes on the bomb range, dropping one of the bombs on each pass. It was on the last pass that there was an indication there could be a problem, since scorers on the ground reported a "no spot” because he did not see smoke that would indicate a hit.

Each bomb is equipped with a smoke charge, which Air Force Maj. Gen. Henry M. "Bud” Wyatt described as similar to fireworks. The charge is about the size of a 10-gauge shotgun shell, others said.

A "no spot” report is not uncommon, the general said. "No spots” are reported on landing because the Air Force keeps track of all its armaments. It was "the first clue that things were not going exactly right,” Wyatt said.

The first five bombs were successful hits, Wyatt said, and military personnel were not aware of what happened to the bomb when the bomb rack was inspected on landing and was found to be empty.

About 7 p.m. Friday, however, Butter said the Air Guard received a call from the Tulsa police bomb squad saying they had seen the practice bomb in the apartment, and that it had been fairly easy to identify it, since the bomb squad had trained with the Air Guard.

A safety investigation board has been convened, the statement said.

The FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are investigating.

What happened in 1943?

On July 5, 1943, a 45-mile navigation error resulted in bombs falling as the people of Boise City ran for their lives, thinking the Japanese were attacking their homes and business, Manske said.

According to Manske, the story goes something like this:

A B-17 crew headed for a night practice run at a bombing range near Dalhart, Texas, had a new navigator who evidently got lost.

The bomber crew supposedly then flew around a bit looking for the four lights that marked the bombing range.

When the bomber's crew saw what appeared to be the bombing range lights, the bomber released six bombs, packed with sand and just enough powder to make a boom.

What the crew thought were bombing range lights actually turned out to be lights from the Boise City town square, Manske said.

A restaurant was still open, and "even though it was fairly late at night, there were some truck drivers there,” he said.

"One of the truck drivers there was driving a gasoline truck. Well, when the first bomb hit, he was one of the first to get out of town.”

No one was injured in the Boise City bombing, and Manske said the only structure damaged was an empty garage.

"The nearest miss was probably the one that hit three feet from the sidewalk of the Methodist church,” he said.

Were lessons learned?

Like the Boise City bombing more than 64 years ago, the Tulsa incident was the result of something going wrong, but Manske said history shows mishaps can lead to greatness.

While the Boise City bombers messed up, they spent the rest of their careers trying to be the best. "The reports we got, when we tracked down the crew, was that they did go overseas and participated in some of the first raids to bomb Berlin,” he said. "So they did go on to distinguish themselves.”

Contributing: The Associated Press

"One of the truck drivers there was driving a gasoline truck. Well, when the first bomb hit, he was one of the first to get out of town.”

Stan Manske, of the 1943 incident

Related Topics: U.S. Armed Forces Activities, Armed Forces, U.S. National Guard Activities