Presented by Ross Cohen, historian and author

In the last stages of the Second World War, Japan initiated one of the strangest offensive campaigns in military history: the balloon bomb attack on America. Between November 1944 and April 1945, Japan’s Imperial Army launched nine thousand hydrogen balloons armed with incendiary bombs. Knowing the balloons would ascend to 30,000 feet in altitude and be carried across the Pacific Ocean by the strong westerly winds of the upper atmosphere, the Japanese hoped the bombs would ignite wildfires in the western United States that the Americans would have to fight by diverting resources that otherwise might be used in the Pacific theatre. The balloons were also meant as weapons of terror, striking panic and weakening the morale of the American people.

This presentation tells the unique history of the hundreds of balloons that landed in North America from Alaska to Mexico—including one that landed in southcentral Oregon and caused the only deaths from enemy action in the mainland United States.

About the Speaker:

Ross Coen is a historian who writes about Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.

These monthly, free events are open to everyone interested in Oregon, Washington and Pacific Northwest history. Co-sponsored by like-minded historical and civic organizations, we bring you experts, scholars, first-person experiencers and historians who expound on topics from Lewis and Clark to shipwrecks, hop growing to women pioneers and far, far beyond. It's like being back in the classroom - except this time you get to settle into comfortable seats and enjoy a drink or two with dinner while you listen and learn.

This event is eligible for a History Pub Stamp