Grenade Found in Private Yard

"A day of landscaping turned into a frightening situation for a man in Thornton when he dug up a live grenade in his backyard. 

Thornton Police had to set up a perimeter around Travis Moore's home on Carrol Court on Wednesday night. The Adams County Bomb Squad responded to the scene and removed the explosive.

Moore says he and his neighbors have no idea who put the grenade in his backyard or why. He and his wife have only lived in the home for about three weeks."

Read more HERE.

Image Credit: 9 News, Denver

UK Beach Coughs Up WWI Medal

"A metal detector enthusiast is appealing for the family of a First World War serviceman to come forward after unearthing his medal on a beach.

Tom Neesam found a solid silver medal on Seaton Carew beach while out using his metal detector.

It belonged to Robert Henry Pollard, who was born in Hartlepool in 1886 and went on to receive three other war medals."

 Read more HERE.

Image Credit: Peterlee Mail

Afghan IED Mentoring

"The explosive hazard reduction course at Joint Sustainment Academy Southwest, here, allows coalition forces instructors teach members of the Afghan National Security Forces the fundamentals of identifying and countering improvised explosive devices.

The course prepares members of the Afghan National Army, uniformed police and border police to operate in a partnership role with coalition forces when IEDs are encountered, the basics of insurgent IED tactics and how to handle and eliminate unexploded ordnance and munitions."

Read more HERE.

Image Credits: Petty Officer 1st Class Gino Flores

Lost Purple Heart - Ralph Perry

"Irma Garcia of Kennewick is on a mission to find the veteran who lost the Purple Heart medal she found last weekend.

All she has to go on is the name engraved on the medal's back -- Ralph E. Perry.

Garcia said she found the medal Sunday in the park adjacent to Horse Heaven Hills Middle School in Kennewick."

Read more HERE.

Image Credits: Bob Brawdy / Herald

Irish Hobbyist Finds Medical Dicharge Badge

"A long lost First World War medal has been returned to its family home in Oving after being found on a remote beach in Ireland.

It was picked up by keen treasure hunter Stephen Hunter, 28, who trawled through stacks of historical documents to finally trace it back to Edward Lewis Brunswick from the Aylesbury area, who died in 1975.

He was then able to find Edward’s son Roy, who is the oldest living ancestor of the war hero and was delighted to have the medal returned."

Read more HERE.

WWII US Dog Tags Returned from France

I came across this great story of some hobbyists in France who came across and were able to return the dog tag of a US WWII veteran. And believe it or not, I have connection. The vet was part of the US Army 94th Infantry. That unit, after WWII was redesignated a few times and eventully became the 94th RRC, which I served under while part of the 439th QM CO (PS) out of New Haven, CT.

"American World War II artifacts continue popping up in European fields and villages, but connecting them to the U.S. soldier who lost or left them there rarely happens. Unless, of course, the veteran's old family address is embossed on the artifact.

That's the case for Herb Schueler, 88, of Columbia, Illinois. He is a retired home builder who served in the U.S. Army 94th Infantry Division during World War II. He can't remember losing one of his two dog tags in the fall of 1944. But he did, and two French treasure hunters turned it up with a metal detector in the small village of Heric in northwest France about 15 miles from the town of Nantes."

Read more HERE.

WWII Dogtags Uncovered and Returned

"Evan Yeoman of Lewiston was cruising Demolay Park overlooking the Snake River with his new metal detector when it pinged, telling him there was a penny about 10 inches down.

It was the depth that was intriguing, Yeoman said. 'That's how I judge how long a thing's been setting there — how deep it is.'

He remembers thinking as he stuck his knife into the ground that..."

Read more HERE.

Photo Credits: AP Photo/Lewiston Tribune, Lewiston Tribune

Filey Beach UK Grenade

"A WORLD War II hand grenade has been removed from a North Yorkshire beach, allowing holidaymakers to resume their Bank Holiday activities.

The south side of Filey beach was cordoned off and evacuated after the unexploded weapon from was found near Royal Parade at about 11am.

It was unearthed by a member of the public using a metal detector."

Read more HERE.

Pennsylvania UXO Search

"For about 20 years, Marty Holmes has meticulously walked over thousands of acres of woods and fields armed with nothing but a fancy metal detector.

It's not for fun, like a beachcomber looking for buried treasure. It's a chance for him to possibly save lives.

Holmes is an 'unexploded ordnance specialist,' part of a team from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that scours land that could contain old ammunition buried deep underground after decades of neglect. The team will find, flag and safely remove unexploded ordnance."

Read more HERE.

Image Credits: Keith R. Stevenson / Pocono Record

Towton Dig to Put Off UK Hobbyists

"...

The first stage of the dig has secured funding and can now go ahead since the archaeologists made an agreement with the landowners and local authority over protection for the site.

For the first time, the agreement makes it illegal for unauthorised treasure hunters to go on the battlefield site with a metal detector because of the problems of them removing artefacts without recording the findings. It includes incentives for landowners to deter poachers and flytippers."

Read more HERE.

More Afghan IED Searches

"...

As I slowly back away from the action, I weigh the possibilities. Either the route-clearers are so dedicated to their jobs — and to sparing their fellow NATO soldiers from IEDS — that they eagerly embrace the deadly risk that comes from poking at explosives with knives.

Or, they’re simply deranged.

I haven’t yet made up my mind when there’s a disappointed groan. With a final scrape of a bayonet, Pittman and the other NCO have unearthed the metal object that set off the soldier’s detector. It’s not a bomb. It’s a piece of trash long interred in the middle of the dirt path.

The route patrol marches on, confident that actual IEDs await, not far down the road."

Read more HERE.

Image Credits: David Axe / Wired

Military Medals Returned

"Telve years ago, medals bestowed on a war hero and distinguished police commander were stolen from his family’s Oxfordshire cottage.

But this weekend they were returned to their rightful home after being discovered in a farmer’s field just 20 yards from the house they were taken from.

The honours, eight in total including the OBE, the King’s Police and Fire Services Medal and the World War I British War medal, were unearthed by two metal detector enthusiasts on a bleak Sunday afternoon in January."

Read more HERE.

Image Credits: Oxford Mail

Ft. Lee Cannonball

From Associated Press

"PETERSBURG, Va. -- A cannonball that could be from the Civil War era has been found at Fort Lee in Virginia and explosives experts have been called in to detonate it.

Spokesman Stephen J. Baker said the unexploded ordnance was uncovered around 11 a.m. Friday during a metal detector survey of an area on the 5,900-acre base south of Richmond.

Baker said an explosives ordnance team from Fort Belvoir (BELL'-vwar) is en route from northern Virginia.

The cannonball was buried about 6 inches deep. An area around it has been cordoned off."

OIF Ring Returned

"As Tim Boyce combed the Wildwood beach for metallic treasures, his metal detector suddenly spouted a series of chirps.

He found something special and now 16 months later, it's back on the hand of its owner.

Boyce's find wasn't the typical metal button, coin or Matchbox car that's he's collected and stored at his Deptford home.

The buried men's military ring had a clear owner someone named 'Bowdish' who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom, according to the ring's inscription."

Read more HERE.

Image Note: May not be actual ring, just a representation.

Centuries Old French Naval Mortar Uncovered

"An old French naval gun, which has lain buried under the sands of a beach on the west coast of the North Island for up to 180 years, is about to find a new home in the Dargaville Museum.

The 189-year-old carronade, a naval mortar which was used for lobbing explosive shells onto other ships, has been in a treatment tank for six years after shipwreck explorer Noel Hilliam and his wife Julie found it by chance on a beach west of Dargaville in 2004."

Read more HERE.

Image Credit: NZPA

TEEX Wounded Warrior UXO Demo

"Tyler Sloan's five-year career in the U.S. Army ended in 2006 when he was shot in the stomach by a sniper while patrolling in Mosul, Iraq.

He fell unconscious and woke up seven days later at Walter Reed Medical Center. His injuries included damaged nerves in his right leg, which caused him to lose feeling in his foot and eventually required its amputation.

That left him searching for a new job. He considered deep sea diving, underwater drilling and becoming a pilot, but none of them worked out."

Read more HERE.

Image Credits: TEEX

Army Wants GPR + MD in One

"U.S. Army researchers are canvassing industry to find companies able to design and build a vehicle-mounted ground-penetrating radar system that can detect and mark buried improvised explosive devices (IEDs) made from metal, plastic, wood, conventional explosives, and homemade explosives.

The Army Research, Development, and Engineering Command (RDECOM) at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., released a sources-sought notice Thursday (W91CRB-11-R-0005) for a vehicle-mounted ground-penetrating radar system able to process data in real time to enable the vehicle operator to detect targets 10 feet in front of his vehicle."

Read more HERE.

Kandahar: Life or Death with a MD

"In the still of the helicopter landing zone at Forward Operating Base Walton, a convoy of military policemen prepare to depart to a police substation in Kandahar City. Leading them is Sgt. Skye Ortiz from Dos Palos, Calif., on his first deployment to Afghanistan.

Ortiz is part of the 170 MP Company based in Fort Lewis, Wash., and deployed to Walton. He leads one of three squads working to accomplish the 170 MP Company's dual mission - protecting the local populace and mentoring the Afghan National Police into a mature force that can enforce the law and protect Afghan communities."

Read more HERE.

Image credits: PO2 Ernesto Hernandez Fonte

Digging Militaria at Ft. Leavenworth

"Fort Leavenworth was the first permanent fort established west of the Missouri and Leavenworth was the first incorporated town in Kansas Territory. Both date from more than 150 years ago.

So both are rich in historical treasures for modern man to find and uncover, right? Maybe not. One person who should know is Ross Lewis of Lansing, who has used a metal detector in searching for ancient treasures for more than 20 years."

Read more HERE.

Beach Cannonball

"An unusual discovery was made Sunday afternoon as Dawn Karafa, from Southport, and her fiancé were using their metal detector near the Oak Island Golf Club in Caswell Beach.

It was the couple's curiosity that led them to their treasure, not their metal detector. They saw a large object poking through the dirt near a construction site in the residential area. The metal object caked in mud was large and round. It appeared rusted and was fairly heavy.

Karafa said she and her fiancé were unsure what they had found, but thought it could have been part of a ship. They loaded it into their vehicle and took it to their home in Southport where they began cleaning the mystery object."

Read more HERE.
There also a video of them detonating the cannonball in the article!

Image credits: Dawn Karafa