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Old bomb gives up hiding place
By JAMIE JONES
© St. Petersburg Times, BROOKSVILLE -- The 1,000-pound bomb unearthed behind the Hernando County Airport Industrial Park was picked up by a crew from MacDill Air Force Base and will go to an active bombing range near Avon Park, said Staff Sgt. Sonny Cohrs, spokesman for MacDill. The bomb is thought to be from the World War II era, when the land south of Brooksville was an Army training site. Cohrs said the bomb did not have a fusing device and would not have detonated. The bomb, taken to MacDill in Tampa, will soon be dropped off at Avon Park Air Force Range, a 100-acre military reserve and active bombing range about 10 miles east of Avon Park, Cohrs said. There, technicians probably will open the bomb and see what's inside, he said. The bomb could hold explosive material or concrete, Cohrs said. Construction crews working behind the industrial park discovered the bomb about 4 p.m. Tuesday. Dennis Freier, an employee of Clyde Daniel Construction, was operating a bulldozer when he felt it hit something hard in the dirt, according to a Sheriff's Office report. He thought it was a rock and tried to move it again, the report said. Another worker saw it was a metal object that looked like a bomb. They immediately stopped working and called authorities, the report said. Numerous war items, such as artillery shells and mustard gas, have been found on the property in the past.
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From today's Hernando Times |
