
Milford Buzz Bomb - Milford, IL
Posted by:
adgorn
N 40° 37.653 W 087° 41.873
16T E 440977 N 4497646
American made buzz bomb on display along with historical markers.
Waymark Code: WM7PK9
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 11/18/2009
Views: 8
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(As per the “Milford Herald-News” newspaper of March 28, 1979) “The missile is an American-made replica of the German bomb that was used extensively against England during World War II. The missile was made so that the Air Force could develop a defense against it as well as to enable them to study it thoroughly. ...It is a comparatively rare bird, and there are a few of them known (to exist).
Milford gets the Buzz Bomb
(Courtesy of an Unknown article by: Lewis Mitchell and Andrew Adsit) “The story has its beginning at the end of World War II (1945) when the young men were returning home and many were seeking to do something for their communities.
Gene Seaman, Commander of Forrest Ballard American Legion Post No. 723 ... (applied) for a souvenir of the war which could be placed in the village park. The day finally arrived when the word was sent for members of the post to pick up the souvenir at Chanute Air Force Base at Rantoul.
(They) borrowed a farm implement truck and, as one of the men remembers, “we gasped in amazement as an officer proudly pointed to a huge bomber and told us that was our prize.
After considerable jawing, the officer shrugged towards a much smaller piece of equipment and told us there was the only alternative, “take that piece of junk or nothing.
The missile was loaded on the truck and transported to Milford, where it was painted and given insignia of the United States Air Force and placed on a concrete base in the township park in the Village.
There it sat for nearly thirty (30) years!"
From the plaque on the stand:
"This plaque is dedicated to the memory of Rodney F. Reeves
1958 - 1981
His love for Milford was shown by his labors in retrieving and restoring this Buzz Bomb to its original place in our community."
What a guy!