TY - BOOK AU - Coen,Ross Allen TI - Fu-go: the curious history of Japan's balloon bomb attack on America T2 - Studies in war, society, and the military SN - 9780803256675 AV - D792 .F846 2014 PY - 2014/// CY - Lincoln, NB PB - University of Nebraska Press KW - World War, 1939-1945 KW - Aerial operations, Japanese KW - Balloons KW - West (U.S.) KW - Electronic Books N1 - 2; Paper --; Thermopolis --; Alturas --; BW --; Alaska --; Defense --; Canada --; Censorship --; Summer --; Epilogue --; Appendix: Maps and table of fu-go incidents; 2; b N2 - Near the end of World War II, in an attempt to attack the United States mainland, Japan launched its fu-go campaign, deploying thousands of high-altitude hydrogen balloons armed with incendiary and high-explosive bombs designed to follow the westerly winds of the upper atmosphere and drift to the west coast of North America. After reaching the mainland, these fu-go, the Japanese hoped, would terrorize American citizens and ignite devastating forest fires across the western states, ultimately causing the United States to divert wartime resources to deal with the domestic crisis. While the fu-go offensive proved to be a complete tactical failure, six Americans lost their lives when a discovered balloon exploded. Ross Coen provides a fascinating look into the obscure history of the fu-go campaign, from the Japanese schoolgirls who manufactured the balloons by hand to the generals in the U.S. War Department who developed defense procedures. The book delves into panic, propaganda, and media censorship in wartime. Fu-go is a compelling story of a little-known episode in our national history that unfolded virtually unseen UR - https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=842837&site=eds-live&custid=s3260518 ER -