Bomb donated to Kodiak museum goes out with a bang

[February 04, 2010]  KODIAK, Alaska (AP) -- A World War II relic that was displayed outside an Alaska bar for years turned out not to be a dud.

Soldiers on Wednesday detonated the 1,263-pound aerial bomb. Radio station KMXT reports it lost some of its boom after 60 years, but it did go with a bang.

The ordnance was recently donated to the Kodiak Military History Museum by a local resident, but the museum director determined it was more than just an interesting artifact.

Soldiers from the Fort Richardson Explosive Ordnance detail inspected the bomb and determined it still had Dunnite, a highly explosive material also known as "Explosive D."

They recorded the detonation and salvaged a piece of the "Da Bomb," as it was known, for display at the museum.

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Information from: KMXT-FM, http://www.kmxt.org/

[Associated Press]

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