Digging in Boxes Where a Powerful Thing was Found

Hi, Corey!

Your brocante post detailing your box-digging escapades came at the perfect time!! You see, last week, I was in my attic (aka hoarder's den) & found a box of my late dad's belongings that he had brought up here from Virginia 10 years ago. It had been in my attic all that time. I carried the box down 2 flights of stairs. I scrambled in the box, delighting in his "treasures…" old letters, knick-knacks, things that had belonged to his much-older brothers, even a $5 Confederate bill!

Now, imagine digging more than halfway through the box, and finding THIS:

Tara Rey's photo  WWII-era grenadePhoto Via Tara Rey's Photo and Text:

Tara, a blog reader of Tongue in Cheek, sent me this email. With Tara's permission I have posted her photo and email here:

 

Yep! That's a WWII-era grenade, with a pin in it and no hole in the bottom of it!

What ensued was a visit to my attached neighbor's (we live in a twin) to alert them we'd found a grenade in Pop's belongings and there would probably be some "activity." I gingerly removed the rest of the treasures from the box and took the box outside (I figured it had been jostled down 2 flights of stairs…certainly, it could hold out for a move out the door!)

Then, a policewoman, a fireman, then the captain, then THE BOMB SQUAD (mon Dieu!)–who x-rayed it and couldn't determine if it was live–they boxed it in a bomb squad container and hauled it away. It turns out, it wasn't live after all, but that is my recent digging story and I knew you'd LOVE IT!

 

What discovery have you made lately?

 

Cheers!

Tara



Comments

12 responses to “Digging in Boxes Where a Powerful Thing was Found”

  1. Glad it turned out well!
    Some vigneron friends were going through the attic of the family château after the patriarch died. They uncovered some boxes in a corner, and discovered that they were explosives. There even were the fuses and everything to blow up a lot of stuff. The father had them to dislodge large stones on the property–just after WWII, nobody cared too much, I guess. The sons recalled that such explosions would be carried out just after the school bus had driven a safe distance away with all the kids.
    The sons had to call the authorities, which led to a huge operation and a lot of explaining.

  2. I was on the edge of my seat….love this story-happy all is well-

  3. Such an exsplosive story!!! 😉 Tara is my dear sweet cousin in law and known as “Sweet T” on my blog. There is ALWAYS something exciting…truly grand adventures going on with her. Her regaling of such escapades always has me in stitches! Long live Pop and his delightfully amusing “treasures”!

  4. love the filling in the details!!-

  5. Oh my! What excitement that would be to find. Whew! Glad it wasn’t live.

  6. I wonder after it had been taken away and once it was determined to be safe, were they allowed to have it back and keep it or is it government property?

  7. I also recall reading that there’s ordnance still buried at battle sites in the French countryside, left over from BOTH World Wars. Scary!

  8. Rebecca from the pacific northwest

    Great story, Tara. Thanks for letting Corey share it with the rest of us.

  9. Hi! So many people have asked about this! I called the guy from the bomb squad to ask. First, he said they did a second x-ray on the grenade. Then, they disassembled it. I cannot have it back because, according to him, (1) it is illegal to have them, and (2) it is considered the property of the military. (Interesting…because what about other military artifacts? Nope–I didn’t ask him THAT.) But, he said they actually save these things and once they have a grouping, they send them to the military. He is not sure what happens to them afterwards. (I’m thinking military artifact sales!). 😉

  10. Thanks! It was my horror and pleasure!

  11. Hugs!

  12. That happened to my MIL..she was going through her uncle’s estate and called to tell us to take our time getting there as the bomb squad was there! A box of WWII grenades were found in the garage!

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