HANDLE WORLD WAR II SOUVENIRS WITH CARE

Handle World War II Souvenirs with Care

Souvenirs from World War II and the wars that have followed it are aging and may be dangerous. Hand grenades, bullets, mortars, mines, and guns came home with the soldiers and were often stored in attics after a few years. Last month a Columbus, Ohio, woman found a hand grenade among her father's belongings stored in a shoebox in the garage. She put it in her car and after driving around running errands for a few days, she stopped at a fire station to dispose of it. Imagine her surprise when the firefighters quickly evacuated the parking lot.

In other incidents during the past year, some World War II grenades were taken to an auction house to be sold--the bomb squad was called and shooed everyone out of the building; and a landmine was found in a trash bin and everyone nearby had to be moved out of the way.
Explosives deteriorate, become unstable, and can explode unexpectedly. Although the Army sends out posters to veterans to remind them about the danger, children and veterans have died in the past year from handling war souvenirs.

Don't throw any type of explosive in the trash. It could harm city workers. We found a box of rifle bullets in our very hot attic a few years ago. Our son had stored the box with his hunting rifle years before when he moved out of town. We took the bullets to the nearby firehouse but kept the empty box as a collectible.