I have mentioned

 that a lot of Japanese hams seem to set up mini DXPeditions on the Pacific islands their grandfathers fought over. Actually to s lesser extent so do Americans.

One of the things that interests me is that I'd bet there are a lot of parts of those islands that are simply unsafe for people to go wandering through.

I've read a few things about the areas that were fought over during WW1, a century ago. Farmers there are still constantly digging unexploded ordinance (UXO) on a very regular basis. The stuff is still dangerous.

Belgium and French farmers have gotten so used to it that they pile the stuff up along the side of the road so the EOD teams can haul it away and destroy it.

In Russia I have read where they are constantly digging up stuff from WW2. A lot of the German stuff is supposedly fused with picric acid which grows very unstable with time. I believe the Japanese used picric acid, too. I would imagine the stuff was inexpensive at the time.

I read that there are places in France that are still off limits to people because the pollution level from decaying explosives is still astronomical.

It's not just overseas, either. There is a certain amount of this sort of thing stateside. In Hawaii at what was once Camp Tarawa there people are advised to keep their eyes open for old UXO. I have heard that the place was cleaned up. Cleaning up an area only goes so far, really as it's unlikely that they got everything.

When the last shot is fired the troops generally simply leave and go home. There is no 'police call' to remove all the litter of war. It is generally simply left there for someone else to deal with. Generally someone's kid or grandchild.

I wonder how much real estate is now still unsafe. Likely an awful lot.

I don't have a solution for this but it gives the human race just one more reason not to go to war to begin with.

Then again the Piccolo back yard is not free of WW2 UXO according to a sign hanging on a tree there. I snagged a sign somewhere along the line that says that WW2 UXO may be present and put it out back to keep the kids away from my ham antennas.

This time I didn't get me a visit from the bomb squad. It did get me a brief visit from a local cop. He grinned when I told him to pay a visit to the complainer and tell them to keep their kid out of my yard and away from my antennas.




To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this: http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE WRITING OF TODAY'S ESSAY