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When I first started research on
this novel, there were very few internet resources on the topic. Today, the
number has grown substantially. Here are just a few to get those interested
started:
- The US Air Force Museum, at Wright-Patterson Air
Force Base in Ohio, has a helpful
summary of
the balloons' history. They also have an actual balloon in their collection.
- The Michigan State University Library
hosts a lengthy
online bibliography of balloon resources.
- Marshall Stelzriede, a WWII vet, has an
extensive website detailing his wartime experiences. He devotes
one page in his
site to Japanese balloon bombs; of particular interest are the
articles about the balloons that he's transcribed and placed online.
(Links to the articles are at the bottom of the page.)
- Though the author of this site
discussing the balloons'
impact on Canada was only 16 years old when he developed it, it is
impressively comprehensive, and is included in Canada's Digital
Collections, a Canadian-government sponsored program.
- Ultimately, the single best resource for learning more
about this strange chapter in history is not on the internet, but rather,
in the pages of a slim, but exhaustively researched and illustrated
nonfiction book by Robert C. Mikesh, titled
Japan's World War II Balloon Bomb Attacks on North America.
On this subject, it has no equal.
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