The Spectacle Blog
My grandmother turns 100 in January and over the weekend my sister, aunts, uncles and cousins did some massive cleaning of her home in Rhode Island. While cleaning out a drawer upstairs one cousin discovered an apparent souvenir from my late grandfather’s World War II service: a hand grenade. My aunts said it was real and they remembered playing with it (?!) in their childhood. The police were called, and the bomb squad showed up too, and the device was taken away for detonation at Fort Devens in Massachusetts.
If any of you vets or weapons experts can identify and explain what this is in a more historical context, please do so in the comments section.
Meanwhile, this might offer some perspective to parents who obsess about bike helmets and BB guns.
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ncatty| 11.22.10 @ 2:07PM
Mark II Pineapple.
Steve| 11.22.10 @ 3:09PM
The bomb squad guy that came said the spoon indicates it's a training grenade. But, it doesn't have the hole in the bottom a training grenade would. So it's a bit of a mystery.
Ryan| 11.22.10 @ 3:17PM
Your Grandpa brought home a live hand grenade.
THAT'S FRIGGIN SWEET!
Actually, if it hadn't been blown up at this point, it's probably not live. Maybe.
Chris| 11.23.10 @ 9:56AM
Yeah, No TSA in those days to intimidate our Honorable Vets in all branches of our military returning home from war
"it's probably not live. Maybe". However, I wouldn't want to be anywhere near it to find out
Tim Williams| 11.22.10 @ 3:22PM
Older training grenades don't necessarily have holes in the bottom - I've got one myself. It's very unlikely that grenade had a charge in it.
Writer's Niece| 11.22.10 @ 3:32PM
What I thought was funny was that my great-aunts were telling us that they used to throw it at my great uncle. O_0 . Glad they didn't pull the pin....
Writer's Niece| 11.22.10 @ 3:34PM
They said it had a live blasting cap too, if that helps....
Linda Cunningham| 11.22.10 @ 4:39PM
That is amazing!!!Funny too....need a bike helmet!
Chris| 11.23.10 @ 10:00AM
Nah,Pass them out to the TSA along with the now required knee pads
Rich Rostrom| 11.22.10 @ 5:35PM
Ryan: "... if it hadn't been blown up at this point, it's probably not live."
A few years ago, an American Civil War buff acquired a recently uncovered cannon shot. He was cleaning rust off it with a grinder when the 140-year-old powder inside exploded, killing him.
Roz Macain| 11.25.10 @ 1:33AM
Ouch, FAIL
People are still killed today from World War I & II ordinance.
FastJohnny| 11.22.10 @ 5:45PM
The picture looks like a trainer. I seem to remember, now this was after they switched to the baseball grenade, that blue handles indicated training nades. Trainers had small charges in them, not much more than a firecracker (not a cherrybomb, but a regular paper firecracker). I also remember the trainers having a hole in the bottom as well, but keep in mind this was post-pineapple grenade.
Heywood| 11.22.10 @ 6:40PM
Grandpa is rollin' over in his grave right now: "You did what?? You got rid of my hand grenade?"
Reminded me of my brother throwing away my dad's illegal 8-inch double edged blade w/spiked knuckles trench knife he used in the Korean War. *Us kids never ever under any circumstances either played with or used it. lol
Chris| 11.23.10 @ 10:04AM
Its ashame your family lost that "trench knife". What a collectors item it would have become.
Cuz| 11.22.10 @ 7:19PM
The handles were actually green, not blue, even though it looks blue in this picture.
Auntie| 11.23.10 @ 7:22AM
That grenade has been around the house for umpteen years. There used to be one that was made into a cigarette lighter. Do you think Pop would leave something dangerous around? He was a marine & then a police chief. He was very careful with his guns(ammunition stored away from the gun, etc). He's probably up there laughing @ the spectacle!
Ken in People's Republic of MD| 11.23.10 @ 8:08AM
Actually, Auntie, I'm sure Grampa is up there crying over what this country has become.
Chris| 11.23.10 @ 10:06AM
I'll bet you are right about that!
Leonard| 11.23.10 @ 10:19AM
The fuze can be (carefully) unscrewed from the body of the grenade to reveal any powder inside. I doubt there is any powder in it as the color is not consistent with service issue ordinance. Probably assembled from parts which are interchangeable with smoke cannisters, etc. As kids growing up on a Marine Corp base in the 50's we used to find these from time to time, and we knew what the color schemes meant. If it was olive you stayed away from it and called in the adults. In Columbia, SC in the 50's I remember a 500 lb. bomb half buried in a neighborhood yard. We always thought it was a yard ornament placed there as the owner's sense of front yard humor. Some years later the US Army found out about it, retrieved it and detonated it....!!!!
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