Jerry VeVone, who buys and sells antique guns at his Auburn store, has a simple request for his customers. “I hope none of my customers bring any more live explosives in the future,’’ VeVone said this morning. With good reason. On Monday, a military veteran from a local veterans post brought a World War II-era Navy shell that VeVone suspected...
Jerry VeVone, who buys and sells antique guns at his Auburn store, has a simple request for his customers.
“I hope none of my customers bring any more live explosives in the future,’’ VeVone said this morning.
With good reason.
On Monday, a military veteran from a local veterans post brought a World War II-era Navy shell that VeVone suspected was live and could still explode. His suspicions proved to be correct. Several hours later, a bomb squad from Ft. Drum in Watertown detonated the shell – which measured seven-inches round and 30-inches long -- in an open field about 500 yards behind VeVone’s Melrose Road residence in Owasco.
“It shook a lot of houses,’’ said VeVone, who owns Winton Antiques on Standart Avenue.
Here’s how the live shell ended up in the field behind his home, according to VeVone:
The veteran, whom VeVone knew but declined to identify, brought the shell to his store about 10 a.m. The shell had been stored as a memento in a local VFW post but veterans there feared someone could get hurt if the approximately 100-pound shell fell on somebody. They apparently were unaware that it could explode.
VeVone quickly sized up the shell, which was still in the back of the veteran’s pickup truck.
“It looked like it still might be live. It was nothing I wanted to deal with,’’ VeVone said.
He called the Cayuga County sheriff’s office, which in turned called the Onondaga County sheriff’s bomb squad. Meanwhile, VeVone and the veteran drove to the field behind VeVone’s house and carefully placed the shell about 500 yards north of his residence.
“I have a lot of respect for things that blow up having been in fire service for so long. I just wanted to get it away from everyone,’’ said VeVone, a member of the Owasco Fire Department since 1977.
VeVone said he was not worried about the shell exploding because he said shells like that have to hit something hard to detonate.
The bomb squad from Onondaga County arrived around noon and examined the shell. They then called Ft. Drum for help.
The Army team arrived about 4:30 p.m. and detonated the shell a couple hours later after clearing the area. No one was hurt. The explosion left a hole in the ground about two feet deep and several feet wide.
Ft. Drum spokesman Maj. Fred Harrell said the U.S. Army’s 760th Explosive Ordnance Disposal team did what it is trained to do here and in combat areas.
“We’re glad they were able to dispose of this ordnance safely for the community,’’ Harrell said.
So was VeVone.
You can reach Scott Rapp at srapp@syracuse.com or 289-4839