Handle With Care. They Can Still Go 'Boom!'
Marine Corps makes sure a recovered Schenkl artillery shell is safe, hands it over to Liberia House in Manassas, Va., ahead of its 200th birthday bash
Marine Corps makes sure a recovered Schenkl artillery shell is safe, hands it over to Liberia House in Manassas, Va., ahead of its 200th birthday bash
The Liberia House in Manassas, Va., recently received an unwrapped present ahead of its 200th birthday celebration. The hand-delivered item arrived with no fanfare or box, but it did include a rather unique card.
“The following ordnance items have been certified free from bulk explosives, have been certified inert, indicated by an accompanying inert certification.”
U.S. Marines stationed about 25 miles away returned a Civil War Schenkl artillery shell that was found in April by contractors using heavy equipment at a creek near Liberia House, which has a rich history.
“At my request, they did not clean the shell up except to remove loose dirt. So it looks very much like it did when it was discovered, except now it has a big hole in the top from being worked on,” said Mary Helen Dellinger, curator at the city-run Manassas Museum, which manages the historic site.
The fuse was not present at the time of discovery, but Virginia State Police considered the small shell to be a live round. They held it until explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) technicians at Marine Corps Base Quantico could…