User Reviews

I saw this documentary at the 2008 International Film Festival in Tacoma, WA. The film-maker was present at the festival, and she sold me a DVD which I have donated to my local library. It is a well researched and produced account of one way in which the Japanese tried to derail America's WW II effort.

The Japanese knew that the prevailing westerly winds could be used to carry a balloon-based weapon to our west coast. So,they formulated a plan to send fire bombs to damage our forests. Schoolgirls were enlisted to make parts for the balloons.

The girls proceeded to do their patriotic duty, but after the war when they learned that only one of the bombs had done damage, and that it had killed innocent children in Oregon, they made contact with our authorities and later visited to apologize for their actions. The film shows a remembrance ceremony. The anti-war message is unavoidable. Everyone should see this film.

"On Paper Wings" (2008) is a documentary about something most people never would know occurred. In the middle months of 1945, when Japan was realizing that they were not winning WWII, a number of Japanese school girls, ranging in age from as young as 7, and basically only to an age of little more than 10, were conscripted to make the foundation balloons for large craft balloons that would be connected to massive pyrotechnic devices which would explode when the balloons would come down onto land at their final destination. There were approximately 900 of these made; they were then launched, and they drifted toward the United States' West coast. Several made it there, and, in fact, at least one drifted as far as Minnesota. A couple of them exploded with devastating results. The United States military has only released information on a couple of the ones that exploded. How many actually did may never be known. How many actually made it here may never be known. The families who suffered - those whose members and relatives were killed - were forbidden to talk about the occurrences. Absolutely forbidden! As a result, Japan thought that their attempt had failed, and they then ceased to try to send any more balloons to explode in America. Only a couple of months later Nagasaki and Hiroshima occurred, and the war ended.

This documentary is fascinating because it shows a reconciliation among the members of the families whose members were killed in Oregon and the actual ladies who were forced in Japan to make the balloons - those young school girls, most of whom never knew their project had had some success. This reconciliation took place approximately 40 years after the balloons killed those in Oregon. The documentary shows much of the meeting between the two groups, and it interviews several of the ladies - on both sides. The attack is considered the only on-land attack in the US by a foreign invader during WWII.

My sister-in-law, Judith Hassen, participated in the making of this documentary and is given two credits at the end. She was once a member of the staff of Klamath, Oregon Museum.

Finding this documentary may not be an easy thing; however, its little more than an hour length is worth the time if you have an interest in WWII and things that are kept very secret from the public.