Story Archive

Darlene’s Dud

No one inside Darlene’s Tavern in Sudlersville, Md., even noticed when a bomb was dropped on the bar’s parking lot, but someone noticed the cloud out the window and yelled that a car was on fire. There was no fire, and once the dust settled everyone went back to drinking. But bar owner Lena Hartlove went out and found a hole “so deep and wide and everything” she called the police. “The bomb was down so deep they ended up digging it out with a backhoe,” she said. And once it was determined to be a bomb, police ordered the bar closed, and everyone went home. It turned out to be a 35-lb. inert practice bomb, which was accidentally dropped from a National Guard warplane during a training exercise. (RC/Easton Star Democrat) ...Of course the bar patrons were unconcerned: they were there for the sole purpose of getting bombed.