Green Castle Indiana Courthouse Square.............

The "Buzz Bomb" is back. The World War II-era V-1 bomb originally situated outside the courthouse is back after nearly two years of extensive restoration.

While local attorney J. Frank Durham was training for the Navy in Stumpneck, Md., he received orders to destroy a roomful of obsolete enemy arms recovered after the war. Durham considered that most civilians would never have the opportunity to see these relics of war, so he suggested they be preserved for display - a possibility his lieutenant said would "take an act of Congress."

So Durham went to Congress. With the help of Sen. William Jenner and Rep. Noble Johnson, a train-load of obsolete military supplies were donated to the local Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) chapter. The V-1 was chosen to stand out and was prepped for exhibition. A pair of Japanese guns were also put on display in front of the VFW. The rest of the items remain unaccounted for.

The family of Sen. William Hoadley donated the bomb's limestone support. It was designed by Arthur Perry, DePauw University's former Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds.

The VFW was denied memorial space in Robe Anne Park, so the group chose the southwest corner of the courthouse, with the promise that the display should be educational, since the device is the forerunner of guided missile warfare. The German-engineered buzz bomb was officially dedicated on Armistice Day 1949 and has been a fixture on the square ever since.

H/T Nebraska Bob