On Paper Wings - putting Bly on the map

For any of my fellow Southern Oregonians, you may be familiar with the story of the Japanese balloon bomb that landed in Bly and caused the only deaths on the mainland of the U.S. during WWII. But whether you're familiar or not, it's a very compelling story and has recently been made into a documentary here in Portland. The film, "On Paper Wings" screens this weekend at the Hollywood Theatre. As a person not from Bly, but having grown up with a Bly P.O. box (you figure that one out), I'd encourage people to check it out.

"On Paper Wings": Portland filmmaker Ilana Sol's documentary is a quietly effective account of the only fatalities inflicted by the enemy on the U.S. mainland during World War II -- a Japanese paper "balloon bomb" that exploded in 1945 near Bly, Ore., killing a pregnant woman and five children. It gives the perspectives of the survivors and the Japanese schoolgirls who made the balloons, not comprehending the fatal possibilities of their patriotic service.
Saturday-Sunday at Hollywood Theatre