A Bazooka Birthday for Mississippi Boy

Moselle, Mississippi An 11-year old boy's birthday was made even more special after a visit from a U.S. Army EOD Team. The Jones County Sheriff's Department (JCSD) responded to the scene after the 11-year-old pulled a suspicious item from the mud by a creek near his home.

The fifth grader said, "I thought it was a pipe, but I grabbed it and I found a missile from Russia." He wanted to keep it, but his alarmed parents wisely notified authorities.

Once on the scene, JCSD contacted the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, who dispatched the EOD Team from Fort Polk, LA. The device turned out to be a spent training round from an M29 bazooka.

The boy told reporters that he "was kind of sad" that it wasn't a live round because he wanted to see something get blown up. However, it did make his birthday his favorite and most memorable one yet.

Fortunately the birthday bazooka was inert. In September, a Howitzer round that had been dumped in a Moselle scrapyard exploded and killed a 35 year old Jarrell Recycling employee.

Sheriff Joe Berlin said, "Once again, we greatly appreciate the ordnance disposal team and ATF coming up here to assist with this. We have a great partnership with these federal agencies, and we appreciate them for all they do."