A construction crew performing work at the Lowcountry Regional Airport dug up an unexploded bomb believed to be an 81mm mortar Thursday afternoon May 21.
Colleton County Sheriff’s deputies and Fire-Rescue units responded to the property and stood by until bomb technicians from the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office and Air Force Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit arrived.
Bomb techs examined the device and checked it thoroughly before securing the mortar and safely removing it from the airport. No one was injured during the operation.
During World War II, the airport property was a military airbase used by the U.S. Army Air Corps as a training facility for bomber and fighter pilots.
The famous Tuskegee Airmen were stationed there. The facility also housed German prisoners of war and was one of the largest camouflage schools in the U.S.
