Vietnam-era rocket turns out to be live

CUMBERLAND, Md., Jan. 25 (UPI) -- A Vietnam-era mortar rocket at a Maryland museum was safely detonated Thursday after staff discovered that it was a live one.

The rocket had been on display at the Vietnam Veterans of America museum in Cumberland since it was donated by a veteran two years ago. Roger Krueger, president of Chapter 172 told the Cumberland Times-News that a volunteer spotted the rocket and said that it might not be a "dummy round."

Ryan Chapman, a bomb technician from the state Fire Marshal's Office, was brought in by helicopter from Frederick, where he had been training. He examined the device, and police bomb squad technicians X-rayed it.

Army technicians brought the rocket to a base where it was detonated without incident.

Chapman said that the rocket posed no real danger sitting on a shelf but would have exploded if it had been dropped or if the building had caught fire.

Investigators planned to question the veteran who donated the rocket to find out how it got in his possession.