[CPEO-MEF] AIR FORCE PAYS WOMAN FOR ACCIDENTLY BOMBING HER HOUSE

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AIR FORCE PAYS WOMAN FOR ACCIDENTLY BOMBING HER HOUSE
December 27, 2002

EL PASO, Texas (AP) - Gloria Aker got a late Christmas present this week
when the U.S. Air Force agreed to settle a claim for damage it caused
when it accidentally bombed her Monahans home in July.

Aker's West Texas home was hit by a dummy bomb accidentally dropped from
an Air Force F-177A Nighthawk on a practice run from Holloman Air Force
Base in New Mexico.

Although the dummy didn't contain explosives, it pierced the roof of
Aker's home, flew across a bathroom, slammed through a wall into a
closet, then plowed six feet into the ground.

On top of that, a device used to locate the bomb discharged smoke
throughout the house.

Aker was in her home with her two children when the bomb hit. Her
daughter was at her side, but her son was in his bedroom, and she
frantically called through the smoke for him. All three were shaken but
unharmed.

Aker has been living with her parents while her house is repaired. There
are still a few things to be done, such as replacing carpet that the Air
Force ripped up when it retrieved the bomb, but she is getting ready to
move back.

The children, however, don't have the same comfort level they once did
in the house, she said.

"My kids are having a hard time. My son and my daughter, they have
nightmares. They're not too excited about going home," said Aker, who
said she also has bad dreams of something falling from the sky and
triggering flames that engulf her home.

Negotiations to settle her claim dragged on for months, and Aker
believed that the Air Force didn't care about her case. The Air Force
said that wasn't true.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1994&dept_id=339096&newsid=6525166&PAG=461&rfi=9

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