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A century after WWI, munitions still making way onto beaches

Published March 30,2018
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It's been 100 years since World War I ended, yet munitions from that and other wars continue to surface on beaches around the United States.

Items ranging from tiny fuses to full-scale mines are displaced by beach replenishment projects, sucked from the ocean floor and pumped ashore, or by strong storms that uncover them.

The most recent discovery came earlier this month when seven World War I rifle grenades were found on the beach in Mantoloking, New Jersey, which is undergoing a beach replenishment project to undo damage from Superstorm Sandy more than five years ago.

Many of the items were simply dumped overboard at the end of World Wars I and II; others remain from military drills or target practice.

They've been discovered in at least 16 states from New Jersey to Hawaii.