In a 1994 article, “Wars’ Lethal Leftovers Threaten Europeans,” Associated Press reporter Christopher Burns writes: “The bombs of World War II are still killing in Europe. They turn up—and sometimes blow up—at construction sites, in fishing nets, or on beaches fifty years after the guns fell silent.
“Hundreds of tons of explosives are recovered every year in France alone. Thirteen old bombs exploded in France last year, killing twelve people and wounding eleven, the Interior Ministry said.
“‘I’ve lost two of my colleagues,’ said Yvon Bouvet, who heads a government team in the Champagne-Ardennes region that defuses explosives from both World War I and II.... ‘Unexploded bombs become more dangerous with time,’ Bouvet said. ‘With the corrosion inside, the weapon becomes more unstable, the detonator can be exposed.’”
What is true of lingering bombs is also true of lingering anger. Buried anger will explode when we least expect it.