Warning: Be fully forewarned. At the end of this article, you will be asked to volunteer to honor, in a special way, the smokejumpers who died on August 5, 1949, in the line of duty on the Mann Gulch Fire.
Norman Maclean, in his book Young Men and Fire wrote, “The Mann Gulch smokejumpers were young and did not leave much behind them and need someone to remember them.”
Bob Sallee (MSO-49), one of three survivors of Mann Gulch Fire, aptly said at the Mann Gulch 70th Anniversary memorial:
“It is time to rededicate ourselves to the memory of these fine young men and the lesson they best taught us, that wildfires are, and always will be, dangerous and we must respect its potential to put a fire fighter in harm’s way. Life is precious and for some very short.”
When I read Norman Maclean’s book Young Men and Fire, I noted that Silas Raymond Thompson (MSO-48), one of the 13 Mann Gulch fatalities, was from Charlotte, North Carolina, a city in which I was living. I discovered that his grave was only eight miles from my home and that I had driven past the cemetery thousands of times. I Googled “Silas Raymond Thompson” and found a wonderful 54-minute video on his life, entitled Death at Mann Gulch, which I highly recommend you watch.
Watching the video, I was “blown away” to discover that Raymond went to the same elementary school in Charlotte where I was teaching blind students part-time. Even more amazing was that his home was only three houses north of the school. I recognized his home immediately in the video as I walked past it many times teaching my blind students to travel independently in the neighborhood.
When I visited his grave, I experienced many emotions that are near impossible to describe. I felt a distinct kinship to him being a fellow smokejumper. While we both were trained in Missoula 19 years apart, we very likely did our training jumps at Nine Mile and perhaps, after work hours, frequented the same popular Missoula “watering holes” in search of young Missoula co-eds. I am sure he was more successful than I.
I found it coincidental that we walked the same Eastover Elementary School hallways. We also shared the commonality that we were both U.S. Army Airborne soldiers, with Raymond being Airborne trained first and then a smokejumper and I, first a smokejumper and then Army Airborne. He no doubt did those long Airborne training runs, as I did, singing the cadence, “I want to be an Airborne Ranger, I want to live the life of danger, all the way, Airborne,” and no doubt also did 12,007 pushups.
Even though we had many similar experiences and commonalities, what really hit me hard was how we differed. After his fate at Mann Gulch, he returned home but was buried there at age 21. Yet, I was privileged and fortunate to go on with my life. He, unlike me, never married, had children and a career, traveled, or enjoyed a full life, including having the delight of grandchildren. That made me sad for him and his family. As I stood at his grave site, it struck me– “This could have been me.”
Wayne Williams (MSO ’77) did a superb job organizing the 50th Mann Gulch Anniversary Memorial. Wayne put me in touch with Raymond’s niece and nephew, who were born after Raymond died. They individually shared with me how devastating Raymond’s untimely death was on their family. They described how Raymond’s parents’ lives were shaken, and that his mother and father never recovered from the tragedy of losing a son at such a young age.
Despite the passage of 73 years, Raymond’s death and his loss were very much fresh on their minds. They both talked fondly of “Uncle Raymond” and his love of “all things outdoors.” He loved hunting, trapping, fishing, and how perfectly smokejumping aligned with his love of adventure and fit his lifestyle interests. They also talked about his poetry that described his smokejumping experience. Talking with Raymond’s niece and nephew, it was apparent that his loss will forever be felt, and the deep wound will never fully heal. Yet, on the other hand, the positive memories of jumpers like Raymond are forever safeguarded and passed down to the generations that follow.
I was driven to learn more about Raymond, who went by his middle name. One day after school, I knocked on the door of the house in which he grew up. I introduced myself to a young 35-year-old woman who answered the door. In 25 words, I reassured her that I was not selling “home or car warranties” or Fuller Brushes but was a teacher at the nearby elementary school. I explained that the house she recently purchased was the former home of a smokejumper who died in the Mann Gulch Fire in 1949. She smiled and said that the previous owner shared with them this legendary story.
Explaining that I was a former smokejumper, I was immediately invited into her home. I entered the home feeling that perhaps I shouldn’t be intruding, but my hostess was most welcoming and fully understood my intent. I shared with her that Raymond’s funeral service uncharacteristically was in the home’s large backyard versus the family’s church. My hostess insisted that we go in the backyard. As I stood there, I envisioned the extreme sadness of the family and that Raymond, the smokejumper, literally returned home before his burial in a nearby cemetery.
His grave, in a beautiful Charlotte cemetery, was marked by a large granite tombstone. I paid my respects, bowed my head, and tried to “put my feet in the family’s shoes” processing their loss. While I knew that buried in the grave was a smokejumper, there was no indication of his being one, or that he died in the line of duty. As I walked back to my car, my eyes were drawn to numerous six-to-eight-inch bronze American Legion or Veteran of Foreign War grave markers for U.S. military veterans. In sharing this experience with other smokejumpers, the idea was generated that for the 75 th Anniversary, an NSA member or members would visit the individual grave site of each of the 13 Mann Gulch jumpers throughout the United States on August 5, 2024. The purpose would be to pay respects by marking their graves, supporting the families, and communicate to them “we remember.”
The idea evolved to include inviting families of each jumper and developing a short memorial program. The program would include a written handout detailing the historical account of the fire, a verbal tribute to the individual smokejumper, the laying of a wreath, and a presentation of a brass memorial grave marker, if the local cemetery allows such.
Fred Cooper (NCSB-62), who serves on the NSA board of directors, is a member of the Helena National Forest 75 th Anniversary Mann Gulch Memorial Committee. Fred took the proposed idea to the organizing committee, and they approved the idea as a component part of the anniversary activities. The proposal was also taken to the NSA Board of Directors, and they approved the initiative.
The Helena-Lewis and Clark NF plans to have Ms. Montana, the plane that dropped the Mann Gulch jumpers, do a fly over and drop wreaths. The NSA has agreed to fund replacing the grave markers placed at Mann Gulch. While the Helena/LC NF is planning many other local public events as part of their memorial activities in and around Helena, this NSA project reaches out throughout the United States to the families in their home communities where the Mann Gulch fatalities are buried.
Two companies were asked to design a grave site marker like the markers that the American Legion and VFW places on the graves of U.S. military veterans who died in the line of duty or served in a branch of the U.S. military.
The cost of each marker is $93 plus shipping. The NSA Grants Committee solicited funding for this project. Milt Fredenberg (MSO -67) graciously made a donation to fund the 13 markers for the Mann Gulch jumpers, including the other 20 jumpers detailed in Chuck Sheley’s (CJ-59) “Smokejumpers who have been Killed in the Line of Duty” website article.
The NSA later, in due course and with time and volunteer availability, plans to expand the reach of this Phase I Mann Gulch proposal. Phase II would be to recognize the other 20 smokejumpers who have died in the line of duty on other fires. Phase III would allow smokejumpers or their families to purchase these markers to recognize smokejumper service.
The markers can be attached onto a ground stake or to a cemetery headstone or footstone memorial. If the cemetery doesn’t allow these placements, the committee will abide by their rule. In this case, the family will be offered the marker for them to decide if they wish to place it in another meaningful memorial location.
Larry Lufkin (CJ-63) provided the committee a spreadsheet of the names of NSA members who reside in or live near the cities where the Mann Gulch jumpers are buried. The committee will be contacting these jumpers and ask that they visit the graves on or about August 5, 2024. The Mann Gulch jumpers, their ages, hometown, and the cemetery in which they are buried follow:
- Robert J. Bennett, 22, Maplewood Cemetery, Paris, Tennessee
- Eldon E. Diettert, 19, who died on his birthday, from Moscow, Idaho, buried in Missoula Cemetery, Missoula, MT
- James O. Harrison, 20, from Missoula, buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Missoula, MT
- William J. Hellman, 24, from Kalispell, Montana, buried in C.E. Conrad Memorial Cemetery, Kalispell, MT
- Philip R. McVey, 22, from Babb, Montana, buried in Ronan Cemetery, Ronan, MT
- David R. Navon, 28, from Modesto, California, buried in Lakewood Memorial Park, Hughson, California
- Leonard L. Piper, 23, from Blairsville, Pennsylvania, buried in Bethel Cemetery, Mansfield, Pennsylvania
- Stanley J. Reba, from Brooklyn, New York, buried in Long Island National Cemetery, East Farmingdale, New York
- Marvin L. “Dick” Sherman, 21, from Missoula, Montana, buried in Lone Pine Cemetery, Darby, Montana
- Joseph B. Sylvia, 24, from Plymouth, Massachusetts, buried in St. Joseph’s Cemetery, Plymouth, Massachusetts
- Henry J. Thol Jr., 19, from Kalispell, Montana, C.E. Conrad Memorial Cemetery, Kalispel, Montana
- Newton R. Thompson, 23, from Alhambra, California, buried in San Gabriel Cemetery, San Gabriel, California
- Silas Raymond Thompson, 21, from Charlotte, North Carolina, buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Charlotte, North Carolina
Millie Heister of Kalispell, who is sister of Mann Gulch smokejumper William Hellman, after reading the August 5, 1999, feature story in the Daily Inter Lake newspaper about the 70th anniversary of the Mann Gulch wildfire felt grateful that the 13 young men who died that day were not being forgotten. The article reported that “her love for her long-dead brother remains palpable.” Mille recalled “This was a really hard time for my family. I want people to know Willie was a good father, a good husband, and a wonderful brother.
A committee will develop a written brochure of the Mann Gulch tragedy, invite family members, provide funding for the flowers, and send the grave markers to the smokejumpers who volunteer to visit the graves. The local and national media will be invited to do feature stories on Mann Gulch jumpers buried across the United States. In addition, Chuck Sheley will publish photos of each of the grave visitations in Smokejumper magazine.
As former NSA President Jim Cherry (MSO-57) said, “As ‘Keepers of the Flame,’ we in the NSA must forever honor and remember the loss of our fellow jumpers whose lives were ended short in the line of duty protecting our natural resources. We must have ‘long memories.'”
If you live in or near any of these cities and are interested in representing the National Smokejumper Association by visiting the gravesites to pay respects on or about August 5, 2024, please email or call Mike Bina at beanuh1@yahoo.com or 704.905.3399.
