David Navon – Hughson, California

LOCATION: The National Smokejumper Association hosted the Mann Gulch 75th Anniversary Memorial Tribute for David Navon at the Lakewood Memorial Park Cemetery in Hughson, California, on August 5th, 2024. David, 28, died August 5, 1949, along with twelve other Missoula smokejumpers in the Mann Gulch Fire. James Harrison was formerly a Missoula smokejumper but was a fireguard at Meriwether Campground when he died.

NSA Board Member: Denny Breslin (NCSB 69)
Site Coordinator: Mark Nelson (IDC 68)

BIOGRAPHY: David was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on December 10, 1920. His father, employed by International Harvester, moved back to the US and settled near Modesto in 1935. He graduated high school in 1938 and signed up for the National Guard. When WWII broke out, David completed OCS and joined the 82nd Airborne as a Second Lieutenant. He made one combat jump into Holland and received the Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. After recovering from his wounds, he was released from the Army in 1946 as a First Lieutenant. David completed his Forestry Degree at UC Berkeley in 1949 and joined the Smokejumpers in Missoula, Montana. He served two seasons with the USFS and, at 28, was one of the older jumpers on the Mann Gulch crew. He planned to get his master’s degree in forestry to strengthen his qualifications for a USFS or land management career. David loved going to museums, reading books, and collecting stamps. VIEW ORIGINAL OBITUARY

RELATIVES: David had no living relatives attending, but since David was Jewish, we asked Rachel Roseman from Congregation Beth Shalom in Modesto to honor David’s heritage with a presentation of the Twenty-third Psalm.

SITE COORDINATOR: Mark Nelson started his jumping career in 1968 after witnessing Smokejumpers parachute into a fire that he had hiked 10 hours to reach and realized there was a much better way to get to a fire! Mark opened by telling the story of the Mann Gulch tragedy and about his journey to jumping fire. He explained how smokejumpers are selected, trained, and dispatched to fires. He worked with cemetery staff to invite representatives from the Hughson and Denair Fire Departments, as well as the Ceres Honor Guard from American Legion Post 872. The fire departments deployed a ladder truck to hold a large American Flag, and the American Legion honored David with a 21-gun salute and a moving rendition of Taps.

CEREMONY: There were 18 attendees who signed the tribute registry and more who were present but did not sign the register. NSA Board of Directors member Denny Breslin led the Pledge of Allegiance and introduced Mark Nelson after briefly describing the national effort to recognize our fallen smokejumper brothers in Helena and twelve other locations nationwide. Mark eloquently described the life of a smokejumper, including the rigorous training, difficult jump situations and fire conditions, rugged terrain, and ever-present hazards. Mark provided poster- sized maps of Mann Gulch and the path taken by Wag Dodge and the crew, which helped bring to life the difficulty of the terrain, heat, and wind-driven fire that chased the jumpers uphill from the turnaround spot.

RECOGNITION: All smokejumpers were asked to name their rookie base and year: Mark Nelson (IDC 68); Denny Breslin (NCSB 69); Josh Mathiesen (RDD 94); Milt Fredenburg (MSO 67); Ken Rosenberg (CJ 57); and David Howse (MSO 75). USFS PSW Regional Aviation Officer and former Redding Base Manager Josh Mathiesen also attended the ceremony for Newton Thompson in San Gabriel. Denny Breslin read NSA President Mike Bina’s keynote speech, delivered in Helena at nearly the same time on the steps of the state capitol building. He pointed to the special brass medallion funded by Dr. Milt Fredenburg, who was present – that the NSA affixed to each gravestone so anyone who read the inscription would know that David Navon was, indeed, a hero recognized by the National Smokejumper Association.

BROTHERHOOD: August 5th was a clear, hot, sunny day in Central California – much like Mann Gulch on August 5th 75 years ago. The ceremony lasted an hour, and we invited everyone to lunch following the ceremony. Smokejumpers and wildland firefighters mingled and shared their everyday experiences fighting fire in today’s hotter, drier, and longer fire seasons. Many conversations erupted, like little spot fires around the room, about the pay, long hours, and career paths – issues in common with today’s firefighters. We shared the uniqueness of parachuting into wilderness areas to fight wildfire, comparing similarities and differences to working on a hand crew or engine crew in California. Any way you cut it, firefighting is hard, hot, dirty, and sometimes dangerous, but always important work.

Smokejumper’s initial attack into areas considered “too steep and too rough” by many of today’s fire managers was a revelation to many who had never spoken with a smokejumper before. Our fellowship and camaraderie reinforced a common bond of respect that added meaning to the events of the day, honoring David Navon.