Newton Thompson, San Gabriel, California

LOCATION: The National Smokejumper Association hosted the Mann Gulch 75th Anniversary Memorial Tribute for Newton Thompson at the San Gabriel Cemetery on August 6th, 2024. Newton, 23, 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: Erik Hansen (MSO 62)

BIOGRAPHY: Newton was born in Los Angeles, California, on August 22, 1926. He graduated from Alhambra High School and pursued a trade as a tin/copper smith and sheet metal worker. Newton enlisted in the Army Air Corps on November 5, 1945, and attained the rank of private first class. He studied geology at Pomona College and worked for the US Forest Service for two years before joining the smokejumpers in Missoula in 1949.

RELATIVES: Newton had no living relatives attending the ceremony. He had a sister, Patricia, and his grandfather was the former mayor of Alhambra and a California state legislator.

SITE COORDINATOR: Erik Hansen’s connection with the US Forest Service in Montana started with his father, a District Ranger in Idaho and Montana, and his grandfather was the Supervisor of the Lolo National Forest. He jumped for five years out of Missoula and spiked to locations in Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska. Erik coordinated the memorial in San Gabriel, working with the Angeles National Forest staff to provide shade and water for nearly 50 attendees from the Alhambra Fire Department, the San Gabriel Fire Department, and the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Special recognition goes to Chief Robert J. Garcia, Fire Chief of the Angeles National Forest, whose crews, trucks, and equipment made an impressive show of force at the memorial. USFS PSW Regional Aviation Officer and former Redding Base Manager Josh Mathiesen also attended the ceremony for David Navon in Hughson, California.

CEREMONY: Forty-three people signed the tribute registry, and many others were present but did not sign the register. NSA Board of Directors member Denny Breslin led the Pledge of Allegiance and introduced Erik Hansen after briefly describing the national effort to recognize our fallen smokejumper brothers in Helena and twelve other locations nationwide. Erik described the life of a smokejumper, including the rigorous training, difficult jump situations and fire conditions, rugged terrain, and ever-present hazards. One of the most elegant displays was two fresh-flower arrangements creatively designed by Angeles National Forest Fire Admin Specialist Jessica Luna. Out of fresh flowers, Jessica built two poster-sized emblems mounted on tripods on either side of the podium. One was of fresh “Forest Service green and yellow” flowers, cleverly implanted in the shape of a US Forest Service badge. The other was made with a blue flower background, embedded onto an oval-shaped emblem with the wings and parachute from the NSA Smokejumper logo and labeled “Missoula Smokejumpers.”

Erik told the story of Mann Gulch and how the events described in Norman Maclean’s “Young Men and Fire” played out. The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2070 from Monrovia conducted a military gun salute, followed by playing Taps.

RECOGNITION: Smokejumpers in attendance included Erik Hansen (MSO 62); Denny Breslin (NCSB 67); Josh Mathiesen (RDD 94); Paul Williams (RDD 76); Mike Troeger (MYC 81); Ryn Corbeil (MYC 76); Oscar Perez (RDD 01). Denny Breslin read NSA President Mike Bina’s keynote speech, delivered in Helena on the steps of the state capitol building the previous day. He pointed to the special brass medallion that the NSA affixed to each gravestone so anyone who read the inscription would know that Newton Thompson was indeed a hero recognized by the National Smokejumper Association.

BROTHERHOOD: August 6th was a clear, hot, sunny day in Southern California – much like Mann Gulch 75 years before. The ceremony lasted an hour, after which we invited everyone to lunch. Smokejumpers, wildland, and structural firefighters mingled and shared their common experiences fighting fire in today’s hotter, drier, and longer fire seasons. Many conversations erupted, like little spotfires 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 to working on a hand crew or an engine crew in Southern California. Any way you cut it, firefighting is hard, hot, dirty, and sometimes dangerous, but always vital work.

Smokejumping 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 Newton Thompson.