LOCATION: The National Smokejumper Association hosted the Mann Gulch 75th Anniversary Memorial Tribute for Silas Raymond Thompson Jr., 21, who 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. The ceremony was held at the Evergreen Cemetery in Charlotte, North Carolina, on August 12, 2024.

Site Coordinator and NSA Board Member: Mike Bina (MSO 68)

BIOGRAPHY: Silas Raymond Thompson Jr. Raymond was born March 11, 1928, in Charlotte, North Carolina, to Dr. Silas Raymond Thompson and Mary Entwistle Thompson. Ray had a younger sister named Johan. Raymond attended Central High School in Charlotte. Immediately after graduation, he entered North Carolina State College in Raleigh, where he was a student in the Forestry School until June of 1946. That summer, he got a job through the college working for the Forest Service as a fire lookout atop Copper Butte Mountain in Washington State. He loved the outdoors, hunting, fishing, trapping, camping, hiking, and skiing in the west. He was what we would call an adrenaline junkie today, loving life and living and being in touch with nature. There is no better expression of his affection for nature than his poem for the “woodsman” in him…

To benefit from the post-WWII GI Bill, he joined the Army in September of 1946. He completed paratrooper training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and was assigned to the 11th Airborne Division “Angels,” where he served in occupied Japan after the war. Thompson was honorably discharged from the Army in February 1948.

Using the G.I. Bill, he entered the forestry program at Montana State University in Missoula, which became the University of Montana in 1965. Raymond trained as a smokejumper in the early summer of 1948 at the Nine Mile Ranger Station west of Missoula. Following the 1949 school year, Raymond attended six weeks of annual active-duty training with the U.S. Army Reserves, affectionately referred to as “Army camp” by his sister Johan. Then, he rejoined the smokejumpers at the end of July and completed refresher training. When the Mann Gulch Fire started, he was on call at the Missoula jump base. On August 5th, at age 21, he was among the DC-3 loads that jumped into Mann Gulch that fateful day.

RELATIVES: Nineteen family members attended the ceremony, including Frances Bobbie and Artie Newcombe, Raymond’s niece and nephew, respectively, Spence and Josie Newcombe, Justin Peers, and Jack and Wanda Entwistle.

CEREMONY: It was a typical beautiful North Carolina hot, sunny day. The history of the Mann Gulch fire was reviewed. The family shared touching, humorous, and colorful stories of Raymond’s adventurous spirit, his love of smokejumping, skiing, black-diamond runs, and his service during WWII as an army airborne paratrooper and in general — living life to its fullest.

Frances Bobbie and Artie Newcombe, Raymond’s niece and nephew, respectively, spoke about the devasting impact his death at Mann Gulch had on their grandfather and grandmother. They never fully recovered from the tragedy. The family expressed appreciation to the National Smokejumper Association and to the six smokejumpers who came to pay tribute. The family invited all participants for lunch at a very unique casual restaurant in Charlotte.

The group was treated to multiple North Carolina regionally unique appetizers, including fried green tomatoes. Everyone enjoyed beverages from the bar and the South’s “Sweet Tea.” Even though some smokejumpers had a 3-to-4-hour drive back home, no one was in a hurry to get back on the road to return home. The camaraderie connected them, and time passed quickly as everyone enjoyed the stories. The families were treated to “smokejumper tall tales.” There was much laughter—and, in some cases, amazement. I watched Raymond’s family listening to the stories. I got the distinct impression that they were witnessing the unique culture that Raymond was a part of – but, unfortunately, tragically departed from so early.

Eleven members of the Charlotte American Legion Color Guard provided military honors with a rifle volley and the playing of Taps, adding to the solemness of the moment.

RECOGNITION: Smokejumpers in attendance included NSA President and site coordinator Mike Bina (MSO 68), George Battaglia (RAC 78), Dick Blackwood (CJ 79), Dick Fort (FBX 80), Orrin Pilke (MSO 53), and Bob Kemper (NCSB 67). A special NSA brass medallion was affixed to the gravestone so anyone who read the inscription would know that Silas Ray Thompson Jr. was, indeed, a hero recognized by the National Smokejumper Association.

A WOODSMAN’S PRAYER
Let me breathe the clean, pure air
That blows only in the wilder places
Send me far from the tainted cities
Packed tight with mongrel races.

Let me quench my thirst
In pure crystalline springs
That bubble from the living rock
Shadowed only by an eagle’s wings.

Let me follow the untrod trail
Roaming freely till the end of my days
And watch the dusty red sun
Set the heavens and mountains ablaze.

Let me, alone, eager and forever,
Follow and fight the naked wild
And when I die, mark me down
For what I am nature’s Child.
—

S. Raymond Thompson, Jr.
1928-1949