|
Douglas C-47A Skytrain NC24320
Johnson Flying Service
The
collection’s centerpiece is the giant DC-3 that flew smokejumpers to their
deaths in the tragic Mann Gulch fire in 1949.
The
Mann Gulch fire was a wildfire reported on August 5, 1949 in a gulch
located along the upper Missouri River in the Gates of the Mountains Wilderness,
Helena National Forest, in the state of Montana in the United States. A team of
15 smokejumpers parachuted into the area on the afternoon of August 5, 1949 to
fight the fire, rendezvousing with a former smokejumper who was employed as a
fire guard at the nearby campground. As the team approached the fire to begin
fighting it, unexpected high winds caused the fire to suddenly expand, cutting
off the men's route and forcing them back uphill. During the next few minutes, a
"blow-up" of the fire covered 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) in ten
minutes, claiming the lives of 13 firefighters, including 12 of the
smokejumpers. Three of the smokejumpers survived. The fire would continue for
five more days before being controlled.
Those that were killed by the fire:
-
Robert J. Bennett, age 22, from Paris,
Tennessee
-
Eldon E. Diettert, age 19, from Moscow, Idaho,
died on his 19th birthday
-
James O. Harrison, Helena National Forest
Fire Guard, age 20, from Missoula, Montana
-
William J. Hellman, age 24, from Kalispell,
Montana
-
Philip R. McVey, age 22, from Babb, Montana
-
David R. Navon, age 28, from Modesto,
California
-
Leonard L. Piper, age 23, from Blairsville,
Pennsylvania
-
Stanley J. Reba, from Brooklyn, New York
-
Marvin L. Sherman, age 21, from Missoula,
Montana
-
Joseph B. Sylvia, age 24, from Plymouth,
Massachusetts
-
Henry J. Thol, Jr., age 19, from Kalispell,
Montana
-
Newton R. Thompson, age 23, from Alhambra,
California
-
Silas R. Thompson, age 21, from Charlotte,
North Carolina
Those that survived:
-
R. Wagner (Wag) Dodge, Missoula SJ foreman,
age 33 at the time of the fire. Wag died 5 years after the fire from
Hodgkin's disease.
-
Walter B. Rumsey, age 21 at time of the fire,
from Larned, Kansas. Rumsey died in an airplane crash in 1980, age 52.
-
Robert W. Sallee, youngest man on the crew,
age 17 at time of the fire, from Willow Creek, Montana. Last survivor of the
smoke jumpers. Died on May 29th, 2014.
Source:
Wikipedia |
