Smokejumper, Issue No. 57, October 2007
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The National Smokejumper Quarterly Magazine SmokejumperAssociation October 2007 A Leap of Faith ................................................................................3 A Tribute to Fred Brauer ................................................................23 Revisiting the Mongolian Smokejumpers .......................................33 CONTENTS Message from Message from the President ......................... 2 A Leap of Faith ............................................. 3 Sounding Off from the Editor ....................... 5 the President A Favorite Forest .......................................... 6 Smoke Jumpers of Silver City ....................... 8 Odds and Ends ........................................... 13 with over 400 total and counting. NSA Highway Pickup .................................. 14 She’s the leader of over 200 female Smokejumping 1975–1995 ........................ 16 Checking the Canopy .................................. 19 jumpers since the first female, Paperlegs Peterson—A Most Generous Deanne Shulman, McCall, back in Person ................................................. 19 the day…well, early 80s. I also want The View from Outside the Fence ............... 22 to thank all of those who donated A Tribute to Fred Brauer ............................ 23 items for the silent auction and The Redding Class of 1964 and Rich Farmer ................................................. 25 raffle. It was a huge success. Pioneering Smokejumper Ed Thorsrud This has been quite the year for Wasn’t Easily Rattled ............................ 26 reunions. Redding, in May, was NSA Offers Gift Membership ...................... 27 attended by more than 300, Boise NSA Trail Crew ........................................... 28 with more than 700, and the NCSB Smokejumpers Help Forest Service Memorialize Mann Gulch ..................... 28 reunion with more than 400 gave Hall Mountain Lookout .............................. 29 by Doug Houston everyone a chance to catch up on old Items from the Fire Pack ........................... 30 (Redmond ’73) friendships and make a lot of new Leave CJ for Redmond? Traitor?................. 32 PRESIDENT ones. Next year will see one at Revisiting the Mongolian Smokejumpers ... 33 McCall and, hopefully, Redmond. Off the List ................................................. 34 Family and Friends of Gene DeBruin Critical MY HAT’S OFF TO THE Boise Reunion So, until then, the door is yours. of Herzog’s Film, Rescue Dawn ........... 36 Committee and all of those who Your static line is clear, there is 100 Highlights of and Reflections on Boise’s helped in making the reunion a great yards of drift, and the whole world is 2007 Reunion ...................................... 37 success. Over 700 people sat for a jump spot. Have a great one. Thanks for a Great Reunion ....................... 38 Redding Smokejumpers Celebrate 50th dinner on Saturday night after a full Anniversary .......................................... 39 day of touring, golfing, running, or Advisory Resource Board—Members, We just hanging out catching up on old Need You! ............................................ 40 stories. We also had two mixed loads Please Tell Us of jumps with both rounds and When You squares making it close to the spot. The reunion was capped off with the Change Your Sunday morning Memorial with over Address 300 in attendance, services led by The postal service does Leo Cromwell and Stan Tate. All in all, it was a fun-filled weekend. NOT forward your copy of Smokejumper when you SMOKEJUMPER, ISSUE NO. 57, OCTOBER 2007 There were some people who ISSN 1532-6160 should have been recognized during move or leave home for an Smokejumper is published quarterly by: the Saturday night program and extended time period. It is THE NATIONAL SMOKEJUMPER ASSOCIATION some a little more than they were. returned to us and the C/O 10 JUDY LANE One of those, Linda Bass, did an CHICO, CA 95926 outstanding job with her artwork for NSA is charged an The opinions of the writers are their own and the programs, t-shirts, and additional first class do not necessarily reflect those of the NSA. Per- mission to reproduce Smokejumper in any man- placemats. It’s a great design and will postage fee. With 30–40 ner must first be obtained in writing. be worn for a long time as many returns per mailing it gets NSA Web site: http://www.smokejumpers.com people purchased the shirts. Thanks, expensive and takes a lot of Linda, you’ve got a great gift. Others Managing Editor: Chuck Sheley time. Please let Chuck Editing: Ed Booth, Bill Fogarty, Johnny Kirkley, who were going to be recognized Jill Leger, and K. G. Sheley were Dale Longanecker, NCSB and Sheley know if you have Illustrators: McElderry Books, Nick Holmes, Wally Wasser, Boise, who are in a any change in your Chris Demarest, Ken Morris, Dan tight race for the most jumps, both Veenendaal, and Eric Rajala mailing address. His fire and total jumps. Both have over contact information is on Printing: Larry S. Jackson, Heidelberg 300 fire jumps and over 700 total. Graphics, www.HeidelbergGraphics.com page three. Cover photo: Russain smokejumpers by Valery The female jumper with the most Korotkov jumps is Robin Embry, Grangeville, Check the NSA Web site 2 www.smokejumpers.com A Leap Of Faith Former smokejumper spearheads effort to turn a closed base near Cave Junction into a museum honoring the airborne firefighters. by Paul Fattig Originally printed in the Medford Mail Tribune February 19, 2007. Used with permission from the Mail Tribune and MailTribune.com, publications of The Mail Tribune Newspapers, Inc. ary Buck (CJ-66) crouched in the doorway of the C-45 “Twin Beech” airplane, looking down as a Gfellow smokejumper dropped like a rock until his parachute caught air. This would be Buck’s first jump on a forest fire. And it would be in the extremely rugged and remote Illinois River drainage in what was then the 2-year-old Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area deep in the Siskiyou National Forest. “I was scared,” the veteran smokejumper freely acknowl- 123456789012345678901234567890 123456789012345678901234567890 123456789012345678901234567890 12345678901234567890123456789NSA Members — Save 0 123456789012345678901234567890 123456789012345678901234567890 12345678901234567890123456789This Information 0 123456789012345678901234567890 12345678901234567890123456789Please contact the following persons di- 0 123456789012345678901234567890 12345678901234567890123456789rectly if you have business or questions: 0 123456789012345678901234567890 12345678901234567890123456789Smokejumper magazine 0 12345678901234567890123456789Articles, obits, change of address 0 123456789012345678901234567890 12345678901234567890123456789Chuck Sheley 530-893-0436 0 123456789012345678901234567890 [email protected] 0 123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678910 Judy Ln 0 Gary Buck (Courtesy Roy Musitelli/Mail Tribune photo) 12345678901234567890123456789Chico, CA 95926 0 123456789012345678901234567890 12345678901234567890123456789Membership 0 edges of his first jump in the summer of 1966. 123456789012345678901234567890 “When you are out there looking down from 1,000 feet 12345678901234567890123456789John McDaniel 785-668-2093 0 123456789012345678901234567890 up, the terrain looks rough and scary,” he adds. “There are [email protected] 0 lots of hazards. Snags. Big rocks.” 123456789012345678901234567890 12345678901234567890123456789P.O. Box 105 0 Buck never regretted taking that flying leap into a 17- 12345678901234567890123456789Falun, KS 67442-0105 0 123456789012345678901234567890 year airborne firefighting career that began at the Siskiyou 12345678901234567890123456789All else 0 Smokejumper Base, the first U.S. Forest Service 123456789012345678901234567890 12345678901234567890123456789Doug Houston 406-844-0326 0 smokejumper base in Oregon when it opened in 1943. 123456789012345678901234567890 Buck is the president of the Siskiyou Smokejumper Base [email protected] 0 123456789012345678901234567890 Museum Project, a nonprofit group whose mission is to 12345678901234567890123456789NSA President 0 establish a smokejumper museum at the base which closed 12345678901234567890123456789P.O. Box 1022 0 123456789012345678901234567890 in 1981. The group’s nomination resulted in the base being 12345678901234567890123456789Lakeside, MT 59922 0 named to the National Register of Historic Places last 123456789012345678901234567890 12345678901234567890123456789Trails Project 0 November. 123456789012345678901234567890 12345678901234567890123456789Jon McBride 406-728-2302 0 The base is located at the Illinois Valley Airport about a 123456789012345678901234567890 half-dozen miles south of Cave Junction. [email protected] 0 123456789012345678901234567890 During a recent walk through the base’s old headquarters and parachute loft, Buck talked about those with whom he Smokejumper base abbreviations: Missoula ........... MSO spent 17 summers leaping out of perfectly good airplanes. Anchorage ......... ANC Grangeville ....... GAC Redding ............ RDD Boise ................ NIFC Idaho City ......... IDC Redmond ...........RAC From the Siskiyou base, they would jump fires from Alaska Cave Junction ....... CJ La Grande ......... LGD West Yellowstone WYS to Virginia, although most of their battles would be in the Fairbanks ........... FBX McCall .............. MYC Winthrop ........ NCSB