The National Smokejumper Quarterly Magazine SmokejumperAssociation April 2004 Inside This Issue: Letters fromfrom aa HeroHero ............................................................................ ............................................................................ 10 I Wish I Could Have Met Willi .......................................................... 16 Events Preceding Mann Gulch ........................................................... 23 CONTENTS Message from Message from the President ......................... 2 Jump to Utah ................................................ 3 A Good Pilot Saves Thirty Lives .................... 4 the President The First C-123 into Landing Site-36 ........... 5 Memories from the Start of members in Colorado are forming Smokejumping ....................................... 6 their own chapter under the Milestones ................................................... 7 leadership of Bill Ruskin. He calls it Featured Life Member Ben Conner .............. 8 a Beeraucracy because of their get- Sounding Off from the Editor ....................... 9 togethers but they also have lined up Heads Up!!!!! ................................................ 9 some trail work in Colorado that Letters from a Hero ................................... 10 they will be pursuing as a group this Indian Smokejumpers ............................... 13 fall. Nice going Bill! Fred Donner On Final ..................................................... 13 has been considering doing the same Off the List ................................................. 14 for the D.C. metropolitan area. Do You Take This Jumper to Be … ? I Do .. 15 Anything that gets our members 2003 Fall Social at the Evergreen together on a more regular basis Museum ............................................... 15 than our big reunions is a plus. I Wish I Could Have Met Willi .................... 16 Hope you read Jon McBride’s Paddy Flats and a Cooling Swim ................. 19 “Trail Maintenance Special Report Odds and Ends ........................................... 20 2003” that you should have received Postholes of Gold ...................................... 21 by Ron Stoleson over the holidays. What a great job Checking the Canopy .................................. 22 (Missoula ’56) in explaining the program and its Can Someone Help? ................................... 22 PRESIDENT accomplishments. It also captures in Events Preceding Mann Gulch .................... 23 THE DAYS AND MONTHS are flying by pictures and words the enjoyment The View from Outside the Fence ............... 25 and in a short while we’ll be shared among the participants while Items from the Fire Pack ........................... 27 gathering in Missoula for the out in the woods together. If you Smokejumpers.com: NSA on the Web ......... 28 reunion. Hope you have sent in your haven’t participated, better give it a Maryott Tribute .......................................... 28 registration. This is going to be a try, but be careful—it can be habit Blast from the Past ..................................... 30 great event and will have to be forming. Crew Action July 2002 ............................... 30 special in order to match the one we We continue to receive more life Touching All Bases ..................................... 33 had in Redding in 2000. I’m sure memberships and are inching closer Chairmen Barry Hicks and Chuck to the 200 we would like to achieve. Wildes are up to the task along with If you can, please consider becoming their many committee members. The a lifer and do it before the reunion. rededication of the Aerial Fire Depot By joining the more than 120 lifers on Saturday will be taking place 50 we already have, you will be assuring years following its original dedica- a solid financial foundation for NSA tion by President Eisenhower in to use in preserving the history of September of 1954. I was in smokejumping and in carrying out SMOKEJUMPER, ISSUE NO. 43, APRIL 2004 Missoula at the time having just its other programs to benefit ISSN 1532-6160 started forestry school at Montana jumpers. And, don’t forget, you’ll Smokejumper is published quarterly by: State University and the papers receive a nifty cap and plaque THE NATIONAL SMOKEJUMPER ASSOCIATION claimed the crowd that showed up C/O 10 JUDY LANE commemorating your membership. was the largest ever assembled in CHICO, CA 95928 See you in Missoula. The opinions of the writers are their own and Montana. Since then, other struc- do not necessarily reflect those of the NSA. tures have been added to the NSA Web site: http://www.smokejumpers.com complex including the Northern Managing Editor: Chuck Sheley Forest Fire Research Laboratory and Did You Lose Your Editing: Jill Leger, Denis Symes most recently the Missoula Technol- Rookie Jump Pin? Illustrators: McElderry Books, Nick Holmes, ogy Development Center. Evergreen Here’s a chance to get it re- Chris Demarest, Ken Morris, Dan Aviation has said they will have the placed. Order item # 132 Veenendaal and Eric Rajala Ford Tri-motor at the reunion and— on the merchandise order Layout/Printing: Larry S. Jackson, Heidelberg who knows?—maybe even a 747 Graphics, www.HeidelbergGraphics.com outfitted for dropping retardant. form. Each pin is $10.00. Cover photo: Willi Unsoeld and his daughter On another subject, NSA Devi. (Courtesy Jolene Unsoeld) Check the NSA Web site 2 www.smokejumpers.com Jump to Utah by Jerry Dixon (McCall ’71) une 29, 1974, 0500. “There is fire on the horizon, we “Rick, when you jump at dawn.” I am trying to rouse the new “Ned” class drop your date off at Jof 1974. Del Catlin has just told us there will be a fire 0400 you don’t get call to Utah, and we need to get the new guys ready. Lynn much sleep, let’s go.” Flock (MYC ’69), Mike Cook (MYC ’68) and myself have Twelve of us load on been trying to roust them, but it is difficult after their Ned the first DC-3 at the party of the night before. Rick Blanton in particular is hav- McCall airport for the ing trouble as he keeps saying, “Oh no, please not today, I just long flight to Utah. It got here.” will be the second fire jump to Utah and only 123456789012345678901234567890 four days after smoke- 123456789012345678901234567890 123456789012345678901234567890 jumpers from six bases 123456789012345678901234567890 jumped a fire in the 12345678901234567890123456789NSA Members — Save 0 123456789012345678901234567890 Uintahs. Whitey 12345678901234567890123456789This Information 0 Heichmeister, our pilot, 123456789012345678901234567890 12345678901234567890123456789Please contact the following persons di- 0 says, “I’ll fly low and 123456789012345678901234567890 you can keep the door Jerry Dixon. (NSA file) 12345678901234567890123456789rectly if you have business or questions: 0 123456789012345678901234567890 off. It is warm enough, 12345678901234567890123456789Smokejumper magazine and merchandise 0 123456789012345678901234567890 with the air circulating it will help them wake up.” 12345678901234567890123456789Articles, obits, change of address, orders 0 Fortunately I got to sleep earlier so I can sit near the door 123456789012345678901234567890 12345678901234567890123456789Chuck Sheley 530-893-0436 0 as we fly over southern Idaho and northern Utah. As a fifth [email protected] 0 generation Utahn, it means a lot to be returning to the state 123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678910 Judy Ln 0 in a jump ship where my ancestors settled in 1860 and the 123456789012345678901234567890 farmhouse is still in my family. We land in Salt Lake City to 12345678901234567890123456789Chico CA 95926 0 123456789012345678901234567890 refuel, and I call my sister to wish her happy birthday. 12345678901234567890123456789Membership 0 Then we board two personnel from the Utah Division of 123456789012345678901234567890 12345678901234567890123456789Fred Cooper 503-391-9144 0 Lands. As this is the second Utah jump ever and the first on [email protected] 0 123456789012345678901234567890 non-Forest Service lands, they want to see how we operate. 12345678901234567890123456789NSA Membership 0 Years later I met one of these men and commented that in my 123456789012345678901234567890 123456789012345678901234567891445 Rainier Loop NW 0 jumper experience I had never seen a non-jumper “observer” 12345678901234567890123456789Salem OR 97304-2079 0 on a jump ship. 123456789012345678901234567890 123456789012345678901234567890 We flew southeast and crossed the Wasatch just south of 12345678901234567890123456789All else 0 Lone Peak and Bald Mountain above Alta. This vista is strik- 12345678901234567890123456789Ron Stoleson 801-782-0218 0 123456789012345678901234567890 ingly familiar to me and seeing it from the open door of a DC- [email protected] 0 123456789012345678901234567890 3 jump ship is thrilling. I grew up skiing Alta, skied for the 12345678901234567890123456789NSA President 0 Alta ski team and trained for University of Utah ski team there. 123456789012345678901234567891236 E 2925 N 0 123456789012345678901234567890 Just east of Alta we started suiting up. 12345678901234567890123456789Ogden UT 84414 0 The “One Eye Fire” was in the White River country of east- 123456789012345678901234567890 12345678901234567890123456789Trail project 0 ern Utah. It was actually on a native reservation, land man- 123456789012345678901234567890 aged by the state of Utah. It was burning in steep canyons so 12345678901234567890123456789Jon