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DTSTAMP:20260828T074915Z
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SUMMARY:Veteran's Day-1pm Dismissal
DESCRIPTION:Historical Summary:
\nOn the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 1
 1th month of 1918\, an armistice\, or temporary cessation of hostilities\, 
 was declared between the Allied nations and Germany in the First World War\
 , then known as The Great War. Commemorated as Armistice Day beginning the 
 following year\, November 11th became a legal federal holiday in the United
  States in 1938. In the aftermath of World War II and the Korean War\, Armi
 stice Day became Veteran’s Day\, a holiday dedicated to American veterans
  of all wars.
\n
\nCelebrating this holiday brings to mind the many connect
 ions the military has with the mission of firefighting for the land managem
 ent agencies. This offers an opportunity to learn more about our military c
 oworkers and our interesting and intertwined past.
\n
\nThe use of military
  resources in wildland fire suppression began August 20\, 1886\, as the Arm
 y led troops into Yellowstone National Park where forest fires had raged fo
 r months. The men were ordered to battle the flames\, beginning the federal
  government’s role in forest fire control. It was these Army firefighters
  and their successors at Yellowstone that developed firefighting strategies
  and tactics that are still used today. The troops in Yellowstone National 
 Park become the first paid wildland firefighters.
\n
\n1939 – The newly o
 rganized Alaska Fire Control Service and the military suppressed fires in A
 laska during World War II. Smoke from these fires was a hindrance to flight
  and considered a threat to national security.
\n
\n1940 – US Army Major 
 William H. Lee visits the United States Forest Service (USFS) Region 1 (Nor
 thern Region) smokejumper training camp at Seeley Lake\, Montana. He later 
 incorporates USFS techniques in the establishment of the U.S. Army Airborne
 . Major Lee commands the 101st Airborne during World War II and becomes kno
 wn as the “Father of the Airborne Troops.”
\n
\n1945 – Continued expa
 nsion of the smokejumper program and returning war veterans increase the nu
 mber of smokejumpers from 110 to 220. During the severe fire season of 1945
 \, smokejumpers prove to be invaluable firefighters. Members of the 555th P
 arachute Infantry Battalion\, the nation’s first African-American parachu
 te infantry battalion\, were trained at timber jumping and firefighting to 
 combat Japanese incendiary balloons. Though the balloons did not materializ
 e\, the 300 paratroopers of the 555th were used as suppression crews on lar
 ge fires throughout the west. They responded to 36 fire calls and made a to
 tal of 1\,200 individual jumps. In addition to the 555th\, 14 military para
 rescue smokejumpers were also trained. By 1946\, USFS Region 1 had 146 smok
 ejumpers\, 84% of them war veterans. The same year\, Region 6 (Pacific NW R
 egion) had smokejumping’s first fatality in the line of duty\, Private Fi
 rst Class Brown\, a medic and member of the 555th.
\n
\n1956 – The XH-40\
 , the “granddaddy” of the H-1 helicopters\, made its first flight. The 
 Bell UH-1 "Huey"  later became the representative helicopter of the Vietnam
  era and the most successful military aircraft in aviation history.  The in
 flux of combat-trained pilots post-war naturally fit in well with the chall
 enges of flying fire suppression missions. To get firefighters on the groun
 d quickly\, fire managers utilized the helicopter for rappel\, adopting and
  adapting the military technique.
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