Smokejumping: A Different Firefight

OSKALOOSA, Iowa — Their enemy in World War II was fire.

Men who didn't believe in taking up arms leaped from airplanes and battled flames in the western United States, their reply to a still-strong call to duty.

"My idea was, I had to do something, and it had to be something profitable for the United States," said Elmer Neufeld, 79, a Mennonite from rural Kansas when he was sent to a Civilian Public Service camp. "That's one of the reasons I signed up for smokejumpers."

About 40 smokejumpers gathered here recently to reminisce and catch up on what they've been doing since the war.

They've become teachers, ministers, grandparents. Many worked the land.

They get together every two years now, picking Oskaloosa this time because of its central location.

"We're getting up there, so this time together means a lot," said Dan Kauffman, 76, an Iowa farmer and Mennonite who had never been in a forest or an airplane when he joined the smokejumpers in 1945.

The war had taken most of the men from the U.S. Forest Service's new smokejumping program. By 1943, volunteers were sought from the Civilian Public Service camps, where conscientious objectors were working in soil conservation, farming and other noncombat roles. Most were from Mennonite, Brethren and Friends churches.

That year, 300 men applied, and 60 were sent for training at a camp near Missoula, Mont. By 1945 there were more than 200.

Training included jumps from simulated airplane doors, digging fire lines and escaping hung-up chutes. "By the time it was finished, you were pretty hyped up and ready for it," Kauffman said.

Mountain lookouts reported fires, and smokejumpers were expected to be the first line of defense. Before smokejumpers, firefighters would walk in or ride horses. By the time they arrived, fires were often out of control, said Larry Lufkin, president of the National Smokejumpers Assn.

These smokejumpers would parachute into remote forest areas. When their work was done, they sometimes had to walk 20 or 30 miles to be picked up.

Smokejumper uniforms included a padded suit with a pocket in one leg for let-down rope, in case the jumper became tangled in a tree; heavy boots; and a football helmet with a wire-mesh facemask. Cigarettes or extra socks and underwear were stashed in gear bags. A separate pack included tools, food rations and sleeping bags.