KALISPELL — The 75th anniversary of the Mann Gulch Fire that claimed 13 lives of young smokejumpers was on August 5.
Memorials took place across the state to honor the men on Monday and will continue throughout the month to honor each person who lost their life.
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The National Smokejumper Association held graveside memorials in Kalispell on Thursday to remember two of the men who perished in the Mann Gulch Fire.
Family members, fellow smokejumpers and community members gathered at the gravesites of Kalispell natives Henry Thol and William Hellman to remember the sacrifice they gave in 1949.
“It's so important for us to make sure that these guys weren't forgotten. You know, 13 smokejumpers perished on that fire. And so, you know, we just want to make sure that the public's aware of the sacrifices that those folks made, as well as the sacrifices that the folks today make,” said Eric Shelton, a member of the National Smoke Jumper Association.
Members of the National Smokejumper Association provided the history of Thol and Hellman, but no one knows the jumpers better than the family in attendance.
“Well, an older brother, you know, we disagreed on everything, pretty much, but just a brother and my brother always wanted to be in the Forest Service. And my dad was tickled to death the forest service was what he wanted to do,” said John Thol, brother of Henry Thol.
Henry J. Thol Jr. was born on April 19, 1930, in Kalispell. His father was a retired Forest Service District Ranger. The year of Mann Gulch was his first year as a smokejumper.
Prior to the tragedy in 1949 Henry had planned to attend the University of Montana in the fall with the money he made while smokejumping.
“It wasn’t as hard on me as it was my dad. It was hard on him. We went the day after the fire. I went with him but he wouldn’t let me go up Mann Gulch. He made me stay down which I don’t know whether that was good or bad but it was tough on my mom and dad," John told MTN.
The second memorial was held for William J. Hellman a Kalispell native who was born August 3, 1925. He attended Flathead County High School but never graduated as he left to serve in World War II in the Navy and Marine Corps.
William was selected to be in a group of smokejumpers who performed a ceremonial jump onto the White House lawn on June 28, 1949.
Thursday's memorial was well attended with a large group of current smokejumpers on hand to honor those who came before them.
“Oh, it's so awesome. It's so awesome to see the families you know, like I said, it's such a tight-knit group of specialized people that do such hard work, you know, it's it's dirty or without showers you're you know, it's it's just, but it's a lifestyle. You know, most of us while we're doing it wouldn't trade it for anything.”
