Bet you didn't know this. From a Wenatchee Okanogan National Forest Facebook post:
The Triple Nickles never doubted themselves.
These dapper-looking men were a mix of former university students, top-notch professional athletes and veteran non-commissioned officers. Although ready, they were not deployed overseas during World War II. Instead, the military secretly airlifted the men to a series of firefighting missions in the Pacific Northwest Region called Operation Firefly. They trained with Forest Service professionals and quickly displayed their aptitude and courage as the first military – and Black – smokejumpers.
Photo: Enrollees of Civilian Conservation Corps Camp Shavers Fork on the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia assemble outside their tents awaiting morning work detail orders in 1933. The integrated company had 189 white and 14 black enrollees until a later decision was made to segregate whites from Blacks. (USDA Forest Service photo)
The Triple Nickles never doubted themselves.
These dapper-looking men were a mix of former university students, top-notch professional athletes and veteran non-commissioned officers. Although ready, they were not deployed overseas during World War II. Instead, the military secretly airlifted the men to a series of firefighting missions in the Pacific Northwest Region called Operation Firefly. They trained with Forest Service professionals and quickly displayed their aptitude and courage as the first military – and Black – smokejumpers.
Photo: Enrollees of Civilian Conservation Corps Camp Shavers Fork on the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia assemble outside their tents awaiting morning work detail orders in 1933. The integrated company had 189 white and 14 black enrollees until a later decision was made to segregate whites from Blacks. (USDA Forest Service photo)