Minnesota Spy ClubApr 6, 2025

This is history that has not been told:

As a trained wildland firefighter who knew the history of smokejumpers, I have NEVER heard that the first American smokejumpers were the African American troops of the all-black 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion (the Triple Nickles) who, in Operation Firefly, fought the fires caused by Japanese balloon bombs.

#WW2 #WildlandFirefighting #BlackHistory #Smokejumpers

https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/05/us/joe-harris-triple-nickle-black-paratroopers/index.html

How Black paratroopers saved the US from Japan’s WWII firebombs

Sgt. Joe Harris was one of an elite group of Black paratroopers during World War II. He is being laid to rest today. He was 108.

CNN
Anne DeschaineSep 13, 2024

In a time when wildland firefighting is more important than ever, the US government is failing those undertaking the work.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/12/us-firefighters-forest-service-labor-disputes

#ClimateDiary #climateCrisis #wildlandFirefighting #labor

Burned-out firefighters are fleeing the US Forest Service amid labor disputes: ‘We are decimated’

As increasingly explosive fire seasons ravage the country, federal firefighters say their employer is exacerbating exhaustion by misclassifying their jobs

The Guardian