original_smokejumpers_450

Historic photo: First Smokejumpers squad at Missoula 1940. Back row:L-R: Glen Smith, Earl Cooley, Merle Lundrigan (project leader/did not jump until 1941), Jim Alexander, Chect Derry. Kneeling L-R: Rufus Robinson, Jim Waite, Frank Derry, George Case (Moose Creek district ranger/nonjumper), Dick Lynch, Bill Bolen. (Courtesy Jim Alexander)