Interviewer
Rosa Stone
Files
Description
Gregg Phifer talks about getting his 4-E classification as a Methodist, and about his experiences with the smokejumpers in 1944 and 1945. He describes the food that was given to the smokejumpers, and talks about the different kinds of parachutes they used. He recalls several of his 20 jumps, including one rescue jump. Phifer discusses his post-war career as a college professor, and how the nuclear rhetoric of the 1980s strengthened his stance as a conscientious objector. He talks about the sister cities project between his home of Tallahassee, Florida, and the town of Krasnodar in the then-Soviet Union. Phifer tells how the smokejumper experience influenced his post-war life, and how it instilled an appreciation of nature and the American West in him.
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Document Type
Oral History
Subjects
Civilian Public Service; Conscientious objectors, United States; Smokejumpers, Montana; World War, 1939-1945; Methodist Church; 4-E classification; Smokejumper training; sister cities project; Tallahassee, Florida; Ninemile, Montana
Original Date
8-11-1986
Time Period
Twentieth century
Geographic Coverage
Montana
Language
eng
Original Collection
Civilian Public Service Smokejumpers Oral History Project, OH 163, Archives and Special Collections, Mansfield Library, University of Montana-Missoula
Digital Publisher
University of Montana--Missoula. Mansfield Library
Rights
Copyright to this collection is held by the interview participants and by the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, University of Montana-Missoula. Permission may be required for use. For further information please contact Archives and Special Collections: (406) 243-2053 / library.archives@umontana.edu
Oral History Number
OH 163-021
Media Type
Sound; Text
Original Format
1 sound cassette (01:30:00 min.) analog + 1 transcript (18 p.: 28 cm.)
Digital Format
audio/mp3; application/pdf
Run Time
00:52:03 minutes
Local Filename
OH_163_021.mp3; OH_163_021.pdf
Citation
Phifer, Gregg, "Gregg Phifer Interview, August 11, 1986" (1986). Civilian Public Service Smokejumpers Oral History Project. 21.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/civilianpublicservicesmokejumpers_oralhistory/21