Interviewer
Gregg Phifer
Files
Description
Bradshaw Snipes talks about his time as a smokejumper in 1944 and manning a lookout tower in 1945. He explains how his Quaker faith led him to become a conscientious objector and how the desire to prove that he was not afraid of danger led him to apply for the smokejumpers. Snipes describes some of his 12 jumps, including his jump onto the Bell Lake fire at the end of 1944, and talks about the difficulty of airsickness. He then discusses getting a hernia during a winter project at Perma Ranch, and being unable to jump during 1945. He describes working on the fire lookout towers at Falls Point and near Benchmark Ranger Station during that fire season. Snipes briefly recalls his experiences working on cattle boats to Germany and Poland after the war, including two trips as a supervisor.
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Document Type
Oral History
Subjects
Civilian Public Service; Conscientious objectors, United States; Smokejumpers, Montana; World War, 1939-1945; Quaker Church; 4-E classification; Smokejumper training; American Friends Service Committee; Cattle Boats
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 163-026
Media Type
Sound; Text
Original Format
1 sound cassette (01:30:00 min.) analog + 1 transcript (16 p.: 28 cm.)
Digital Format
audio/mp3; application/pdf
Run Time
00:39:54 minutes
Local Filename
OH_163_026.mp3; OH_163_026.pdf
Citation
Snipes, Bradshaw, "Bradshaw Snipes Interview, August 11, 1986" (1986). Civilian Public Service Smokejumpers Oral History Project. 26.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/civilianpublicservicesmokejumpers_oralhistory/26