Interviewer
Charlie Bragdon, Bruce Van Voorhis, Nick Sundt
Files
Description
David “Skinny” Beals talks about being a conscientious objector [CO] to World War Two and how this led to his involvement in smokejumping in the 1940s. He discusses the early days of smokejumping and talks about the various changes in equipment and technology that he has seen since he first began. Beals recalls his rookie training experiences and describes the changes to the training program in the 1970s and ‘80s. He also talks about being one of the first jumpers to work out of the Redmond, Oregon Air Base. Beals discusses fire lookouts and how they worked with smokejumpers during the 1940s and 1950s. He also shares stories about mistakenly reported fires. Beals expresses concern about women working as smokejumpers. He also discusses the relationship between conscientious objectors and soldiers during and after World War Two. Beals concludes by recalling a memorable jump he completed on a fire in Washington’s Gifford Pinchot National Forest in 1956.
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Document Type
Oral History
Subjects
Smokejumpers; U.S. Forest Service; Firefighting; Conscientious Objector; Civilian Public Service program; Winthrop, Oregon smokejumper base; Redmond, Oregon smokejumper base; Francis Lufkin; World War, 1939-1945; Women smokejumpers; Gender disparity, smokejumpers; Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Washington
Original Date
7-1-1981
Time Period
Twentieth century
Geographic Coverage
Oregon
Language
eng
Original Collection
Nick Sundt Smokejumpers Oral History Project, OH 172, 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 172-005, 006, 007a
Media Type
Sound; Text
Original Format
3 sound cassettes (03:00:00 min.) analog + 1 transcript (62 p.: 28 cm.)
Digital Format
audio/mp3; application/pdf
Run Time
02:29:08 minutes
Local Filename
OH_172_005_006_007a.mp3; OH_172_005_006_007a.pdf
Citation
Beals, David, "David "Skinny" Beals Interview, July 1, 1981" (1981). Nick Sundt Smokejumpers Oral History Project. 1.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/nicksundtsmokejumpers_oralhistory/1