Letter to the editor

Dear Editor,

Montana is where airborne warfare got started….fighting fires. The Airborne Battle Memorial at Fort Benning, Georgia, where I attended Infantry Officers Basic Training, doesn’t mention that the founder of U.S. Airborne forces and his staff went out to Missoula in June and July 1942 and watched the early smokejumpers make 10 practice jumps then jump fires in rough terrain from low-flying aircraft. U.S.Army Major William Carey Lee brought parachutes and a static line back to Georgia where he formed the 101st Airborne Division and became the father of U.S. Airborne Doctrine.

The U.S. Forest Service Parachute Project is not listed with the units, like the First Special Service Force that trained at Helena to precede today’ Joint Special Operations. That’s because smokejumpers are a peaceful pursuit. I have huge respect for our military forces and my experiences in them. Like most Veterans I did what they expected.

Without bone spurs, Trump would not have made it in Smokejumpers, Infantry, the Airborne Infantry, or Special Operations. We’d never trust our lives to him. Don’t let him stir your fears, harden your heart or close your mind. We of ordinary fidelity will fight for our freedom.

Sincerely,

John B Driscoll

Helen’s, MT 59601