The forgotten Skysoldiers who fought the Fu-Go
This week marks the 80th anniversary of the conclusion of the joint War Department/Forestry Service “Firefly Project,” which spanned 1 June to 30 October 1945.
Original Caption: Forest Fires – A trooper in full gear waits for the order to board the ship. Photograph taken at Pendleton Air Base, Pendleton, Oregon, by Edgar W. Weinberger, Army Air Forces Photographer. 22 August 1945 342-FH-3B-42508-29999AC
Made up of some 300 paratroopers of the segregated “Triple Nickels” of the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion and a few C-47s of the First Troop Carrier Command from the Fourth Air Force’s Ninth Service Command, these men held the line in the Pacific Northwest against a wave of 9,300 Japanese incendiary bombs carried across the ocean via high altitude “Fu-Go” balloons.
While there were “only” 285 reported incidents with these bombs– including six picnickers killed while enjoying the woods in Oregon– the Firefly crews, serving as the nation’s first smoke jumpers, quietly completed 1,200 counter-fire jumps into heavy timber and helped contain 36 fires.
Trained in EOD as well as wildfire suppression, they had to improvise their gear and hold the line sometimes for days until Forest Service mule trains arrived with conventional firefighters. Then, extraction was typically by foot, several miles back over broken ground to the nearest road, carrying as much as 125 pounds of gear each.
Check out these amazing period Kodachromes of the operation via NARA.
Original Caption: Operation Firefly – Lt. Clifford Allen of Chicago, Ill. He is one of the firefighters of the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion. He wears his complete outfit just before taking off for a jump. Note the 150 ft. rope descending from tall trees; the plastic helmet and catcher’s mask are protection against branches and brambles. 342-C-K3746
Original Caption: Operation Firefly – A C-47 of Troop Carrier Command carries these parachutists of the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion to the scene of a remote fire in Wallowa forest, Oregon. Men of this unit have made over 8000 jumps since the first of April 1945. 342-C-K3751
342-C-K3727
Original Caption: Operation Firefly – A paratrooper in a tree is a common sight near a fire. The troopers of the 555th Parachute Infantry prefer to land in the trees rather than on rough terrain. They carry 150 ft. ropes with them to aid them in reaching the ground. Umatilla National Forest, Oregon. 342-C-K3720
Original Caption: This is the emblem of the “Operation Firefly” painted on the nose of a C-47 (Douglas) piloted by Lt. MG Brewer. The Firefly project has four of these ships, operated by the Army Air Forces Troop Carrier Command. They cooperate with the US Forestry Service in transporting paratroopers of the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion to the site of the forest fires. This unit is effectively preserving the timberland and the watershed of the Pacific Northwest, spanning the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and even Canada. Photographer: Edgar W. Weinberger (Pendleton, Oregon) 342-C-K3743
Original Caption: Operation Firefly – Insignia of Troop Carrier Command. The function of the Troop Carrier Command is tactical. It is responsible for transporting paratroopers of the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion to areas where forest fires are raging. 342-C-K3742
Original Caption: Operation Firefly – Firefighting Parachutists of the 55th Parachute Infantry don their heavy leather coveralls before boarding a C-47 of the First Troop Carrier Command. Soon they will be winging their way to another jump and another fire. Their equipment, including two chutes weighing between 75 and 125 lbs, lies before them. Pendleton Army Air Base, Pendleton, Oregon. 342-C-K3716
Original Caption: Operation Firefly – Paratroopers of the 555th Parachute Infantry climb into their parachute harness before boarding a plane of the First Troop Carrier Command. The C-47 will drop the airborne firefighters near an area where a forest fire is raging. Umatilla National Forest, Oregon. 342-C-K3711
Following Firefly, the 555th was withdrawn back to North Carolina and folded into the 82nd Airborne Division, eventually becoming part of the 505th PIR in 1947.
The few remaining members of the battalion are in their 90s.