November 23, 2016
Page 9
Mississippi
Alberta
North Portland
Vancouver
East County
Beaverton
A historical photo from 1945 shows black paratroopers from an elite unit of the Army which was deployed to fight forest fires in the Pacific Northwest.
Sharing the
story of black
paratroopers
in Oregon
In 1945, an elite unit of the Army’s
best trained paratroopers arrived at
Pendleton Field in Oregon as part of
a highly classified mission, Operation
Firefly.
The all-black unit spent the next sev-
eral months jumping and fighting forest
fires throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Called the “Triple Nickles,” the 555th
Parachute Infantry group gained mili-
tary fame for their work as firefighters.
The unit’s unique story of patrio-
tism, race and service will be shared
during a free and open “history pub”
Jumping into the Fire
series event at McMenamins Kenen-
dy School in northeast Portland. The
presentation, on Monday, Nov. 28 at
Robert Bartlett
7 p.m., will be led Robert Bartlett, a
Vietnam War veteran and son of Walter
Bartlett Sr., who served in the Amy Air
Corps during the World War II period.
Robert Bartlett has 30 years of teach-
ing experience and is a senior lecturer
at Eastern Washington University.