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Equal In All Ways; Fighting
The Firefly
by U.S. Army Maj. Thomas Cieslak
May 12,
2019
"There was a terrible explosion. Twigs flew through the air, pine
needles began to fall, dead branches and dust, and dead logs went
up" said Richard Barnhouse to Oregon’s Mail Tribune, describing the
detonation of a Japanese bomb.
However, Barnhouse not talking
about combat in the Pacific Theater; World War II Japan was
attacking the United States.
The Japanese fire balloon
campaign, known as Fu-Go, involved hydrogen-filled balloons carried
across the ocean by the Jet Stream to the US’ West Coast, where they
would drop their payload of explosives.
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U.S. Army World War II 1945 mission in reaction to the
Japanese sending Fu-Go "fire" balloons with a payload of
charges to the United States west coast (left and center
scenes). The right scene is U.S. Army 555th Parachute
Infantry Regiment "Triple Nickle" paratrooper Jesse Mayes
preparing to jump from a C-47 into a heavily wooded area.
(Image created by USA Patriotism! from photos taken in 1945
provided by U.S. Army Maj. Thomas Cieslak via U.S.
Department of Defense images archive)
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The men of the 555th Parachute Infantry Regiment answered the
nation’s call to fight back. Never reaching the necessary manning to
fight in the European Theater, the 555th PIR received orders on May
5th, 1945 to report to Oregon and be assigned to the 9th Services
Command.
Their primary mission... recovery and destruction of
Japanese balloon-bombs; firefighting was their secondary mission
according to a report published by the U.S. Army War College.
Arriving at
Pendleton Field, Oregon a week later, the men of the 555th PIR
conducted more training in land navigation, medical aid and physical
endurance while waiting for their equipment to arrive.
Even
there, the all African American unit faced discrimination much like
that of the deep South when training at Fort Benning. The
paratroopers found it difficult to buy a drink or a meal in the town
of Pendleton and the commander of the base did not want them mixing
with the base’s population. Undaunted, the paratroopers continued
taking pride in their skills and staged demonstration jumps for
local civilians.
By that time, however, the Fu-Go campaign
was tapering off, the Japanese reportedly having used it as an
effort to improve morale among factory workers, telling them the
balloons were causing havoc in Los Angeles or Seattle.
They
soon received training by the U.S. Forest Service to parachute into
heavily wooded areas and fight fires caused by the Fu-Go balloons,
careless campers and lightning. Specially equipped and trained, the
“Triple Nickle” paratroopers became the forefathers of modern-day
Smokejumpers.
Based at Pendleton Field, Oregon with a
detachment at Chico, the 555th PIR responded to 36 fire calls,
making more than 1,200 individual jumps.
More than thirty
paratroopers sustained injuries ranging from cuts and bruises to
broken legs and even crushed chests. Tragically, Malvin L. Brown, a
medic assigned to Headquarters Company, died August 6, 1945 after
falling while trying to descend from a tree.
While at Camp
Pendleton, the 555th PIR would establish another historic landmark.
On July 25, 1945, fifty-four men conducted a full combat-equipment
jump with live ammunition.
After their initial assault on their
objective, they marked it and called in Naval aircraft piloted by
trainees to bomb and strafe it. This marked the first time
African-American paratroopers to conduct a joint operation with the
Navy.
Even with the accomplishment of these tremendous feats,
their most important footsteps were yet to come.
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