Tommy Roy Smith - Cave Junction, OR
N 42° 06.233 W 123° 40.866
10T E 443684 N 4661534
A citizen memorial flagpole located at the the Siskiyou Smokejumper Base Museum at the Illinois Valley Airport.
Waymark Code: WMXFW5
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 01/07/2018
Views: 1
Located at the Siskiyou Smokejumper Base Museum is a flagpole with a plaque on its base that reads:
IN MEMORY OF
SUPERVISORY SMOKEJUMPERTOMMY ROY SMITH
JULY 23, 1940 MAY 5, 1947
A nearby interpretive display highlights the individual on the plaque and tells us:
The memorial at the base of the flagpole commemorates Tommy Smith, a smokejumper who died while on duty.
Many hazards face a smokejumper from the time they jump from the plane, crash through trees or bounce off rocks as they land, fight fires, and then return through rugged country where they may encounter any number of dangers that could be just as hazardous as parachuting into the forest. Tommy Smith drowned as he crossed a river with other crew members returning from a project and was the only death in thirty-eight years of base operations.