The Fire Line

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Story by CPT Nancy Treder; Photos by CPT Nancy Treder
& PFC Josh Corsa   -   Posted Aug, 2001
     For more than a week, the city of Yakima has seen many National Guardsmen come and go on there way to support the fire fighters who battle the mountain.  All the while, they know the risks these citizen soldiers take to protect our natural resources.

     Painful memories of their own fallen fire fighters make them especially sensitive to the fire fighting efforts in this area.  Its not surprising when people stop the soldiers and firefighters on the streets to say Thank you.   Its a sense of pride that makes these Guardsmen stand a little taller and stretch their smiles a little wider, because they know their efforts make a big difference here.

A makeshift billboard sends the grateful thanks from local residents to the fire fighters and Guardsmen... many of whom are their own neighbors

Chinook helicopters dip 2000 gallon buckets into local lakes and streams in an effort to douse the rapidly spreading wildfires

      This genuine sense of gratitude has been demonstrated in many ways.

     Appreciation has been shown in the form of honking car horns, waving hands, the occasional thank you sign and there were even reports of a few free coffees that were given to weary fire fighting personnel.
     Two thankful thirty-seven-year Yakima residents, Jack Webb and his wife Irene, shared their kindness by welcoming several soldiers of the 341st Military Intelligence Battalion, headquartered in Tacoma, to this desert city.

     Jack and Irene told the visitors that they have been married for 54 years and shared a few of their Yakima experiences.  Jack is a World War II Navy veteran who remembered his military days, It wasnt as bad as people said it was, but when it was over, I got out.

 Air Guardsmen deliver tents and emergency supplies; other Air Guard units provided emergency communications to fire fighters
Army Guardsmen spent countless hours delivering fire fighters and their equipment to the fire lines      Robert Wheeler, a local veterans advocate, stopped soldiers to say, Thank you for your support, while on his lunch hour.  He was very thankful for their help, but he wanted to personally thank a paratrooper.

     Finally, Wheeler got his chance and told the story of how American GIs from the 11th Airborne Division rescued him from certain death on the day he and other prisoners were to be executed by their Japanese captors in the South Pacific during WWII.
     Once again, the outpouring of appreciation and friendliness humble the Guardsmen, but they understand how these people feel because like them, they live in this state too.

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