Young Men and Fire
Norman Maclean devoted much of his writing life to the 1949 Mann Gulch Fire, which claimed the lives of 13 Montana firefighters. Read on to better understand why.
By Michael Judge
Unless we are willing to escape into sentimentality or fantasy, often the best we can do with catastrophes, even our own, is to find out exactly what happened and restore some of the missing parts—hopefully, even the arch to the sky.
— Norman Maclean
The epigraph is taken from the 1992 nonfiction masterpiece Young Men and Fire by Norman Maclean, the author’s lifelong quest to understand the Aug. 5, 1949, Mann Gulch Fire in western Montana that claimed the lives of 13 firefighters, including 12 brave “smokejumpers” who parachuted in to fight the blaze and one local fire guard. This TFP column—a case study of sorts—is dedicated to the memory of those 13 firefighters, whose names, ages, and hometowns should be read aloud:
Robert J. Bennett, 22, from Paris, Tennessee
Eldon E. Diettert, 19, from Moscow, Idaho
James O. Harrison, Helena National Fo…
