Reflection from Richard Lehman

The following is a reflection from Richard Lehman regarding his experience as a smoke jumper in CPS:

"Although every possible precaution is taken to safeguard the jumper, yet there are many possibilities of accidents occurring, especially if he should land in a dead tree or snag, as we call them. This is because the tree usually will fall over before the jumper has time to climb down his rope to safety. I shall never forget the time when one of the fellows had just such an experience, which resulted in a back injury and two broken legs for him. While six of the fellows carried him nineteen miles to the nearest ranger station, a crew of eight men was dropped to fight the fire. As a member of this crew, imagine my surprise when I saw that I would land at almost the same spot that the injured man had dropped!"

--Taken from Rohrer, Peter Lester and Mary E. The Story of the Lancaster County Conference Mennonites in Civilian Public Service With Directory. Pp 52-4. 1946.