There is an old quote that sticks in my memory: “There is nothing so sad to one who is old as the death of one who is young.”
On Aug. 5, 1949, that quote had its truth cruelly illustrated as the 13 firefighters who died in the Mann Gulch fire on that day ranged in age from 19 to 28.
From 4:10 p.m. when they jumped from the aircraft to the time the fire overtook them was a period of less than two hours.
Norman Maclean, who had worked northwestern Montana in logging camps and for the Forest Service in his youth, undertook a detailed investigation of the fire’s causes and ensuing tragedy. His book, “Young Men and Fire” inspired James Keelaghan to write a song about the fire, “Cold Missouri Waters.”
Thirteen memorial markers now dot the hillside where the men perished.
“Cold Missouri Waters” is written in the “voice” of Wagner “Wag” Dodge who was the crew chief and escaped by lighting a backfire. Dodge survived the inferno and died five years later of Hodgkin’s disease.