A Pictorial History Of Smokejumping

The story of the World War II conscientious objectors who volunteered for Civilian Public Service as U.S. Forest Service smoke jumpers is told in this history that reveals a little-known dimension of American pacifism.

This study examined emergency management certification programs in order to understand what the training requirements for state emergency management certification reveal about the core functions of emergency management as conducted by emergency managers working in local jurisdictions. Based on practices in the 23 certification programs managed by state emergency management agencies or professional associations at the time of the study, qualitative content analysis identified a range of core functions practiced by those programs that specified training requirements in terms of specific courses. The application of grounded theory techniques to interview data from certification program managers and state emergency management training officers in 50 states resulted in the development of the theory that training requirements are adopted to meet a variety of goals. These goals include those appropriate to perceived needs of the sponsoring organizations and individual emergency managers, as well as goals that seek to promote competent performance of emergency management tasks. The list of core functions identified in state-level certification programs generally agreed with a list of core functions developed from the literature, indicating that practitioners at the local, state, and federal level have a common understanding of the essential tasks of the evolving profession of emergency management as performed in local jurisdictions.

They became America’s first black paratroopers. Why was their story never told? Sibert Medalist Tanya Lee Stone reveals the history of the Triple Nickles during World War II. World War II is raging, and thousands of American soldiers are fighting overseas against the injustices brought on by Hitler. Back on the home front, the injustice of discrimination against African Americans plays out as much on Main Street as in the military. Enlisted black men are segregated from white soldiers and regularly relegated to service duties. At Fort Benning, Georgia, First Sergeant Walter Morris’s men serve as guards at The Parachute School, while the white soldiers prepare to be paratroopers. Morris knows that for his men to be treated like soldiers, they have to train and act like them, but would the military elite and politicians recognize the potential of these men as well as their passion for serving their country? Tanya Lee Stone examines the role of African Americans in the military through the history of the Triple Nickles, America’s first black paratroopers, who fought in a little-known attack on the American West by the Japanese. The 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, in the words of Morris, “proved that the color of a man had nothing to do with his ability.” From Courage Has No Color What did it take to be a paratrooper in World War II? Specialized training, extreme physical fitness, courage, and — until the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion (the Triple Nickles) was formed — white skin. It is 1943. Americans are overseas fighting World War II to help keep the world safe from Adolf Hitler’s tyranny, safe from injustice, safe from discrimination. Yet right here at home, people with white skin have rights that people with black skin do not. What is courage? What is strength? Perhaps it is being ready to fight for your nation even when your nation isn’t ready to fight for you. Front matter includes a foreword by Ashley Bryan. Back matter includes an author’s note, an appendix, a time line, source notes, and a bibliography.