Blog of Aaron J.: history

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The Story of American Aviation

Aviation found me. It found me nearly fifteen years ago, sitting in class at the fire academy. Out of nearly 400 hours of training to become a firefighter in the state of Florida, aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) is covered for about fifteen minutes. But, it was in these few minutes that I knew I wanted to work in the aviation industry, and ARFF specialty field. My first fire department job out of the academy was indeed an aircraft rescue and firefighting job, a career I continue to enjoy to this day.

I am proud to be part of the innovative and storied history, and continuing advancements, of the aviation industry. In 1946, Jim Ray, captured this history in his well written and beautifully illustrated book, The Story of American Aviation. Seventy-four years later, it is my privilege to be part of the team that has brought this book back into print. I consider it an honor to have written the foreword to this new edition.

Click to order.

Jim Ray described that his purpose for this book was “to trace the progress of aviation in America and to tell the story of the men and machines that have given this country supremacy in the air.” Those of use who are fortunate enough to work, play, or otherwise be involved in the aviation industry can consider ourselves part of this story, part of the tradition of men from all corners of the world who endured hardships, ridicule, injuries, and even death, to make flight possible. Our work everyday continues this mission!

In the concluding chapter Ray prophetically writes, “As a commercial transport, the airplane will also serve to keep the peace. Commercial airliners will make the world much smaller, and no nation will be a great distance from another. We shall all be able to travel by air to the most far-distant country in a matter of hours. All nations will be closer neighbors, and we shall all have a better understanding of our neighboring nations. The more we visit and mingle with the people of the entire world the more we can help to spread the doctrine of democracy of America. The airplane will play a great part in eliminating the greed and jealousy that breeds war. The young people of today will govern America tomorrow. The airplane will be the vehicle through which they will learn to know the peoples of the world. Through this better understanding America may always be the symbol of peace and prosperity.”

The Story of American Aviation shows us how we started and where we have been, however, this story is still being written. It was only through persistence that the Wright brothers were able to succeed where others had failed. It will be this same persistence that the miracle of flight, extending into space travel, will continue to be improved, developed, and the impossible to experience made possible. The miracle of flight continues its promise to take us ever farther and further!

Army Firefighting: A Historical Perspective

Army Fire Fighting: A Historical Perspective by, Leroy Allen Ward, captures the previously undocumented aspect of the army fire service history. What started as research to assist a former World War II army firefighter in gathering data for his website http://www.firefighters.mil-fire.net grew into a desire to capture the fragmented history of the Army soldier/firefighter into a book devoted to the army’s military occupational specialty, “21M Firefighter”.

Until now, writers have given army firefighting little more than a brief quote in a much larger book or article. This book covers the origins of the MOS beginning with the Civil War and continues through the War on Terrorism. It includes not only the training, vehicles and equipment used throughout the years, but also dates and locations of deployments for firefighting platoons and detachments, unit rosters of World War I and II and in collaboration with Ted Heinbuch, webmaster of www.firetrucks-atwar.com and James Davis, webmaster of www.firefighters.mil-fire.net and author of, Fire Fighters in Fatigues, Army Fire Fighting includes a comprehensive list of Line of Duty Death (LODD) of soldier/firefighters.

The purpose of this book is to present a concise history of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers military occupational specialty 21M, Firefighter. With this object in mind, it addresses several audiences.

First are the young soldiers who may be unfamiliar with the historical underpinnings of their MOS. For them, the evolution of the MOS' past reveals insights into its future and provides them with knowledge and pride of the past.

The second audience is the scholarly community of historians. For these professionals, the work serves as a tool for further analysis of this small unknown MOS within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The third audience consists of those who served in the MOS or its precursors, as well as other members of the firefighting industry and the public at large. For this group, the book endeavors to detail the history of this low-density MOS which represents a small section of the Corps of Engineers.

This book belongs to those firefighters, past, present and future. Above all it belongs to those American soldier/firefighters who have given their all.

The book, Army Fire Fighting: A Historical Perspective , is available in Hard or Soft Cover from AuthorHouse. Or you can order online from your favorite bookseller by using the following ISBN numbers:

978-1-4685-2369-0 (HC ISBN)

978-1-4685-2370-6 (SC ISBN)
978-1-4685-2368-3 (ebook ISBN)

I invite anyone with pictures or information on army firefighting they would like to share, please contact the author at allen.ward@armyfirefighter.com

The Station - Learn. Remember. Heal.

Filmmaker David Bettencourt, is embarking on a project to create a documentary film adaptation of the book, From the Ashes, Surviving the Station Nightclub Fire. The film will highlight stories of survivors of The Station nightclub fire that killed 100 people in 2003. This Rhode Island fire is the fourth deadliest nightclub fire in the U.S.

The film is titled, "The Station - Learn. Remember. Heal." Bettencourt is currently raising funds for this project through Kickstarter.

Related Posts:

Rhythm Night Club Fire

The November 2010 issue of Firehouse Magazine drew our attention to the little known and rarely discussed fire of the Rhythm Night Club.

On April 23, 1940, in Natchez, Mississippi, 700 people crammed into the Rhythm Night Club to experience the live performance of Walter Barnes and his Royal Creolians. The exact cause of this fire, that claimed 290 lives, was never determined.

Factors contributing to this tragedy include: