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Obituary
Leo, 38, died in a plane crash October 25, 1942, at the Army Airfield in Walla Walla, Washington. He graduated from the Creighton University School of Medicine in 1927 and was a Captain in the Army Medical Corps at the time of this death. Captain Martin was a well-known physician and surgeon from the Anaconda and Philipsburg (MT) areas. He and his pilot instructor were killed when the plan struck a power line. Dr. Martin was born in the Flathead country of Montana in 1903 and received his license to practice in Montana in 1934. He was practicing in Missoula prior to his enlistment in the Army medical corps. Dr. Martin took smokejumper training in 1940 in order to be able to parachute for rescue operations. He might have been the first Doctor in the United States to do so and his training marked the initial milestone in rescue jumping. He is buried at St. Mary's Cemetery in Missoula.
Identifier
Martin_Leo-Paul_Missoula_1940
Publication Date
July 2020
Keywords
Smokejumping; Smokejumpers -- United States; National Smokejumper Association; Wildfire fighters; Obituaries
Disciplines
Forest Management
Recommended Citation
National Smokejumper Association, "Smokejumper Obituary: Martin, Leo Paul (Missoula 1940)" (2020). Smokejumper Obituaries. 469.
https://dc.ewu.edu/smokejumper_bios/469
