Smokejumper Obituary: Trankle, Hans W. (Missoula 1951)

Authors

National Smokejumper Association

Files

Obituary

Hans died March 8, 2017. He was born in Helibronn, Germany, and came to the U.S. at age four and resided in Billings, Montana. He jumped at Missoula 1951-54 and 56-58 before joining the first smokejumper crew in Alaska in 1959. Hans jumped out of Fairbanks 1959-60, 64-65 with a stint at West Yellowstone 1961-63. On June 2, 1959, Hans, along with seven other jumpers, made the first fire jumps in Alaska as part of the new BLM smokejumper program. Hans came home to Billings at age 40 and worked for the U.S. Postal Service. He and his wife made many trips back to Alaska where they had a second home in Kodiak.

Identifier

Trankle_Hans-W_Missoula_1951

Publication Date

March 2017

Keywords

Smokejumping; Smokejumpers -- United States; National Smokejumper Association; Wildfire fighters; Obituaries

Disciplines

Forest Management

Recommended Citation

National Smokejumper Association, "Smokejumper Obituary: Trankle, Hans W. (Missoula 1951)" (2017). Smokejumper Obituaries. 646.
https://dc.ewu.edu/smokejumper_bios/646