Miss Montana to visit T. Falls

A Montana icon will help honor a Thompson Falls icon later this month. The historic Miss Montana DC-3 airplane, which was restored by volunteers with the Museum of Mountain Flying, will fly to Thompson Falls on June 25.

The event is being organized by Ruth Cheney, a retired Army Colonel from Thompson Falls.

"Norman Edgar Allen was a patriotic American, a teacher inspiring his students daily, a hard worker who sought and conquered many challenges and a member of 'the greatest generation,'" Cheney said. Allen, who passed away in 2013, was born in Nebraska. "Upon graduation from high school in Chadron, Nebraska, a young Norm Allen enlisted in the U.S. Army, volunteering for the new parachute infantry," Cheney said. Allen also worked as a smokejumper for the U.S. Forest Service in Montana.

To honor Allen, Cheney has worked with the Museum of Mountain Flying to bring Miss Montana to Thompson Falls. On June 25 from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. the public can watch Miss Montana fly into the Thompson Falls airport. Paratroopers will jump out of the plane, providing a re-enactment of what soldiers such as Allen did during WWII. Hamburgers and hot dogs will also be provided for the first 100 people.

In the Army, Allen was selected for the elite 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 17th Airborne Division, which was later incorporated into the 13th Airborne Division. During 15 months of service overseas, at the age of 21, Allen participated in the attack that recaptured the Belgium crossroads town of St. Vith, a military objective in the Battle of the Bulge. Cheney said this was the only time Allen ever rode in a tank. As an Army pathfinder and scout, Allen was among the first to parachute into enemy territory. "One of Norm's favorite stories involved a friend telling him a foreign education was superior to American education," Cheney stated. "Norm told him he had 'crawled halfway through Italy and halfway to Berlin and believe me, that was an education.'"

During his 15 months of duty in the European Theater during World War II, Corporal Allen survived a beach landing and three airborne assaults. As a member of an intelligence unit, he performed reconnaissance patrols, collected enemy information and road maps, made sketches of enemy territory to assist Allied Forces, found and exposed enemy patrols and obtained information from enemy prisoners of war. Allen returned home in late 1945, having participated in five major military campaigns and having been awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star.

"Part of our mission and why we did the restoration was exactly this," said Bryan Douglass with the Museum of Mountain Flying, which owns the Miss Montana plane. "I like to think that it's mostly for the benefit of the younger generation who don't know a lot about what happened in World War II. We bring this airplane around and let them hear it, touch it, smell it and imagine what it was like for those 18- to 22-year-old soldiers." The paratroopers set to jump out of Miss Montana will have round chutes and replica WWII uniforms. "That's what Norm was, so it's meaningful," Douglass added.

Allen went on to lead a full and inspiring life, according to Cheney. He made his first jump for the Forest Service in 1946 near the Nine Mile Ranger Station. Successfully recovering from a broken back sustained when he landed in a 100-foot tree, he accumulated 10 years as a smokejumper and made a total of 76 jumps. He did this in spite of "being sick any time I got in an airplane," according to Cheney.

Allen also was a wilderness guide in the Barb Marshall, bronc buster, gold miner, history teacher and beloved Montana historian, Cheney said. He encouraged students to "scatter because a mortar will take you all out," inspired all of his students to appreciate Montana history, and to accept the challenge of achieving their potential in life. "Always a great neighbor, an honest and true friend, and a contributor to the Montana community in which he lived for many years and raised his family."

The Miss Montana visit will honor Allen's legacy in the Army and in Sanders County. "It's living history," Douglass said. "People are starting to call it Montana's airplane. It was a work horse of the smoke jumping and mountain flying era. It's owned by the museum, but the museum is a non-profit so it's effectively owned by the people."

Miss Montana has events scheduled throughout Montana this summer. Douglass said that the smaller towns get passed with some of the bigger events scheduled, so they are excited to come to Thompson Falls. "Especially with the heritage of some of our volunteers and pilots with Miss Montana." Several volunteers have ties to Sanders County.

"We have this army of volunteers and small army of pilots and mechanics," Douglass stated. "Any time we can get this airplane flying it makes it worthwhile."

Last week, the museum was working on a mechanical problem with Miss Montana. Douglass has to fly to Coeur d'Alene to get parts. "It's kind of surprising that parts are as available as they are," Douglass noted. "They were developed in the 30s and there are still companies that specialize in this."