Triple Nickles - Pendleton

The men of the 555th came to Pendleton in May 1945 expecting to be sent on to the Pacific, and learned they were to fight fires. The welcome was cold. They found it hard to buy a drink or a meal in town, and the base commander did not want them mixing with the rest of the post. Japan had ended its balloon launches in April, but the paratroopers trained with smokejumpers and that summer answered 36 fire calls from Washington to California. This panel was dedicated on Main Street in August 2019; no surviving member could attend.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Pendleton Woolen Mills — 0.8 mi
  A mill that has woven blankets for the tribes of the Plateau since 1909, whose oldest customers folded its blankets into their own ceremonies.
• Tamástslikt Cultural Institute — 6.1 mi
  The only tribally owned museum on the Oregon Trail, where the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla tell the wagon migration from the side of the people it rolled through.

More markers nearby

• Pendleton — 1.5 mi
• Umatilla County — 2.0 mi
• Emigrant Springs State Park — 18 mi
• Meacham — 21 mi