Example Article for Honoring Our Veterans
First Special Service Force Reunion Returns To Helena
Author: Jerry Waling, First Special Service Forces Associate
First Special Service Force Reunion Returns to Helena
Jerry Waling
First Special Service Forces Associate
Reunion Host Jerry Waling has announced that on August 13th through the 17th, 2025, the First Special Service Force (FSSF) will be holding its 78th annual reunion in Helena, Montana, at the Delta Marriot Helena Colonial, which hosted the first reunion in 1947 and several others over the years. Family members, sons, daughters and grandchildren will meet to share memories and honor their ancestors who served and died during WWII. There will be an open service at the First Special Service Memorial in Memorial Park on Friday morning at 10:00 am, a day at Fort Harrison on Saturday morning, including a statue dedication honoring the FSSF at the Military Cemetery at 9:30 AM. On Saturday evening, there is a banquet honoring the outstanding special forces winner of the Frederick’s Award from both the US Special Forces and the Canadian Special Operations Regiment. Both of them proudly carry the colors of the FSSF.
Several residents of Townsend and East Helena were members of the Special Service Force. Many of them settled in the area with wives and children after the war.
In July 1942, volunteers from the United States Military and Canadian Military began to arrive at Fort William Henry Harrison for specialized training for a joint force under the command of Lt. Colonel Robert T. Frederick. Trained in mountaineering, skiing, hand-to-hand combat, weapons, demolition, and amphibious landings. They even qualified as paratroopers.
Their many accomplishments include taking Monte La Defensa and other peaks to break through the Germans’ “Winter Line” defenses, night patrols at Anzio Beachhead forcing the Germans’ lines back over two miles, the first troops into Rome, and the invasion of Southern France. Not once did they suffer defeat on any assignment. The FSSF suffered over 2,300 casualties while inflicting over 12,000 casualties and capturing over 7,000 prisoners. The “Force” was disbanded on December 5, 1943, outside Nice, France. They were destined to become the forerunners of both nations’ Special Forces of today. The United States Congress presented the unit with the Congressional Gold Medal in 2015.
