Marshall McClung retires from search and rescue
The Graham Star columnist Marshall McClung recently retired from search and rescue, after 52 years of service.
Tallulah – When Graham County’s Marshall McClung began his dual careers in search and rescue and wilderness firefighting in 1967, Lyndon B. Johnson was president.
Ten presidential administrations and more than half a century later, McClung counts 300 search missions completed and 736 fires fought during his service with the Graham County Rescue Squad, U.S. Forest Service and N.C. Forest Service.
“I suppose it was my love of the outdoors that led to my career,” said McClung.
Growing up on his family’s home place, McClung could “step off the porch and be in the woods” and spent much of his childhood “roaming the woods” by himself.
Over his 52 years in search and rescue, McClung’s familiarity with local forests helped him personally find 275 lost persons and his teams find another 168, for a total of 443 persons found. On search and rescue teams, McClung served in many capacities, from team member to search and rescue coordinator.
Of those rescued, McClung said, “They were mostly non-locals,” and “most of the searches were in the Slickrock Wilderness area.”
“Most of the hikers were lost,” said McClung, “some injured, some deceased.”
Of the rescues, McClung said that “finding small children had the most impact on me. Being able to track people down by looking for their footprints and other clues was also a rush.”
McClung’s firefighting career spanned 50 years, only two less than his service with search and rescue.
“When I retired from the U.S. Forest Service, I still had firefighting in my blood, so I started working with the N.C. Forest Service,” said McClung.
His 50 years of firefighting included fires in 14 states, British Columbia, and Canada, with McClung serving in at least ten different capacities ranging from fire crew member to supervisory fire dispatcher. McClung even worked six months with a hotshot crew, “a specialized fire fighting crew that is usually sent to the hottest, worst part of a fire,” and worked on the Mount Saint Helen volcano eruption, as well.
At an age when many folks are taking their ease, McClung worked 38 days straight during Graham County’s catastrophic 2016 fire season.
Those familiar with McClung’s more than half-century of service might doubt his claims of retirement.
“I’ve for sure left the firefighting,” McClung said, having left that field in 2017, “but I told the search and rescue squad I would still assist in a support and/or advisory capacity.”
While McClung’s rescue and fire-fighting work has attracted attention over the years, he insists that “I never really felt that it was about me, but helping others. At an early age, I adopted a Bible verse, Jude 1:22: ‘Some have compassion, making a difference,’ as a creed to live by.
“You shouldn’t just live in your community; you should make a difference.”