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Amancio Mccrae
FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- Driving around Fort Drum's main post, you may see familiar street names representing important places where 10th Mountain Division Soldiers have made their presence known during the last 14 years -- Tigris River Valley, Pech River and Euphrates River Valley, for example.
Some street names may be less familiar. Names like Po Valley, Mount Belvedere and Riva Ridge; those names are reminders of the division's not-so-distant past. Those are places are where the 10th Mountain Division earned its reputation during the Italian Campaign of World War II. Those are places where the Army's first mountain infantry Soldiers, who were expertly trained in winter warfare, experienced the harsh terrain of the Apennine Mountains.
What began as a wild idea, unlikely of gaining support of the U.S. military, became the Army's first mountain unit. From its beginnings on mountain summits in Washington and Colorado to the ridgelines of Italy's Apennine Mountains, 10th Mountain Division Soldiers took the fight to the enemy in the mountains of Afghanistan, furthering the legacy of "skilled, tough and dependable" Soldiers from the storied unit.
According to a document written by the late Lt. Col. Earl E. Clark, a 10th Mountain Division veteran who served in the Battle of Riva Ridge, the idea of a unit of highly trained Soldiers who specialized in winter warfare came from seeing the damage the Finnish army inflicted on Soviet troops during the Invasion of Finland in 1939.
Charles Minot "Minnie" Dole, founder of the National Ski Patrol, was put in charge of gathering information about the possibility of a U.S. mountain unit. He and his team collected information about every foreign mountain unit and winter troops they could find. In September 1940, Dole met with Gen. George Marshall, Army chief of staff, to tell him about their findings.
As time went on and Dole continued his research into what the U.S. Army had in terms of winter equipment, he realized that all of their information and equipment were outdated or nonexistent; they would have to start from scratch.
Dole sent a "last-resort" message to Marshall in October 1941. Within days, Dole had received notification that the Army would activate the 87th Mountain Infantry Battalion, the nation's first mountain unit, on Nov. 15, 1941, at Fort Lewis, Wash. The unit spent its first couple of years training on nearby Mount Rainier.
"It perhaps helped, for it arrived almost simultaneously with a report from one of our attachs in the embassy in Rome detailing the debacle of the Italian winter campaign in Albania: 'ten thousand frozen to death -- 25,000 dead -- if a global war is contemplated or envisioned, men must be trained in mountain and winter warfare and time is of the essence as these troops cannot be trained overnight,'" he continued. "The activation of the 87th was a little less than one month later -- 22 days before Pearl Harbor."
Dole also was tasked with finding civilian volunteers who were already familiar with cold-weather environments. Applicants had to submit three references attesting to their ability to operate in winter environments, including skills in mountaineering, rock climbing or skiing. This was the first time a civilian organization was responsible for recruiting, screening and approving applicants for military service, according to the National Association of the 10th Mountain Division. Between November 1941 and 1944, the organization had recruited more than 7,000 men for the division.
The Army began adding units, including the 85th and 86th Infantry Regiments, to what would soon become the 10th Light Division (Alpine) at Camp Hale. On July 15, 1943, the division was activated with then-Brig. Gen. Lloyd E. Jones in command. Just a month later, Soldiers from 87th Infantry participated in the Kiska Campaign in Alaska's Aleutian Islands.
The U.S. officially entered the Italian theater in September, but it wasn't until after the 87th Infantry returned to Camp Hale and reorganized into a light infantry regiment that the division would set its sights on completing a mission that other Allied units before them had failed to do.
On D-Day, June 6, 1944, American troops stormed the beaches of Normandy, essentially making the war in Italy "the forgotten front," according to the National Association of the 10th Mountain Division. Many of the units stationed in Italy were pulled from the front and sent to southern France.
American units made headway but took heavy losses when trying to take the Germans' mountain strongholds. Bad weather and hard living in the mountains left Soldiers exhausted, and units were getting low on supplies.
Meanwhile, back in the U.S., the 10th Light Division was preparing to take on Italy. In November, the unit was renamed the 10th Mountain Division and reorganized into a modified triangular division, and Soldiers received their distinctive blue and white "Mountain" tab. Later that month, Brig. Gen. George P. Hays took command of the division.
The unit replaced the 900th AA Battalion and was "heavily laden with winter equipment," according to a report written by Lt. Col. Henry J. Hampton, who served as commander of 1st Battalion, 86th Infantry Regiment during the operation.
"There was from four to five feet of snow on the ground in this location," he explained. "The relief was made at night after an all-day motor movement from Quercianella to three miles east of Poretta Terme."
Each Soldier carried a pack that weighed between 45 and 55 pounds, and each was issued four blankets because sleeping bags were not available, Hampton noted. Soldiers later received snowshoes, but upon arrival, the trucks on site were not equipped with tire chains, so one of the companies marched 18 miles on icy terrain.
"The (Germans) held all the high ground, and one felt like he was in the bottom of a bowl with the enemy sitting on two-thirds of the rim looking down upon you," Hampton said. "There was about as much concealment as a goldfish would have in a bowl."
Although enemy mortar and artillery fire was infrequent, other than conducting three patrols a day, the Soldiers' movement was restricted to a minimum. As time went by, Soldiers were allowed to operate more openly -- a strategic move.
"Traffic during the day was allowed to increase, so if and when an operation was started against Belvedere an increase in volume of movement would not unnecessarily alarm the (Germans)," Hampton wrote.
However, taking Mount Belvedere was a task that could not be accomplished without first capturing the Germans' position on Campiano-Mancinella Ridge, also known as Riva Ridge. The enemy's encampment overlooked Mount Belvedere, giving their artillery a clear view of the peak and Route 64, one of only two main paths to the Po Valley.
Five Soldiers were sent on a mission to report on the location and enemy strength on the ridge. The team used skis but hid them away before reaching the top. The men free climbed to the top of the cliff. The men took out three German soldiers but were chased from the area by machine-gun fire.
"From then on, there was increased activity on the ridge," Hampton explained. "There was continual improving and digging of old and new positions. The result of this patrol was that we had one trail over which a small force of well-trained mountain men could advance."
The unit continued searching for existing trails as well as creating new ones that would allow for troop movement and mules. By the end of January, the 85th and 87th Mountain Infantry Regiments arrived.
Hampton knew this would not be an easy task. The only way the troops would be successful was if they moved in absolute secrecy; they had to be close to the enemy and they had to have the ability to observe them clearly.
Hampton explained that after an aerial reconnaissance, the final mission for 1-86th Infantry was three-fold: take Riva Ridge and "occupy, organize and defend its key terrain features; protect the left flank of the 10th Mountain Division in its attack on Mount Belvedere; and support by fire and aid by observation the left regiment (87th Mountain Infantry) in its attack against Mount Belvedere."
The attack on Riva Ridge kicked off at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 18 with 700 1-86th Infantry Soldiers beginning the 1,700- to 2,000-foot climb up Riva Ridge. During their late-night trek, the Soldiers never returned fire when Germans attempted to engage.
"Taking advantage of lessons learned previously not to return fire at night, the leading echelon continued to move forward and the (Germans) pulled out," Hampton wrote. "Not a shot was fired by our men. All columns reached their objectives without a casualty."
While 1-86th Infantry's assault on Riva Ridge was under way, six battalions from the 85th and 87th Infantry moved into position to take Mount Belvedere. From Feb. 19 to 25, the units fought and succeeded in taking control of the Mount Belvedere ridgeline.
The division's successes in Italy from Feb. 18 to 25 set the stage for the unit's future operations in Italy that took place until May -- controlling the Po Valley, capturing additional ridgelines and making advancements for the Allied forces.
Of the nearly 20,000 10th Mountain Division Soldiers who served in Italy, nearly 1,000 were killed and nearly 3,900 were wounded during their six months in country. One notable casualty was Pfc. John Magrath, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
The 10th Mountain Division was called back to the U.S. in July. Upon their arrival stateside, the unit began preparing for the invasion of Japan, which was planned for Nov. 2. However, Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, following the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
On Nov. 30, the 10th Mountain Division was inactivated until July 1, 1948. The division served as a training division until 1953 where its personnel prepared troops for the Korean Conflict. In 1954, the division became the 10th Infantry Division, replacing the 1st Infantry Division in Germany until it was inactivated June 14, 1958, at Fort Benning, Ga.
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