CLASS OF 1945 | 2023 | FALL ISSUE

Camp Hale, the site of the training of the 10th Mountain Division, is now going to be renovated and I am part of the committee that is deciding what should happen to it. It is now a national monument and it was very important to the development of the entire ski industry in Colorado. Senator Michael Bennet ’87, a group of local historians, the forest service, and so forth, are going to meet in September about the particulars and specifics to make this site attractive and informative for the general public. As a member of the committee, I am one of the few remaining veterans who was at Camp Hale during World War II.

The 10th Mountain Division trained at Camp Hale for about two years before we went to Italy for our assignment, which was to drive the Germans out of the Apennines, across the Po River Valley, up to the Alps, and then to the other pass to prevent them from getting into Austria and joining the German troops. We did this in five months, until the war ended.

I will keep you informed over the next months about the progress and particulars of the efforts to renovate the old Camp Hale site. The best book on the subject of the 10th Mountain Division is Soldiers on Skis by Flint Whitlock and Bob Bishop. I recommend that you get a copy to learn about this unique and elite military history. I hope to have specifics by our next issue of the magazine.

Slán go fóill.