MORE than a half century before the 10th Mountain Division cleared the way for a ground invasion in Afghanistan, the elite, specially trained American soldiers of the original 10th swept through five German divisions that controlled the treacherous Apennine Mountains in Italy – never losing a battle – and spearheaded a crushing Allied advance that forced the enemy to surrender unconditionally in 1945.
This rugged group of fighters was America’s first infantry detachment trained specifically for mountain warfare and was made up of champion skiers, renowned mountaineers, cowboys, mule skinners, blacksmiths, lumberjacks, trappers and hunters.
Morley Nelson, who was wounded three times while fighting in Italy, was a falconer when he joined the 10th and kept a goshawk with him while training in Colorado. Eighteen-year-old Roy Sizemore was a cowboy and hunting guide when he enlisted. These men were typical of the kind of elite, rugged outdoorsmen who comprised the 10th Mountain Division.
“Perhaps the best remembered and most interesting member of the 10th, however, was a soldier named Ralph Hulbert, whose extraordinary love of archery gained him near-mythic status among the mountain fighters,” writes Sports Afield contributing editor Bob Butz, who documents the entire history of the 10th Mountain Division in the January issue of Sports Afield magazine.
Hulbert rated “expert” on the rifle range and scored the highest in his company, but instead of packing a standard-issue .45 Colt on his side as a secondary weapon, he carried a takedown bow and full quiver of arrows into combat in Italy.
Because of the kind of terrain it fought on, the 10th was the last American fighting force to employ mules and horses for supply and reconnaissance missions. In fact, they used animals of all kinds, especially German shepherds, Malamutes and huskies to ferry equipment and supplies when machinery was not practical.
“The 10th Mountain Division will be remembered for how swiftly the troops penetrated and brought the demise of the German Gothic Line,” Butz emphasizes. “They’ve been called a ‘brotherhood of outdoorsmen,’ a diverse group of fighting men, yet one that shared the unifying love of country, the mountains, and the outdoors.”
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New York State has purchased 111 acres along the Beaverkill River in the towns of Colchester and Rockland, protecting the watershed and local ecosystem in the heart of the historic Catskill Mountains trout fishery.
The parcel is located immediately downstream from the confluence of the Beaverkill and Willowemoc rivers. The lands will be managed by the State Department of Environmental Conservation.