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MOUNT WASHINGTON, N.H. – Mountain Soldiers old and new met atop the East Coast’s tallest peak here Thursday to pay a stirring tribute to their ranks and to the 10th Mountain Division.
On what the governor of New Hampshire declared, “10th Mountain Division Day on Mount Washington,” division World War II veterans, their families, present-day 10th Mountain warriors and Soldiers from the 172nd Mountain Infantry Battalion, Vermont, took different paths to the top of the 6,288-foot summit.
Many drove their cars on the paved route of switchbacks that leads all the way to peak. Others took the train that steams straight to the summit. But most, including some 80-year-old veterans, hiked – a tradition that is 22 years old and counting.
These veterans, members of the 10th Mountain Division Association Northeast Chapter, have been charging for the top of Mount Washington to remember their comrades who died in the WWII battle for the mountains in Italy. They also do it to remember those in their ranks who have died since WWII, placing a single rose for each veteran who died in the last year.
“Remembering your comrades is very emotional,” said division veteran Nate Morrell. “If you looked around at the ceremony, you’d realize from the expression on the (veterans’) faces, there were tears.”
Morrell said the event seems to incite more emotion every year; there is often someone who does not attend because of illness or death.
“There once was a time when the old-timers would have equaled the number of young troops” at the ceremony, he said. But everyone who can come does, Morrell said, “to see their buddies. It’s a good feeling when you can shake the hand of someone you’ve known over the years.”
Even as fewer veterans are able to make the hike each year, the hiking party to the top of the mountain seems to get bigger. Carlton Miller, a veteran of the 10th Mountain Division, brought his daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren on the hike. Trudianne Mastrangelo, granddaughter of a division veteran, hiked with a friend. So did a niece, a son and many others. More than 20 descendants participated in the hike.
New England’s connection with the 10th Mountain Division dates back to the time when a division of mountain infantry Soldiers was just the dream of another New Englander, Charles Minot “Minnie” Dole, of Connecticut. Dole offered the services of his National Ski Patrol to build America’s mountain infantry. He helped recruit the world’s best skiers, ski jumpers and mountain men into the 10th Mountain Division.
Staff Sgt. Chris Saucier, instructor at Fort Drum’s Light Fighters School, grew up next to one of those early recruits, Warren Bartlett, under the shadow of Mount Washington. Saucier and his wife, Shannon, joined the hiking party this year.
Saucier said he did not set out to serve with the 10th Mountain Division when he enlisted in the Army. It wasn’t until after he moved to Fort Drum that he realized the connection the division had with his stomping grounds, he said.
Saucier was among two other current 10th Mountain Division Soldiers who hiked to the summit with the veterans: Sgt. 1st Class Patrick Muir and Pfc. Nathan Colona, division civil affairs team, both of whom have made the trip before.
“We had no problems with those ‘old-timers’ making it,” Muir said. “They scampered right to the top.”
Muir said he has learned never to doubt the abilities of this group of veterans. Not only do they still hike, the veterans have out-skied current 10th Mountain Soldiers for seven straight times in an annual competition, he said.
“More than any other group of veterans,” Muir said, “they’re all still physically young. Their enthusiasm for life and for the outdoors is undying. They simply refuse to age.”
About 75 Soldiers of the Vermont National Guard’s 172nd Mountain Infantry Battalion, one of only two Army battalions specifically trained for mountain warfare, hiked and camped on the slopes of Mount Washington.
Capt. Jason Pelletier, of the 172nd, said he feels a strong bond with the 10th Mountain Division veterans because, like them, his battalion was mostly born and raised in the mountains of New England.
The legend of the 10th Mountain Division continues to grow in New England. Highways in Vermont and New Hampshire are named after the division that rooted at the last line of German resistance in 1945 Italy. And now, New Hampshire Gov. Craig Benson declared Aug. 12, 2004, as “10th Mountain Division Day on Mount Washington.”
Even the smallest gestures of thanks for the veterans’ sacrifices are appreciated, Morrell said.
“Those little gestures or comments do me a lot,” he said, “all these years later.”
| Date Taken: | 08.19.2005 |
| Date Posted: | 01.08.2016 13:02 |
| Story ID: | 185872 |
| Location: | MOUNT WASHINGTON, NEW HAMPSHIRE, US |
| Web Views: | 230 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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