ENGINEERS GO TO THE MOUNTAINS
The first photographs of engineers in action, published during World War II, usually showed Navy Seabees¹ building an airfield on remote Pacific atolls or working on the construction of the ALCAN⁽²⁾  highway. However, when the war began to spread to the mountainous areas of New Guinea, China, Burma, and the Indian theater, many new problems had to be overcome. Supplies for infantry troops alone could require up to 30% of the combat force, depending on the nature of the terrain. Evacuating the dead and wounded could be extremely difficult.

Army Headquarters at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, recognized the need to take measures to address these problems. Analyses of techniques that could improve transportation and communications in mountainous terrain provided several options. Among those that seemed most promising were the use of aerial tramways and the construction of mountain trails that included the use of suspension bridges. There was virtually no engineering capability in the Army to support these alternatives, so a development and training program was initiated.
At the same time, the War Department was discussing the need for specially trained mountain infantry troops. Opinions ranged from "useless" to "indispensable." A civilian named Charles Minot Dole, who was the founder of the National Ski Patrol, soon joined the discussion. As a staunch advocate of mountain troops, he managed to convince the military of the need for such a project to take shape.

After much debate, the Army decided to proceed with a mountain training program but suddenly realized that very little was known about the subject: clothing, equipment, training, tactics, personnel, etc. Thus, the history of the 10th Mountain Division took many strange turns until almost the day it was engaged in combat in Italy. The engineers were deeply affected by this, and for the 126th Mountain Engineer Battalion, the formation of Company D seemed almost like a spur-of-the-moment decision.

A CALL FOR MOUNTAIN SOLDIERS
To begin with, the Army's first move was to form a Mountain Training Group. As part of this move, it was decided that the infantry should consist largely of highly skilled volunteers. A call went out to recruit mountaineers, skiers, rangers, mule drivers, or anyone with extensive mountaineering experience. They were required to show three letters of recommendation attesting to both their skills and good character. These prerequisites did not apply to engineers. Engineering skills were of primary importance in officers. Men skilled in construction, fitters, and heavy equipment operators were at the top of the priority list.

Then came the need for a suitable training center in the mountains. Initial training for the infantry was in Paradise Valley on Mount Rainier in Washington State. These facilities were owned and operated by the U.S. Park Service, whose bureaucracy was in constant disagreement with the Army. Obviously, a facility owned and operated by the Army was required. Several sites were considered, mainly in Colorado. Finally, a flat, marshy area in Pando Valley in central Colorado was selected. The site was located between Leadville and Minturn on Highway 24, the road over Tennessee Pass. Construction of the barracks, called Camp Hale, began on April 10, 1942.

DESIGN OF A SPECIAL AERIAL "TRAMWAY"
There were few alternatives to consider when designing the equipment that would make up the "tramway."
Three European countries were far ahead of the United States in the military use of this equipment, but they were either enemies or remained neutral. This reduced the options to US companies and allies who could provide assistance. For projects of this type, an engineering oversight committee was established by the Engineer Command at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. This commission consisted of both field personnel and headquarters personnel. Its task was to identify equipment specifications, monitor operational tests, and prepare the necessary manuals. One of the main specifications of the "tramway" was that the equipment could be divided into pieces weighing no more than 113 kilograms each, to facilitate transport by mules or men. It was not known how long it would take to assemble and put into operation, but it was assumed to be a matter of a few hours. On that day, it was a rather unlikely statement. To speed up the process, the Engineering Commission turned to the American mining industry, where the use of aerial "tramways" was not new. Before the end of the century, miners had erected this type of equipment to move ore from the mine to the crushers. These "trams" were powered by steam engines, sometimes called "donkey" engines because of the mode of transport they had replaced. The rusty remains of these old engineering works can still be seen in their original locations in the Rocky Mountains. One of these abandoned "tramways" provided some of the material used to build the first ski lift in Aspen, Colorado. Finally, the Stearns Roger Manufacturing Company of Denver, Colorado, was chosen to design the equipment.

This task was assigned to Robert Heron, an engineer at Stearns. (Mr. Heron became one of the pioneering manufacturers for the US ski industry). In conclusion, this equipment was given the military designation: "M-2 Lightweight Prefabricated Aerial Tramway." A War Department manual, published in November 1944, explained the installation, use, and maintenance of the equipment. The parts were manufactured and assembled by Paxton & Vierling Iron Works in Omaha, Nebraska.

There were seven basic modules or components that made up an aerial tramway: support cables, traction cables, upper terminal, lower terminal, material transport container, intermediate towers, and power unit. The final design was completed for a prefabricated, portable aerial tramway that looked a bit like giant Meccano. Depending on the circumstances, this system allowed the user to replace any of the standard modules with different modules of their own design. With this equipment, Army engineers were able to begin field testing and experimentation.

ACTIVATION OF THE MOUNTAIN ENGINEERS
On August 27, 1942, the 126th Mountain Engineer Battalion, consisting of Companies A and B, was authorized. A month later, it was activated at Camp Carson in Colorado as part of the Mountain Training Center. A small group of officers and non-commissioned officers was transferred from various engineer units that were training in other parts of the country. Some of the officers came from the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) program. Others were officers from the National Guard mobilized for the emergency or officers from the regular Army. As a commissioned officer, Lieutenant Roger Frail was the first officer of this unit. He was a regular Army officer and had already spent 20 months overseas.

These new units were formed specifically to address the new skills required of mountain engineers. They were assigned both experimental and exploratory training tasks. Both companies were qualified to develop skills in maintaining communication lines in the valley floor. This meant that they would install and maintain the telephone lines deemed necessary in wooded and mountainous terrain.

Company A would become a motorized unit tasked with erecting, operating, and maintaining aerial tramways. Their goal was to test the equipment designed by Stearns and verify its suitability for military use in the mountains under combat conditions.
Company B was designated as a mule transport company, whose tasks also included building mule trails and suspension bridges. Here too, the use of suspension bridges was not new, but the military were not experts in their construction.
Many of the skills required for both companies overlapped: equipment and tow ropes, construction of cable support frames, anchoring cables at terminal positions, and techniques used to transport large quantities of material in the mountains. This overlap led to a significant exchange of manpower while the two companies were forming and training.

THE "TRAMWAY" COMPANY BECAME A REALITY
On November 16, 1942, the construction of Camp Hale was sufficiently complete to accommodate troops.
Many barracks, such as Camp Hale, were built quickly, and as soon as there was room for even a few beds, they were occupied.
Built almost entirely of wood, the barracks offered little more protection than a cardboard box. Cold winter nights in the barracks were only slightly better than being outside on the ground.
When they were transferred from Camp Carson to Camp Hale in November 1943, the officers of the 126th Mountain Engineer Battalion consisted of four officers and 25 enlisted men. These men were organized into Companies A, B, and Headquarters.
They were among the first troops to occupy the camp.
A fully staffed company required about 200 men and officers, so the first step was to increase the workforce with new recruits.

During World War II, men wanted to enlist in the Army for various reasons. Most were rejected. Some were already part of the regular Army and intended to pursue a career. Some enlisted to obtain steady pay during the Depression years. Others volunteered out of a sense of duty to the Army and to avoid the uncertainty of being rejected.

Men were transferred to the 126th at Camp Hale from Army Engineer units or training centers across the country. Many came from Camp Beale in California, including Gil Thomure. Recruits also arrived from Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri and Camp Claiborne in Louisiana. Only a few were volunteers from the mountain troops. They were in the camp because that was where the Army had told them to be. Many were skilled in construction. Others were sent to various schools to learn the necessary specialist skills. Few men had ever lived in the mountains, and some had never seen snow.

About half of the recruits came from the Eastern and Midwestern states, a quarter from the South, and the rest from the West. Many came from small towns with RFD addresses, which stood for " " meaning they lived on farms or ranches. The Army's logic was to assign people to engineers who had experience with equipment or construction. There was a large contingent from Pennsylvania and some from other northeastern states. Virtually every one of the forty-eight states was represented. In early 1944, when the 10th Recon completed its mission of training mountain troops at Camp Hale, many of its officers were transferred to the tramway company. These included Whitey Gilbert, Ed Foss, Bob Cochran, and Chuck Hampton. Hampton recalls his early days as an engineer:
"I had spent a year in the 10th Recon where about half of my instructors were Tyroleans, all of whom had recently been teachers at Hans Schneiders' famous ski school in St. Anton, Austria...guys like Friedl Pheiffer, Tony Matt, Luggi Foeger, Florian Haemmerle, and Walter Prager. So I was very happy to join the engineers, thinking that at least I wouldn't have to master a new language to convince someone to pass me the butter. Well, I was wrong. I discovered that these guys from Georgia, Alabama, and Carolina spoke... a completely different English from mine."

Colonel R. J. Ballard was the first commanding officer of the 126th Engineer Battalion. Ultimately, the following were part of the group of officers at Headquarters: Howard Browne, Knute P. Malm, Sissons, Roger Frail, Leslie G. Gruber, Meyer, and Gaston. The company officers were: Cummings H. McCall, Beck, Constant, Douglas, Harold McKay, Kramer, McPherson, Ahrens, Walls, John Sheahan, Yates, and the two Jones brothers.
Lieutenant John Sheahan arrived at Camp Hale as a volunteer from Camp Claiborne in Louisiana. His first year as a soldier was fairly typical for an officer:
"I was 'kidnapped' into service in June 1942 as a soldier at $21.00 a day - paid once a month. I devoted myself to my basic training and we were scheduled to participate in the African invasion. Five of us were selected and sent to OCS (Officer Candidate School). I was assigned to a lieutenant and sent to Camp Claiborne in Louisiana. I heard about the ski troops and was sent to Camp Hale around June 1943...".

TRAINING ENGINEERS IN THE MOUNTAINS
One of the tasks faced by the engineers was mountain training. They were not accustomed to the climate and terrain like the infantry volunteers, so they had to adapt to more situations. Part of their time was also spent training with the tramway. Tramways and suspension bridges were the best choice in rugged country, so some rock climbing skills were necessary to overcome difficult terrain. Marv Taylor recalls those days:
"I climbed just west of Dillon and Frisco on the Gore Range and Ten Mile Range. The camp area was at Officers Gulch about 3 miles west of Frisco, Colorado....Once I went to Dillon to fight a forest fire, but by the time we got there, it was under control."

Trails were built over Vail Pass to Ghost Camp just below Mount Holy Cross. A runway was built on frozen Turquoise Lake to provide a landing area for C-47 cargo planes. One of the D-7 tractors fell through the ice during a sudden thaw ( ) but was later recovered. The entire division continued maneuvers near Turquoise Lake in February 1943. Throughout this time, temperatures remained below freezing, often dropping to 40° below zero. Roger Frail recalled how the engineers mocked the infantry:
"The 126th ambushed the 87th Infantry as it passed through Vail. The day before, we had left camp in a snowstorm and were digging to camouflage ourselves. On the day of the attack, the sky was clear, and the 87th even had a private plane trying to find us. The infantry advanced in two columns right into the center of our horseshoe formation. When I fired my red signal flares and we opened fire, they ran for their lives. They dropped their backpacks and rifles, abandoned their skis, and ran down the mountain. This happened in front of observers from the War Department. That night, at the club, the engineers were not too popular with the infantry soldiers. As a result, all units had to spend 26 nights a month camping in the snow...as we had done until then.

On Fridays, the engineers went to ski school. Many were not very good. Sometimes, during the weekend, they were assigned to operate the ski lifts for other troops.

Towards the end of June 1943, the engineers of Company A had a real-world experience with high-powered explosives. Two freight cars loaded with ammunition caught fire as a train passed through the town of Grand Junction, Colorado. The fire caused many explosions and shrapnel rained down on the town. Eight residents were injured, and the fire chief suffered a shrapnel wound that required the amputation of his arm above the elbow.
A local newspaper report described the actions of Company A of the 126th when it was called to help:
"Under the direction of Lieutenant Colonel R.J. Ballard, commander of the 126th, and Captain Roger Frail, Lieutenants Phillip Walls and John Sheahan, all of the same organization, the engineers detonated thousands of high-explosive shells about seven miles outside Grand Junction, thereby alleviating the anxiety of the 20,000 people who populate the city and who were on the verge of panic on Sunday as high-explosive shells screamed over the city like heavy artillery barrage. Captain Wence L. Szpeinski, the camp's quartermaster, rushed to the scene early Sunday morning and, with the help of Lieutenant Wayne Fuller of the DEML Detachment, oversaw safety and control measures until the 126th arrived. Corporal Harry Huett of Company A was seriously injured when a charge he was preparing exploded in his hand..

This incident was followed by high praise and commendations from the War Department and Camp Hale commanders. The residents of Grand Junction went out of their way to welcome the soldiers of Company A whenever they could.

Hollywood also got involved at Camp Hale. Darryl F. Zanuck, head of 20th Century Fox Studios, was an accomplished skier and spent much of his free time in Sun Valley in the company of some of the famous skiers of the day who were now soldiers in the 10th. The skiing soldiers contributed to the glamour of the movie world and the propaganda machine, convincing the American public to support the war effort.
So, even today, there is a wealth of footage of troops on skis, providing a wonderful historical record of this unique division.
Howard Browne, one of the first commanders of the 126th, explained how the engineers entered the world of cinema. An ice waterfall had been built in one of the canyons behind the camp to be used for filming climbing scenes. Large beams were used to build a sort of palisade, the cavity of which was then flooded with water that, due to the temperature, froze, simulating a giant ice cliff. This construction worked so well that it was used, for a short period of time, to train some of the soldiers in the art of ice climbing.

FORWARD WITH THE "TRAMWAY"
With the portable 'tramway' equipment available, the engineers of Company A now had the task of assessing its suitability for the needs of the 10th Division. For example, the entire M-2 Tramway, as specified, would have required one hundred mules to transport the necessary parts. Alternatives to this form of transport included: four 2.5-ton trucks or six 1.5-ton trucks or 35 1/4-ton trailers pulled by 1/4-ton trucks. Clearly, some compromises were made to make the equipment more manageable. The intermediate towers and terminals also took a long time to assemble. It soon became clear that building a "tramway" was no picnic. Roger Frail described the work involved:
"... installing a tramway was mostly 'bull work'. Installing a telephone line, blocks and tackle, as well as pulling the guide rope first. We climbed steep slopes with an expert rock 'scout' from the 10th Recon to install climbing ropes and select sites for the towers. We tried 'shooting' a line [a tow cable] as the German engineers did, but it worked better from top to bottom. Many used 'high lines' as in the timber industry. Tow upwards and back down to the tower sites."

Lieutenant John Sheahan wrote in his 1943 "History of the 126th ........." "The first tramway required a year of experimentation on Sheep Mountain. Many important lessons were learned. His first tramway ...........".

After installing the complete set of tramway equipment as specified, the engineers began working on alternatives. It is unclear exactly how many versions were tested, but a clue was found in a magazine report on equipment used in Italy. An article published on March 8, 1945, by Robert St. John quotes NBC war correspondent Grant Parr: "They tested nine different types of equipment and finally developed an aerial tramway suitable for military use."

Major "Freddy" Roebling, one of the executives of the Roebling Wire Company in Denver, was assigned to lead the engineers in their learning process, along with several experienced cable craftsmen from the . This officer was a member of the famous Roebling family that had built the Brooklyn Bridge in New York. He was well versed in the use and installation of steel cables (sometimes called wire ropes) and served as a field consultant to the Fort Belvoir Engineer Commission.

The nine different versions were simply variations that replaced the original modules with alternatives devised on the spot. The final configuration eliminated hundreds of parts that would otherwise have had to be assembled, allowing the use of material that could be sourced locally, greatly improving the portability of the equipment. The only module that remained unchanged was the one that supplied the power.

The final version was installed and tested two or three times at Camp Hale. Assembly time was reduced to a few hours from an initial full day. Cables consisting of a 13 mm main cable and a 6.3 mm tow cable were used. Wooden "A-frames"⁴replaced the "Meccano" type towers. Wooden platforms, built on site, replaced the prefabricated metal equipment for the upper and lower terminals. "Dead Men"⁵  or buried logs were used to anchor the cables. The metal support, or cage, for transporting personnel or materials was replaced with a basket type more suitable for moving wounded soldiers.

The tow cable was connected to a specially modified Continental Aircraft Engine, identical to those used in Piper Cub airplanes. It was a compact four-cylinder engine that developed forty-five horsepower and was very reliable. The drum used to pull the cable was controlled by a special manual transmission. Three of these power units, each weighing about 300 kilograms, were eventually mounted on special trailers for use during combat. This power unit had one major drawback: it was started with a crank that kicked like a mule. A special section of the "User Manual" described the operating instructions necessary to avoid breaking arms or thumbs.

NEW LOOK FOR THE 126th
While experiments on the "tramway" were underway, Company B worked on suspension bridges. Then, on May 3, 1943, Company C was activated to complete the "organizational chart" of the 126th Mountain Engineer Battalion. With things apparently going as planned, some strange things suddenly began to happen.

On June 11, 1943, Company B left Camp Hale with the 87th Infantry Regiment for amphibious training at Fort Ord in California. Amphibious training for mountain troops?
As it soon became clear, this move was in preparation for the August 15, 1943 invasion of Kiska in the Aleutian Islands. For the Kiska invasion, Company B was renamed the 229th Engineer Combat Company (pack). This action ultimately proved unjustified as the Japanese, undetected by American intelligence, had secretly evacuated the island. The infantry soon returned to Camp Hale, but most of the engineers remained in the area for several months and never rejoined the division.

Subsequently, a move took place that is difficult to explain. On July 10, 1943, the 226th Motorized Engineer Company (a separate unit) was created by simply reorganizing Company A of the 126th. Initially, the new unit was placed under the command of the 2nd Army in Kansas City. A month later, it was placed under the command of the military at Camp Hale. This new company had retained its specialization and mission with the aerial tramways.

Later, in the fall, a call came for the tramway engineers from Camp Claiborne in Louisiana. On October 8, 1943, the first platoon of the new 226th was sent for 30 days of temporary service at Camp Claiborne. They never returned and were eventually sent to Burma to build tramways on the Burma Road. The tramways at Camp Hale were built to collect wounded soldiers and had a capacity of a few hundred kilograms. The tramways in Burma were built with a capacity of 20 tons using a 3-inch support cable, twice the size of modern ski lift cables.

The replacement of the troops sent to Claiborne took place in November 1943. Monroe, who had basically become the company secretary, recalls his transfer to the 226th:
"My entry into the 226th, to which I had been assigned from Camp Claiborne in Louisiana where I had received basic training, took place in the first week of November 1943. There were 22 of us sent to Camp Hale in Colorado to replace 22 men who had been transferred for various reasons. Of the 22 men, I remember only Simon Bickel, who was to work in the supply office, being put in charge of the trip to Camp Hale. We left Louisiana with the temperature at about 47 degrees and arrived at Camp Hale with the temperature at about 6 degrees below zero, perfectly 'tanned'.

The following men, fresh from basic training, were part of this group: Privates Simon E. Bickel, Bernard Boyd, Ceciel Edwards, Wilbert Goolsby, "Scottie" Loshbaugh, Al Monroe, Herb Musgrave, Harold Olsen, Art Siebert, Louis Siscoe, Dick Sweet, Earl Utsey, and Herman Wolkowicz. By this time, the 126th was almost fully equipped with pack mules, and the 10th was much less mechanized than most infantry divisions. At Camp Hale, the new 226th had become a service unit. The men were not subject to the full rigors of mountain training. Many of the roads around the base were built by the 226th. Some of these were used for marching or hiking, and others for vehicular traffic. Rocks or slippery mud were a problem that required their attention on a regular basis. Drivers were also frequently called upon to take individuals or groups around the training areas.

AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE
Throughout most of 1944, plans for the 10th remained in limbo. Some rumors suggested that the division would be transformed into a regular infantry unit. On May 9, 1944, the 226th was ordered to move to Camp Carson in Colorado to prepare for a tour of duty in the South Pacific. At that time, the company consisted of 188 enlisted men and 5 officers. Its new command was to be the XVI Corps of the 2nd Army. Transportation to the new location was provided by trucks operated by the 226th. Following this order, the company's name was changed to the 226th Combat Engineer Company.

During this period, Minot Dole was back at work in Washington, frantically trying to secure a mountain or winter warfare assignment for the 10th Division. He met with many military and military leaders in Washington, including General Marshall. At about the same time, the 10th, now called the 10th Light Division, was transferred to Camp Swift to acclimatize to the Texas heat. Towards the end of 1944, Army planners had scheduled massive maneuvers in Louisiana, and the 10th was tentatively scheduled to participate.

Suddenly, the orders for the 226th were canceled, and the company was sent back to Camp Hale to await new instructions. Within a few days, the unit was transferred to the 2nd Army detachment at A.P. Hill Military Reservation in Virginia. The purpose of this change was to put the company to work for the Engineer Command at Fort Belvoir in Virginia to conduct tests of experimental techniques designed to clear fields of mines. This latest assignment for the 226th completed a series of specializations that were ideal for the combat mission that awaited the 10th Mountain Division. More importantly, the 226th had become one of only two teams in the US military equipped with expertise in the construction and use of aerial tramways.

THE 'ALPINI' HEAD FOR THE PLAINS
Then, like a breath of fresh air, the Army changed its plans: it gave the 10th a mission for which it had been trained. Consequently, orders were changed to add about 2,000 men to the ranks and reassign the 226th Engineers. The division was ordered to prepare physically for what was to come. Only a select few knew what that meant, but for the men it meant a lot of Army discipline: marching, physical training, and hiking. For some reason, most of us were required to go through infiltration training. It rained half the time, which made the commanders happy because it provided a very realistic environment. You had to get used to crawling on your stomach in the mud.

REUNITING WITH THE ARMY
Each unit was required to do a brutal twenty-five-mile hike, and the 226th arrived at Camp Swift just in time to participate. Full field packs were required, and there was an eight-hour time limit, which made it what the Army called a forced march. For the infantry, it was a piece of cake, but for the cooks, clerks, and boys who had been chasing girls at Virginia Beach, it was pure torture. Chuck Hampton recalls how it went for the 226th:
"On the day of the company march, it was amazing how many of the unit's trucks and bulldozers were immediately and urgently engaged. About forty of us completed the march within the time limit. The rest of the company crashed God knows how many miles behind. The first aid men really earned their pay for cases of heat exhaustion, blisters, and the like. It was not an outstanding performance, although we later consoled ourselves with the knowledge that we had done better than the other Engineer companies of the 126th."

Shortly after the 226th arrived at Camp Swift, the unit was assigned to the 126th Mountain Engineer Battalion as Company D. The division's name was also changed from the 10th Light Division to the 10th Mountain Division, and the insignia and shoulder patch were expanded to include the word "Mountain." This was the first time in history that an Army division had been named in this way. Some new recruits were equipped to fill the ranks. Some of them commented that they were not too sure they wanted to be associated with a division that published its newspaper with pictures of "Pinup Mountains" rather than Lana Turner.

During its service in Virginia, the 226th had been under the command of First Lieutenant Harold McKay. At the same time as the name change at Camp Swift, Captain Fred Nagel of Denver, Colorado, took command of the company. Captain Nagel was undoubtedly an engineer, but he was also well versed in the art of military leadership. He was a graduate of the Colorado School of Mines and had spent two years working on the ALCAN Highway. His first challenge, for which he had little time, was to build a rapport with his men and rebuild some of the discipline that had been lost during the assignment in Virginia. Most agreed that he did so with remarkable skill.

Another training update was implemented when the company camped for several days at the Colorado River to practice building Bailey bridges. During this activity, Captain Nagel lined everyone up at the river's edge and gave them a swimming lesson.

Then came the day when every available man in the division became a mule driver. The men were assembled at a railroad junction at Camp Swift.
The quartermaster and artillery transport units had taken delivery of their newly arrived mules, which were waiting in a long line of livestock wagons parked on the junction. Without further information on mule handling, each soldier was told to take a halter from piles of stacked items, grab a mule, and lead it to barns several kilometers away.
Most of the men had no idea how to use a halter. They quickly learned that it was a kind of bitless bridle that was passed over the animals' heads. It allowed them to attach the mule to a lead rope.

Army mules were notoriously stubborn. They were supplied by contractors who tried to breed them so that they were all about the same size. Their vocal cords had been cut by Army veterinarians to prevent noise during combat missions. Being locked up in cattle cars for an unknown number of days had not improved their temperament. Experienced handlers led the procession and were walking calmly toward the barns, while the "volunteers" were making their way to their animals.

An experienced handler was there to help with the halter and give advice on handling. For most of the men, getting the animals out of the car was not difficult. The experts told the volunteer "handlers," "Guys, lead him out and don't turn around to look at him, and he'll follow you." That advice certainly worked, at least as far as the livestock truck ramp was concerned. It was when they reached solid ground that several mules went berserk, probably well aware that their handlers were idiots. It was impossible to restrain one of those unruly creatures with a rope if it wanted to go elsewhere. It wasn't long before a large number of mules were scattered across the fifty-plus square miles of the military reserve and surrounding territory. In the end, camp officials had to hire a group of Texas cowboys to round up the strays and deliver them to the barns.

On the same day as the mule fiasco, numerous new recruits reported to the headquarters of the 126th Engineer Battalion for assignment. A great effort was made to bring all units of the division up to full strength before departure overseas. That day, panic reigned supreme at Headquarters, probably more so than in the cattle car area. The animals were scattered throughout Camp Swift, and some were wandering into the surrounding residential areas. It was impossible to have any kind of conversation with the clerk on duty because the wall phone kept ringing with people begging "to get those #@?!! creatures out of our yard."
On Thanksgiving Day, a new commander was assigned to the 10th Mountain Division. It was General George P. Hayes, who had been commander of the artillery of the 2nd Infantry Division in Europe. As a soldier who had risen through the ranks, he had been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor during World War I. This was his first opportunity to command an entire division. Few soldiers knew anything about him, but as it turned out, he proved to be a wise choice for a division such as the 10th Mountain.
Intensive training lasted for the entire time we were at Camp Swift. Company D, with its cadre of expert engineers and unique equipment, became technically the most competent in the battalion. The company received the highest tactical rating of the entire battalion during maneuvers and was praised by Colonel Parker, the battalion commander. After several sessions, we mastered the technique of assembling Bailey bridges. Six men were sent to the Anti-Aircraft Company to qualify on the .50 caliber machine gun by firing at a radio-controlled drone.
It was said that the drone never suffered a scratch, but the men were somehow qualified.

The latest models of German mines were studied together with several veterans of the war in Europe, who taught us the best countermeasures. All equipment was thoroughly inspected and spare parts installed where necessary.

Finally, the entire division was confined to the base, and no civilians were allowed access under any circumstances. Preparations were completed, and the 10th lost its identity and became Task Force 45, departing for some unknown destination. This was a very sad moment for the married soldiers who were accompanied by their wives. Many had just gotten married. They had taken up lodgings wherever they could find space, mainly in small hotels in the area. The soldiers had been allowed, where possible, to live off base, so many returned home every night, usually too tired to do anything else. The fear and anxiety of the families, shared with their young soldiers, was amplified by the wartime situation because, from that moment on, there could be almost no communication. Wives had to return to their homes, some with small children. All correspondence was censored, so that the only real information could be read between the lines in letters that came from some unknown Army Postal Office (APO) address or from periodic reports in the media.

The silver lining was for our friend from the 85th who was awaiting trial for car theft. He was saved by the bell. Becoming Task Force 45 prevented anyone who could testify against him from accessing the base, so his cell was opened.

TASK FORCE 45

Moving 13,000 soldiers from a training camp to a combat zone in Europe required a great deal of preparation. The railway cars needed were enough to move a small town. A company had preceded us to ensure that the departure from the States went smoothly. They did a masterful job.

The first to leave Camp Swift was the 86th Mountain Infantry Regiment. They left the camp in late November and arrived in Italy shortly before Christmas 1944. All units of the 10th followed the same route to Italy. First by train to Camp Patrick Henry in Virginia, then to Newport News to board a ship, and finally disembarking in Naples, Italy.

The troops were kept in the dark. Their destination was considered "top secret." There were some clues. Before departure, winter clothes were distributed, and somehow everyone assumed that the departure would be from the East Coast. It seemed pretty clear that the South Pacific was not the final destination.

90 POUNDS OF RUCKSACK
Company D had a lot of extra work to do in view of all the heavy equipment that had to be packed and loaded. Every item of clothing that would be needed abroad had been replaced. Everyone was issued with a new item of clothing that looked like a cotton bedspread. Initially, the troops tried to speculate on the type of dormitories that might need something like this. Ominously, it turned out that they were ^"body bags." When your number came up, you were stored in the bag until the Graves Registration personnel picked you up. Everyone had a bag with all their personal effects, a steel helmet, and their personal weapon. Including winter equipment, everything weighed almost 45 kilograms, so all other personal items deemed unnecessary were discarded or sent home.

Personal weapons varied depending on each person's task. Most had the M-1 semi-automatic rifle, which used clips with eight .30 caliber bullets. All those with M-1s were given bayonets that attached to the end of the rifle. Most officers were also given M-3 carbines. These were .30 caliber weapons but lighter and shorter than the M-1. Some were given the standard military sidearm: the Browning 45 automatic pistol. Another newer weapon was the .45 caliber "Grease Gun," which had a fifteen-round magazine. Some of the officers were equipped with this automatic weapon, which was a cross between a rifle and a pistol. It looked very similar to the tools used to grease military vehicles.

Company D began the transfer on Christmas Day along with the rest of the division. Special trains transported them to the east coast. Each convoy was self-sufficient and included a kitchen and sleeping cars. Troops destined for combat had priority over all other rail traffic. Under these conditions, the trains arrived in Virginia in three days, but few were able to see anything during the journey because total blackout was imposed. Soldiers were strictly forbidden to get off the train or even lift the blackout curtains at any time. If the train stopped along the way, the Military Police appeared out of nowhere to guard all the exits.

The temperature at Camp Patrick Henry was incredibly cold. It was a shock to the men of Company D, who four months earlier had been suffocating from the heat just fifty miles north of there. A biting wind was blowing in from the Atlantic, and no one could have guessed what effect it would have during the ocean crossing. They soon found out.

BEANS FOR BREAKFAST
Camp Patrick Henry had been a staging area. Equipment and personnel were prepared for embarkation at the shipyard. Training courses were conducted to familiarize the men with travel on a troop transport ship. Company D continued its work transporting equipment to the Newport News docks. It was probably a blessing because it was Christmas and no one was in the mood to celebrate. There was a break in the packing of equipment when most of the men had the opportunity to attend a live performance by Red Skelton, one of the funniest men of that era.

On January 5, 1945, about six thousand soldiers boarded the USS General Miegs, which we were told was one of America's newest and most modern troop transports. This boat trip across the ocean proved to be unforgettable for most of the men. To maintain secrecy, boarding and departure took place at night. An embarkation officer called out each soldier's surname, and after responding with his name, he was allowed to board. Arriving for the first time at your assigned quarters on the ship was a bizarre experience. Most of us had never been on anything larger than a rowboat. Guides led the soldiers of Company D into the bowels of this enormous floating catacomb. With our helmets and 45-kilogram backpacks, it seemed to take hours to navigate the steel passageways and stairways. We were like an animal that had been put into its cage.

Part of Company D was on deck "D," four floors below the main deck and in the foremost compartment. The rest were on a lower deck that was completely below the waterline. Many of the bunks were next to the hull, which was not the best part of the ship to be in for an ocean cruise because all the rolling and swaying motions were amplified to the maximum.

The military quarters could hold nothing but a canvas bunk and a small space to stack your duffel bag. Every square inch of wall space was used. The bunks measured 36 by 72 inches deep, about 18 inches apart and approximately equal in distance. For the first few hours after embarkation, the heat became unbearable.

There were thousands of soldiers, dressed in winter woolen clothing, sweating, and it was impossible to get any fresh air before the engines were at full speed and the ship was moving. To make matters worse, orders were issued preventing anyone from leaving their assigned spaces until all the troops had been loaded and counted. The men were already vomiting into their helmets, and several urinated in them. At that point, the soldiers wondered, "How many days of this do we have to endure?" From the beginning to the end of the voyage, seasickness was the order of the day. Many engineers felt nauseous just walking on the bridge. Joe Martino threw up his dinner overboard and spent the entire trip in the ship's infirmary. Harold Weiske never left his bunk and was taken off the ship in Naples. Everyone was at least nauseous. Many were very sick. A combination of stormy weather, claustrophobia, or simply nerves took a heavy toll.

The atmosphere on the ships did not help much. Meals were served a couple of decks above the troop quarters. Going to meals meant climbing several decks up a rickety ladder that had been used so much in the past, as had the latrine. Diners from the previous shift, returning to their quarters, often threw up their meals at the top of the stairs. This nasty mixture fell through the grates onto those on their way to eat. The latrine was also a hazard. No one could relieve themselves because all the stalls with latrines and urinals were occupied by soldiers who were vomiting. It was not unusual to look down the row of stalls and see twenty-five or more backs facing the door. At least you could be fairly sure what was on the menu before you got to the galley.

Enlisted men who were able to eat were served two meals a day. Company D was given breakfast and dinner late in the day, meaning that there was almost twelve hours between meals. The mess tables were made of metal, and diners passed between them for each meal. Most of the time, the ship rocked so much that the trays had to be held steady while we ate. Often, one of our tablemates would vomit into his tray and then collapse onto the floor. The soldiers also learned where the term "navy bean" came from because they were served them almost every day for breakfast. After a few days, only the most resilient soldiers continued to eat, which actually improved the atmosphere on board the ship.

The officers had their special advantages. With rather spacious quarters located on the upper decks, they sat down to eat three meals a day. Their "private cabins" housed four to six men. The nurses and Red Cross women were housed in the same areas. Hmm, I've said enough. The only consolation for the troops was that the bigwigs seemed to be suffering from seasickness. In fact, strangely enough, there were many sailors who felt sick.

As soon as the troops boarded the ship, their pay increased by 20 percent. This was considered a bonus for overseas service, which meant that a soldier's pay rose from $54.00 to $64.80, while a sergeant's pay increased from $15.60 to $93.60.

The ships' crews included Army, Navy, and Coast Guard personnel.

Some of the soldiers from the 10th were assigned to an observation deck where they lived as part of the crew. Army and Coast Guard personnel operated the ships' weapons. Every soldier on board envied the ship's crew. Their job included a regular route from the United States to Europe (usually Italy), then to South America and back to the United States. Everything you couldn't get in the United States or Europe was plentiful in South America: cigarettes, nylon, watches, etc. So the crew members became part of the "black market" and were cleaned out. Some literally made thousands of dollars, with most of their earnings coming from the troops they were transporting.

The ship General Meigs was part of the convoy for only a short stretch of the crossing. As a new means of transport, it had to be fast enough to outrun a submarine, so it soon broke ranks and zigzagged along its route.

Many days of Italian lessons put the soldiers on the road to their destination. Small English-Italian translation books were handed out. The lessons were conducted over loudspeakers. Everyone was taught how to ask for the bathroom, to say "please," and other important phrases. "Where can I find some wine?" and other commonly used phrases came later.

LUNCH FOR EVERYONE?
Only some of the passengers were put to work. They were the sweepers who had the daily job of "sweeping the bow and stern thoroughly" every afternoon. Under normal circumstances, this would have been an undesirable task^, like KP. Instead^,it became a sought-after job because those soldiers were entitled to three meals a day. As the days passed and their sea legs became stable, their appetites increased. The soldiers were not used to such meager rations and went around looking for food. Charlie Pruitt, from the first platoon, was regularly assigned as a sweeper. Chuck Hampton asked him how he got into the mess hall at noon. Pruitt showed him his pass, which looked like a white postcard with several holes in it. For some hungry soldiers, forging that pass was a piece of cake. The hardest part was simulating the punch holes with a pocket knife. Hampton and Jonny Johnson did this with some ease and were soon able to eat a meal at noon as well. It worked so well that half the platoon, including Sergeants Waltich and Hull, enjoyed a nice lunch every day.

Another new experience for the soldiers was showering in salt water. The effect was a bit like rubbing sandpaper on your skin. The soap never lathered, but in the end, they felt a little cleaner. Life on board the ship was monotonous and routine. After breakfast, they would pull out their cards and start endless games of blackjack or poker. For most of these games, there was a limit of five cents, but you would imagine it was more, like five dollars. The Special Service had set up a beauty contest that anyone could enter. Hampton and Lunday were both winners. Hampton had submitted a beautiful portrait of his wife Barbara, and Lunday entered a photo of a buxom girl he had found in his new wallet. Many had continued to read after being urged to do something to keep themselves busy. The Red Cross had a supply of paperback books that went like hotcakes, except for a few that no one wanted. Eventually, even those last books were read. One soldier in the company was so bored that he read Of Geography and Human Destiny from cover to cover. One of the most popular books was Ernie Pyle's This Is Your War.

Apart from the weather, the crossing was uneventful. There were a couple of submarine alerts, but nothing happened. About two days before reaching the Strait of Gibraltar, the weather turned pleasantly warm. Everyone had cabin fever from being confined below deck for nine days when, suddenly, without warning, the loudspeaker announced, " ." This was the Navy's way of telling you that you could go up on deck to smoke. The exodus up the stairs was immediate and massive. Finally, fresh air and sunshine. Many took off their shirts to sunbathe, while others lay down on the deck to take a nap.

DOWN BELOW
When the ship passed the Strait of Gibraltar, the ocean changed immediately. The huge waves covered with white foam were replaced by long waves. The movement of the ship changed from bumpy to a more nauseating roll. The snow-capped Atlantic mountains of North Africa were visible to the south, and for a while, the soldiers felt like tourists on a cruise ship. Gibraltar looked down on the troops as if to advise them to be cautious.

Having been unescorted for most of our journey, a naval convoy greeted the General Mieg as it entered the Mediterranean. These were enclosed waters, and there was the added danger of air attack. During the day, the lamp that allowed us to go up for a smoke remained lit, so the soldiers continued to lie comfortably in the warm sun. At sunset, the blackout was total.

On January 18, 1945, the ship docked at the port of Naples. All the troops got their first glimpse of the war. The port was full of sunken boats of all kinds. There were several barrage balloons moored in the pier area. These were large bags tied to the ground and filled with helium, which supported suspended cables designed to discourage enemy aircraft from flying low. The most devastating and shocking things were the bombed buildings and the impact on the civilian population.

The unloading process was exactly the opposite of the loading process. Level by level, the troops moved with difficulty up the narrow passages with their bags and equipment. As soon as a landing officer called each of the soldiers by name, they descended from the bridge onto Italian soil. The Red Cross girls were there to thank the men as they literally staggered off the ship. Coffee and doughnuts were offered to anyone who did not have their hands full. Being on dry land caused a very strange sensation. It felt as if the ground was rolling. Some of the troops literally fell to the ground. Others chased after the Red Cross girls.

For many soldiers, walking on foreign soil felt like a dream. In no time at all, the division was thrust into a fantasy world. Nothing seemed real. A new reality about the war made subtle changes in opinions and spirits. The troops were "over there" and worried about what the future held for them.

FINAL PREPARATIONS
Back on solid ground, Company D found itself divided. Most of the troops headed immediately north, while others were chosen to stay behind and protect the equipment unloaded from the ship.

Those destined for Pisa marched along the railroad tracks through the neighborhoods of Naples. Along the way, they learned their first lesson about protecting their possessions in a war-torn country. Both Captains Nagel and T-5 Tulsy Davis were marching with a pack of cigarettes sticking out of their pockets. Small, frail street creatures covered in worn-out clothes jumped between the ranks and quickly disappeared with goods that were more valuable than money.

Next, we began to glimpse the military train that would head north. The cars had been made comfortable with a layer of straw spread on the floor. European military trains had been famous since World War I when they were introduced to American soldiers as "forty-eights." They were small cars that were supposed to accommodate forty men or eight mules. In this case, it was closer to "fifty-eight." The bathrooms were either the door or a crack in the floor. Space was so limited that the soldiers took turns lying down.

Wherever there were Allied troops, there were Italian civilians in worn-out clothes who traded or sold anything they thought a soldier might take in exchange for cigarettes. They mainly tried to offer prostitutes or looked for a chance to steal something. Every time the train stopped, these desperate people appeared. They were everywhere. Some soldiers bought wine but soon discovered that it had been diluted with water to such an extent that it was worthless. We later learned that it was not unusual for sellers to urinate in the bottles to improve the color. During the journey north, when the train finally stopped in a town that had toilets, the troops had another surprise. First of all, the toilets were all unisex. They consisted of a wall with a foot-wide channel at the base and several enclosures open on one side. To relieve yourself, you had to lean against the wall and hope to hit the channel. Every few minutes, water was poured into the channel to wash the excrement into the sewer. Women selling toilet paper, which was about the consistency of newspaper, patrolled the stalls.

The Italian railway lines were still a collection of roads, pylons, and bombed-out tunnels. Most of the time, the train seemed to be going in the wrong direction, but after a couple of days, the Leaning Tower of Pisa came into view, the soldiers got off the train and set up camp. Equipment and weapons had to be assembled in preparation for action against the formidable German defenses of the Gothic or Winter Line.

GUARD DUTY IN NAPLES
Among the soldiers who remained in Naples were Privates Lunday and Cochran. During the first few days, these newly appointed guards remained on the troop transport ship and had their suspicions confirmed: the ship's crew ate very well. Three meals a day, cake for dessert, and even a steak or two.

Food for the civilian population was very scarce. To feed their armies, the Germans had taken most of what was produced. Italy's 'breadbasket', in the Po River Valley, was still in their hands. Almost the entire population of the country was in the grip of hunger. The military authorities decided to allow people to collect whatever was left on dining tables wherever they were. Surprisingly, this also included navy ships. All the leftovers remaining on meal trays were piled into buckets held by the leftover collectors. No one wondered what they would do with that stuff. Lunday described his efforts to be a good Samaritan when he offered his collector special treatment:
"Dinner included an extra slice of cherry pie, which I carefully wrapped in a napkin. Instead of letting the person slip that pie into his straw bucket, I handed it to him. He deposited his gift with all the rest of the stuff in his bucket, including the napkin."

Chain fences and military police were used to secure the dock area in Naples. Access to the outside was restricted, so the guards had to content themselves with wandering around mainly inside the fence. An MP from the 34th Division was guarding a gate and seemed hungry for news coming directly from the United States. He had survived the campaign in North Africa and was in his fourth year overseas. After talking to this MP for a while, it became clear that he was impatient. Outside the gate he was guarding was a building that had been blown up in half. One side was reduced to rubble and the other was still standing. On the wall of the standing wall, three-meter-high white letters had been painted with the initials "VD." The MP asked the group if anyone wanted a "piece of ass^"and whistled at some girls standing on the roof. They wiggled seductively, but under the circumstances, no one was very enthusiastic.

When the General Miegs was finally unloaded, it departed without further delay. The equipment had to be reloaded onto an Italian merchant cargo ship bound for Livorno in northern Italy. While this loading was being completed, the guards were housed in another staging area in the town of Bagnoli, near Naples. The guards were never sure exactly what they were supposed to be doing or who they were supposed to be guarding. The MPs were on duty 24 hours a day throughout the dock area. Some thought that black market professionals might attempt to steal anything, but having two groups of guards seemed redundant. Nothing was more boring than sitting on a packing crate for eight hours from midnight to 8:00 a.m. in the fog of the Bay of Naples. It was cold and damp, and it was not at all difficult to doze off.

Finally, in about a week, the cargo ship was loaded and ready to start sailing up the west coast of Italy. The ship, called Cestria, was red with rust but seemed to work. The beds were on the deck. The bathrooms, or latrines, were made of wood and attached to the deck. The waste from these was discharged from one side of the ship.

It only took a day or two to get to "Leghorn" (Livorno on Italian maps). It turned out to be a much nicer trip than those of the "forty-eights." Livorno was worse than Naples for sunken ships. There were also barrage balloons. On the way from Naples, B17s flew over the canal on their way to or from northern Italy or Germany. They reminded us that the war was not far away.

CAMP IN PISA
Company D camped in a rather pastoral setting, the former hunting estate of an Italian nobleman. The Canadian tents were erected in neat rows within sight of the Leaning Tower. The same depressing poverty was everywhere. The local children were dressed in rags. Some had rough cloth wrapped around their feet instead of shoes. They were real hustlers. Most had learned English very well and would sell you anything from their sister down. It was sad to see their sunken cheeks and the yellowish complexion of the malnourished.

One afternoon, a lone B17 happened over the field. Smoke was coming out of one side, and it was very low in the sky. Finally, several parachutes appeared. For the newly arrived troops of the 10th Mountain Division, this was their first taste of real battle casualties. The Headquarters platoon spent most of its time in Pisa cleaning the "cosmoline" off everything. The Army packs equipment in this sort of greasy substance to protect it from rust. Everyone had to do their part in carrying out that task, and it was a chaotic and h d job. Many of the trucks and cats¹¹were new and had not been stripped of the anti-rust treatment.

Once assembled, the company resumed training. As a diversion from the cosmolene, many of the line teams were transported to the coast near Livorno. The Germans, in order to slow down a coastal invasion, had laid a minefield that was still very effective. It consisted of large Teller anti-tank mines. Except for being primed, they were the same as those used for testing at A. P. Hill. Several hundred were located by probing, digging them up, and then deactivating them.

It was easy to obtain passes to enable sightseeing. There wasn't much to do. Pisa was, of course, a major attraction. Admission to the Leaning Tower was free, so most of the boys would climb the stairs that wound around the inside wall of the tower. The tower's tilt made climbing the stairs a very strange sensation. On one side, you felt as if you were floating, and on the other, it was as if you had been loaded with an extra 100 pounds.

Money had little value because there was not much to buy. A soldier's pay could easily be supplemented with a little black market activity. A pack of cigarettes worth 10 cents could fetch up to $2.50. Two cigarettes would buy a haircut, and almost any merchandise could be exchanged for cigarettes. Soldiers were paid in "invasion currency" that had been printed by our government in various denominations of the Italian lira. It looked like Monopoly money. The official Italian currency was almost useless, trading at something like 100,000 lire to the dollar.

One afternoon, the British Air Force pilots seemed to want to play. The planes of a squadron of Spitfires returning from a day's work somewhere lined up one by one, buzzing over the camp. They flew so low that some of the tents were blown over. This happened a couple of times until someone said a few words to them: enough is enough. If machine gun ammunition had been available, the troops would probably have wanted to offer them some of their arguments.

The mail distribution assembly was, above all else, the most popular of all army institutions. Traditionally, it was held every day immediately after lunch. The mail clerk would come out of the quartermaster's office carrying a sack of mail. He would shout "mail call" and was soon literally surrounded by soldiers hungry for news. The mail was removed sheet by sheet from the bag and the recipients were called by name. After responding, the mail or package was passed through the ranks to the lucky G.I. Normally, these were packages and always a few fragrant love letters. Some ventured to send liquor illegally through the mail. A loaf of bread could be hollowed out to hold a quart of scotch, and in most cases, the poor hooch arrived intact. Cookies and cakes were fairly common, but sometimes the weeks they spent in transit could turn them into hardtack. Frivolous comments were always the order of the day because of the many letters to be handled. As items were passed from hand to hand, you could hear: "A man kept it warm for you; Mom must be cooked again; Palma will consume another loaf of bread tonight; guys, now we'll know how the war went last month," and so on.

After the clerk reported that his load for the day had been distributed, everyone went to their hole or tent, and silence fell over the area. Each soldier absorbed the contents of his mail. Food supplies were almost always shared. Some received almost no mail, and one could tell of their depression. Others had to choose a friend to read a letter for them and later write a reply. Something from home had arrived at the front lines.

WELCOME TO THE FRONT LINE
In January, units of the 10th Mountain Infantry had been gradually engaged on the front line. For the time being, towards the end of the winter period, things were generally quiet. There were occasional contacts with the enemy, mainly due to patrols sent out by both sides. As in many mountainous areas, weather conditions varied: snow, rain, and fog. The 86th units were in position on the front nd under artillery fire since January 9. The first firefight with enemy troops occurred on January 16. On January 22, Company F of the 86th suffered its first casualties. One of the few times skis were actually used was during a three-day patrol that began on January 21.

Company D moved to a small town called Mammiano. From there, the sounds of war could be heard. Infantry from both sides had entrenched themselves just above the hill. Most of the houses were made of stone. In fact, the trees and forests in this area had long since been cut down for firewood. This town was built on the side of a relatively steep hill and divided into two parts: the "upper" town and the "lower" town. The company's quarters were in a three-story stone house in the lower part of the village called Mammiano Basso. Many of the rooms were shared by the soldiers, while the Italian owners occupied the remaining rooms.

Immediately after settling into their new quarters, several soldiers headed to one of the local bars. The place was smoky and very crowded. Most of the customers were American soldiers who were armed to the teeth and rather rowdy. A man from some other unit made several malicious comments about the 10th. He was challenged and suddenly pulled out a magazine from a .45 automatic. Just then the MPs arrived, so no blood was shed. For a while it looked like there was going to be a Wild West shootout, until Sergeant Hampton, who was the night guard sergeant, arrived. The offender calmed down pretty quickly when his jaw was broken by a fantastic right hook.

The veil of secrecy created for Task Force 45 was lifted by the Germans around that time. They installed loudspeakers and welcomed the 10th Mountain Division to the front. Part of the broadcast included comments naming many officers and their units, their departure dates from Camp Swift, their stay at Camp Patrick Henry, and even the names of the troop ships. They also dropped propaganda leaflets showing obscene images of what a civilian 4F¹³would supposedly love to have in his arms. One of those leaflets carried the following message:

HELLO! Guys from the 86th and 85th! Welcome to Europe on the Italian Front!
We hope you like it! Although there may be some doubt because you won't find things too comfortable around here. No, this is not the time for a pleasant and fashionable 'Go to Italy for the winter'.
The cooks have sent you your tickets and organized everything. Then off you go on the 'Southern Itinerary' of Europe for a Mediterranean cruise.
THEN SUNNY ITALY with refined hotels, good food, and lots of entertainment. All in all: have lots of fun and enjoy yourself to the fullest.
When you've had enough, you can take the next boat home. Well... if that's not different!
This time you chose... THE WRONG TRAVEL AGENCY! There are just a few too many "conductors" on this trip.
No choice about where to go or where to stay. No views, no comforts, no elegantly dressed girls, NOTHING!
But an excellent chance of being killed, buried, and forgotten.
Or (if you're lucky) end up in a prison camp to be among those who survive the turmoil and return home as soon as the war is over!
There's a long way between Camp Hale and Abetone! You'll find that it's even longer to get back... if you ever make it.
You know what the Italians say: "See Naples and die!" So, you've seen Naples and you'll find peace too, unless you make another choice.

During their stay in Mammiano, a "tramway" was installed as a training exercise and to test the equipment. All engines were carefully tuned and some imperfections in the installation procedures were resolved. Some bridges were repaired and some minefields were cleared near the front lines. The engineers of Company D encountered sporadic mortar fire for the first time. Jack Mitchell vividly recalls the "tramway" exercise:

"The purpose was to prepare us for the assault on the Monti della Riva. The tramway was a few kilometers from Mammiano, a mountain town where we were camped. The road we had to travel on was narrow and bumpy, and we proceeded slowly. At one point, we had to pass through a short open area along the road to the site where we were to test the tramway. We heard a 'splat, splat, splat' sound coming from a nearby rock wall. We immediately realized it was fire from small-caliber German weapons. We continued on to the tramway site and made several trips without further incident. We cleared the road well and assembled the tramway in two or three days. Before it was fully operational, the tramway had to be tested to check the strength of the cable. Another engineer (Bill Flynn?) and I made the first run. Everything went well until the trolley, before reaching the first A-frame, fell to the ground after hitting the top of a group of short trees. The fall caused severe back pain. I don't remember the other engineer being injured. Two engineers helped me back to the company doctor, who suggested I have myself checked at the hospital. Not knowing the severity of my injuries, I opted to stay with my group. The doctors wrapped me in a large elastic bandage and treated me for the pain. I spent two weeks on light duty before returning to full-time duty. I endured the rest of my Army service knowing that something was wrong. I decided to get to the bottom of it after my discharge. At that time, my priority was to get out of the Army and go home. A few weeks after my discharge, I began to experience back spasms and renal colic again. The doctors who examined me found compression due to five fractured vertebrae just below my neck and three more in my lower back. They also found stones in my prolapsed right kidney. The expert doctors considered the risk of back surgery too high, but they treated the kidney and removed the stones. The frequent aches and pains remind me of the first tramway we built in Italy.

Another, and at that moment more urgent, priority was to calibrate the rifle sights before going to the front line. This had been done before leaving Texas. Now, after the jolts the weapons had been subjected to during the journey, no one could be really sure of hitting what they were aiming at.
A small field, about a hundred meters long and nestled in the hillside, was chosen as a shooting range. The targets were placed at the far end and the distance carefully measured. The rifles had to aim exactly at a hundred meters. The field was large enough to accommodate a team of ten men side by side at a time. Each man was given a clip of eight rounds^, considered sufficient to do the job.
The Headquarters platoon, cooks, quartermasters, and motor pool personnel were the first in line. This was not a test of marksmanship but a way to check, within a range of a hundred meters, whether your rifle was firing low, high, right, or left, and by how much. Knowing this, the rifle's sights could be adjusted to bring you to the correct center. The Headquarters platoon was soon satisfied with their test, so the first squad of the 1st platoon went to the firing line. When they had fired half of their rounds, adjusted their sights, and noted the results, one of the riflemen couldn't resist the temptation and fired a shot at a large green glass insulator perched on top of a nearby power pole. It was the power line that supplied Mammiano Alto. The insulator exploded in a cascade of pulverized glass. Before long, many others were targeted as other rifles joined in the game. Immediately, loud and insistent cries of "CEASE FIRE, DAMN IT!" came from the company's officers and non-commissioned officers, who were observing the exercise. Fortunately, the village's electricity supply was not interrupted, which undoubtedly saved the first team from various guard duties and kitchen shifts.

Many of the engineers became acquainted with the Italian residents of Mammiano. They were just as poor as elsewhere, but this was their little village and they treated everyone very well. A girl, probably fifteen years old, was always present with her bucket to collect leftover food from the dinner table. One soldier caught her fancy and she invited him to dinner one evening at her home. He describes the evening as follows:
"Their house was the highest up on the hill. Like all the others, it was made of stone and looked almost medieval. The floors and walls were bare except for religious objects. On the first floor, there was a sort of living room and a large kitchen. In the center, there was a wood-burning fireplace and a stove. They did not use firewood as we know it. The sticks were collected from somewhere. We saw people carrying these huge bundles of twigs that were eventually burned. On the second floor, there seemed to be only bedrooms, but I could only guess. Mom watched like a hawk. The girl, her mother, her grandfather, and a younger boy participated in this meal. The menu consisted of a plate of roasted chestnuts and two fish that the grandfather had caught that day. One of the fish, a , looked like a sucker, and the other was a trout...both about 6 inches long. As the guest of honor, they served me both fish, cooked exactly as they had come out of the stream. After dinner, they filled metal containers with embers from the fire to use as bed warmers. The only source of heat came from the kitchen. When I left, everyone shook my hand and the mother hugged me. I felt honored to have been their guest."

The main food that seemed to be in abundance was chestnuts. The Italians used these nuts in almost everything they cooked. They ground them to make flour, which was used to make bread. That bread was very light because they had no sugar or cooking fat to put in it.

German artillery activity seemed to resume for a few days, and the mechanics of Company D soon encountered some unexpected problems. One morning, a jeep was discovered with four flat tires. All four tires were full of shrapnel collected from the roads. When a shell explodes in or near a road, it has almost the same effect as overturning a barrel of nails. It became a major problem to keep the vehicles serviceable. Tires soon became a very scarce commodity and a constant headache.

As time went on, newly arrived soldiers began to encounter military personnel from all over the world. Many were surprised to discover that the soldiers of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force from Latin America were mostly black. There were Hindus from India, huge, dark, bald men who spoke impeccable English and wore turbans. The Sikhs, from the Middle East, were tall, handsome, and fierce fighters. Later, some of the Japanese Americans who made up the 442nd Infantry Regiment fought in our sector. Those Japanese soldiers were part of the most decorated unit in the Army. The 92nd Infantry Division, which was the only black infantry unit in the US Army, was always close at hand. The Italian Partisans were always present and, in their short trousers and red scarves, looked as if they were on their way to a Boy Scout camp.

On January 29, Private Lunday was chosen to lead a group from the 126th down the west coast of southern Italy to a Bailey bridge school near the city of Caserta, north of Naples. The route took the group through Rome, where they spent the night in one of the large hotels on the square. Lunday, who was in charge of the truck, spent the night guarding the Weapon ^Carrierbecause he had been told that if left unattended, the vehicle would be gone by morning or, at best, found in pieces. The next morning, they took a short trip to the Vatican. While parked in front of this historic site, one of the local young thieves approached the vehicle and grabbed a camera strap sticking out of the glove compartment. He disappeared in a flash with his loot. Speaking of twilight, the following evening the truck was climbing a hill when it encountered a jeep and a donkey cart, driven by an Italian, heading towards them, neck and neck, both directly in their path. There was barely room between the Jeep and the truck and nowhere to stop. Fortunately, the only accident was a long scrape marking the side of the truck from the axle and a very angry Italian farmer.

During the month of January, the entire division had been slowly trained to fight in all situations. It suffered casualties with increasing frequency. Prisoners had become valuable commodities for the information they could provide. In a period of about two months, more than 30,000 men had been moved from Texas and assembled to fight in Italy, almost without difficulty. In mid-February, an attack was imminent, but few knew how vital it was to the 5th Army and that this was the reason General Clark requested the 10th Mountain Division.

In Italy, over the last two years, the Germans had fought a largely defensive war. They were masters of the techniques used to defend high ground, especially on the various mountain ranges that cross Italy. Rome was behind us, but the enemy had fought on the Arno River in Florence before retreating to the Apennines, to positions previously prepared and known as the Gothic Line. Here they entrenched themselves on the mountain tops, holding the Allied Army at bay for three months. The Germans were ready to defend the high ground tenaciously. It was our turn with the 10th Division prepared for its first major offensive action, the capture of Monte Belvedere.

THE MOUNTAINS OF THE RIVA

Most of Company D left Mammiano on February 17. Many citizens of the town came down to see us off. Some had tears in their eyes. They seemed to know that something was about to happen. It was night and very cold. Fifteen centimeters of fresh snow covered the ground. A convoy of trucks was formed. The road passed through a valley and partly up a mountain, in an area occupied on three sides by the Germans. Lights could not be used, so the drivers had to feel their way along the road. If the lead vehicle had slipped down an embankment, the rest of the convoy would probably have followed. Most of the soldiers had no idea what was about to happen, and it was probably better that way.

ADVANCE TOWARDS BELVEDERE
Company D Headquarters was set up in the municipality of Vidiciatico, a small village at the foot of Monte Belvedere. Most of the Motor Squad found shelter in a partially destroyed bar in the center of the village. One wall had been blown out, but the roof was intact. One could become tipsy just from the smell of spilled wine. The safest place to sleep seemed to be the back of the bar, which made some of the soldiers feel at home. A barber shop on the street offered haircuts for two cigarettes, but you had to find the barber. It was not business as usual for the locals. Sergeant Hampton's team was housed in a farmhouse on the edge of the village that was still occupied by the old farmer and his wife. Rations were shared in exchange for the considerable inconvenience we were causing the family. The accommodation proved to be excellent except for the cooking equipment used by the Italians. They heated their food on a pile of burning charcoal. Before each meal, the old lady would put a handful of charcoal in a small iron grill-like pan, light it, and start waving it vigorously until it became red-hot. This process generated thick clouds of carbon monoxide and smoke so acrid that it became unbearable for the soldiers. The only salvation for the guests was to beat a hasty retreat to the front porch, their eyes watering and their noses and throats burning. The third platoon entrenched itself near the village of Pianaccio, a picture-postcard town on top of a hill near Vidiciatico. The only road to the town was a donkey path or a footpath. Many of the villagers had gone into hiding, fearing for their lives.

The division's objective was to capture the dominant peak in the sector called Monte Belvedere (one of many Monte Belvederes in Italy). Several weeks of preliminary planning and reconnaissance had been conducted in great secrecy by infantry, engineers, and artillery units. The infantry made several probes to identify German positions and strength. This was the centerpiece of the German Gothic Line. The mountain had previously been attacked three times by troops of the 5th Army. All attempts had failed. The Germans had had several months to prepare their defenses, making the positions almost impenetrable.

As the 10th Mountain Division moved toward the battle line, surveys and explorations began to better understand the nature of the terrain. Most of these reconnaissance missions were carried out under cover of darkness and with extreme caution. Bob Parker, of the I & R (Intelligence and Reconnaissance) platoon of the 87th Regiment, led a patrol on February 17 or 18. He recalls the help provided by an engineer who had been assigned as a scout to locate mined areas:
"We had to examine an area near the village of Corona on the slopes of Mount Belvedere. Our path took us right under the noses of the Germans entrenched in defense, so it was necessary to move by sliding or walking crouched down with hand signals or very low whispers. Towards the end of the mission, I was on a mountain path when my hand accidentally brushed against a thin wire that seemed to run between my legs.
We stopped, concerned, and I passed the word to the engineer to come forward and give his opinion. He carefully followed the wire to the left and found it anchored to a peg. Moving to the right, he found something that could have unleashed hell around us...the wire was attached to the trigger mechanism of a 'Bouncing Betty' ¹⁶  one of the Krauts' small, dirty anti-personnel traps. In the pitch-black night, the engineer had the skill to disarm the device by touch. Our mission was accomplished without further incident, thanks in part to our engineer friend. I don't remember which company lent us this soldier, but we thank heaven we had him with us."

An assault was also planned on a series of smaller mountains west of Monte Belvedere, which became known as the Riva Ridge. These mountains included: Monte Serrasiccia, Monte Mancinello, and Monte Cappel Buso. Tactically, Riva Ridge provided the Germans with an ideal observation point from which to direct artillery fire at the assault force moving on Monte Belvedere. While planning the assault on Belvedere, General Hayes concluded that it was imperative to capture the Riva Ridge mountains before the main objective.

The rock climbers of the 1st Battalion of the 86th Infantry and Company F of the 2nd Battalion were chosen for the first assault on the Riva Mountains, climbing the rugged and relatively unprotected (southern) slope. They had about 450 meters of rock to climb. The climbers had previously secured the ropes that the assault force would use. These tactics were designed to surprise the enemy. The climb began on the evening of February 18, 1945, followed by the attack at dawn the next morning. Monte Belvedere was attacked the following evening by elements of the 85th and 87th Infantry.

CHOICE OF SITE FOR INSTALLING THE "TRAMWAY"
The role of Company D was to support the infantry assault on the Monti della Riva with an aerial "tramway." On rough terrain, the evacuation of the wounded would have been very difficult, and the "tramway" would have reduced the time needed to four hours. The time factor could mean the difference between life and death. During the return trips, the "tramway" would speed up supplies to the assault troops by transporting ammunition, grenades, and rations.

After years of planning, this was to be the first time in American warfare history that a "tramway" had been used in combat. Building a "tramway" was difficult under ideal circumstances. Under harsh combat conditions, the task bordered on impossible. It was necessary to study and physically examine the entire terrain. Once the data was available, calculations were made to prepare the installation and operational plan. The Germans could observe our every move from their positions above us as the team examined every inch of the site. Then brute force would be used to move the equipment and cables.

The load on the transport trolley, the slope of the terrain, and the length of the cable were the main factors that had to be taken into account in the calculations. The number and position of the A-frames had to be determined. Cable deflections were calculated to ensure that the transport trolley would not hit the ground or any obstacles. The power of the motor determined the load that could be handled. The cable anchor and A-frames had to be properly secured, and loading ramps were needed at both ends of the cable. Mix in these engineering tasks under fire from artillery and mortars, rifles and machine guns, as well as the potential risk of encountering mined areas, and you have a deadly task to perform. A reconnaissance party consisting of Captain Nagel, Lieutenant Martin, Sergeant Hull, Private First Class Virgil Burch, and Privates J. D. Bailey and Harold Olsen moved out at 4:00 a.m. on February 19. Their task was to select sites for installing the equipment. The maps available, which had been studied beforehand, proved to be inaccurate. The first site physically surveyed by Lieutenant Martin, Hull, and Olsen was too steep and offered poor anchorage for the main cable. At a second location, the distance was too great for the cables available. Finally, we found another site along the ridge towards Mount Cappel Buso. It was a peak at 1,157 meters that overlooked the western slopes of Mount Belvedere, held by the Germans. Company B of the 86th Infantry, commanded by Captain Ken Siegman, was assigned to take Cappel Buso.

The site, found along the ridge towards Mount Cappel Buso, seemed favorable, so they proceeded with their plans. A large rock provided a good anchor for the lower terminal. About halfway along the ridge, there was an orchard. Martin, Hull, Bailey, and Burch climbed up to the ridge to examine the route and find a suitable anchor for the upper terminal. There was heavy small arms and machine gun fire in the area. The best position for the upper terminal turned out to be in the orchard, about 520 meters from the lower terminal, with a slope of 18-20 degrees. Around midnight, the infantry reached the top of Cappel Buso, taking the Germans completely by surprise. There was a machine gun nest and a group of Germans stationed on the adjacent mountain who had the chosen site [for installing the upper terminal] directly in their line of fire. This would have been a problem for the team installing the "tramway," as the passengers on the "tramway" would also have to be defended, so the infantry was asked to remove the threat.

BLOCKED BY A LANDSLIDE
The equipment for the "tramway" had previously been moved to Vidiciatico and was ready to be transported to the chosen site. On the afternoon of February 19, Company D came under fairly intense artillery bombardment. Ten or twelve 88mm shells landed fairly close to the equipment, but fortunately there was no damage.

A landslide blocked the road needed to tow the tramway equipment, so the first order was to make it passable. German artillery units fired point-blank at the team at work and in particular at one of the R4 bulldozers. The driver was Tech- 5¹⁷Rod Rodriguez. While trying to get out of their line of fire, he rolled down a cliff. Fortunately, he managed to save himself and got away unharmed. The mud became so thick that even one of the large D7 bulldozers got stuck. The 1st platoon began to clear the road. At dusk, it was still blocked. The trucks carrying the tramway had arrived about 400 meters from the installation site. The jeep trail had been cleared, but they were stuck in the mud. Finally, sleds were built or the equipment itself was slid down, moving it with brute force. The trailer with the power unit for the "tramway" was transported whole, with about six men pulling the entire system through the mud. Parts of the 1st platoon worked through the night to get the "tramway" equipment to the site, and by dawn on February 20, almost everything was ready for final assembly and installation.

At dawn on February 20, the 2nd and 3rd teams of the 3rd platoon took over from the 1st platoon to complete the road diversion. Staff Sergeant Trexler of the 1st platoon and Sergeant Altman of the 3rd platoon had enlisted some Italians to help with the manual labor. They were mountain people accustomed to hard work, who lived in the fields and were used to hard labor. They disappeared almost immediately when enemy shells began to fall near the work area. However, the bypass was completed by dusk. After a short rest, the 1st platoon spent the whole night of February 20 moving the tramway equipment to the designated points on the ridge in preparation for final assembly. That evening, at a meeting of non-commissioned officers, each team leader was briefed on his duties for the final assembly the following day.

THE OPERATIONAL TRAMWAY
At 05:30 on February 21, the 2nd and 3rd teams of the 3rd platoon left Pianaccio to relieve the 1st platoon. Construction of the tramway was underway. Sergeant LaCaille's team was tasked with pulling the guide cable to the upper platform and then bringing it back down again. This would allow the team to pull the 1/2-inch steel cable, which weighed over a ton, using the power of the engine.
Sergeant Tierney's team secured the "dead men" at the top and bottom. The actual anchoring was done by Private Atwood Sterner, a veteran machinist. Sergeant Skramstad's and Corporal Chariff's teams erected the A-frames. Henry LaCaille was the John Wayne of Company D. He spoke with the accent of his homeland, French Canada. By most standards, he was not a tall man, but he had a muscular build. His arms were as big as most men's calves. If he had ever been afraid of anything, he never showed it. One of his favorite pastimes was challenging new recruits to arm wrestling matches. He never lost one.
In less than ten hours, the tramway was operational.
It was necessary to clear some of the brush in a few low spots and build platforms at both ends. Trip flares were placed in the surrounding area for safety reasons. Teams from the 2nd platoon began operating the tramway in eight-hour shifts.
On the first day, the tramway evacuated 30 wounded soldiers and 20 dead from the mountain.
During the return trips, over five tons of supplies, mainly ammunition, were delivered. It was later learned that no wounded soldier had died after being brought down by the tramway. This alone made the experiment worthwhile.
Tech-5 Marv Taylor had worked on the upper platform to help load the dead and wounded. His first encounters with the victims of battle are still vivid in his mind. Handling the body bags, many of them containing mutilated body parts, was nauseating for all the team members. Eventually, the reality of the situation took over and they more or less got used to the work.

NBC's frontline correspondent, Grant Parr, wrote:
"The courage and skill of the men who built that little elevator helped the Allies capture and hold a very important strategic position on top of Mount Belvedere. Yes, we thank God we have the engineers."

On March 4, 1945, an NBC radio program called "The Army Hour" was broadcast from a command post near the tramway. Although little was said about the tramway, many people at home were certainly beginning to hear news about the area where the 10th Mountain Division was fighting, and press coverage of the battle became extensive.

A New York newspaper published an account of the tramway operation with the headline:
"1700-FOOT CABLE EVACUATES THE WOUNDED FROM BELVEDERE QUICKLY, .... February 21 ...... The steel basket suspended on a cable stretched nearby slowly descended the mountain, across a chasm, and arrived at its destination. Outside the basket, doctors carefully lifted a stretcher, completing in four minutes what would have taken three hours to do laboriously by hand - thanks to the first combat tramway ever used in this theater of operations... Company D was the original and only "Tramway Company" in the Army .......Captain Fred A. Negel (correctly pronounced Nagel) of Denver, Colorado, and Sergeant Charles Hull of Westwood, New Jersey, were among those who selected the site. Pvt. Atwood Sterner of Danville, Pennsylvania, a veteran, was in charge of anchoring the cable, while Sgt. Henry LaCaille of Marysville, California, led the crew that sweated and toiled to haul the main cable up the mountain.

The company took turns maintaining the equipment, with the task of managing the installed tramway and keeping it fully operational. It was stopped for two hours each day for maintenance, but there were no major problems.

THE GERMAN RETREAT
After fierce counterattacks had increased casualties, Sergeant Hampton took three men from his squad to the top of the Riva Mountains to see what the engineers could do to help.
They climbed under fire from a lone, fanatical German soldier. Keeping under cover, they made their way to the American positions and asked what was happening. 's infantryman said it was a crazy Nazi who had been wounded during the initial attack and had holed up in the rocks, shooting at anyone who approached. When asked if they were going to flush him out, the soldier said:
"Hell no, why should I risk anyone's life for that bastard? Give him a couple of days and he'll be cold or hungry enough to surrender."
And so it happened. A few days later, two engineers and a first-aid man came down the mountain with the wounded German. He had been shot twice in the right thigh, which was becoming gangrenous and had swollen to the size of a man's body. He was delirious and in great pain, but despite this, he remained an unrepentant Nazi, still muttering threats and curses. This was the beginning for Company D. Almost everyone was baptized into the horrors and fear that permeated the mind of a soldier in his first real combat experience. The fields littered with bodies, the constant sound of nearby battles, and the ever-present artillery barrages changed everyone, some for the better and some for the worse. The ferocity of the German artillery spoke for itself about the success of the infantry, attempting to flush them out of these strategic mountain peaks. The German counterattacks were fierce. One newspaper wrote:
"... In their first counteroffensive against the Allies who have just captured positions on the left flank of the 5th Army front, German troops attacked savagely in the Monte Belvedere sector ...". Another reported: "... The local successes of the 5th Army in the Monte Belvedere area were hard-fought, and advanced elements of the 10th Mountain Division were subjected to harassing artillery fire. A concentration of 270 heavy artillery shells was poured into the Monte della Torraccia area."

Additional notes:
Upon achieving the pre-established objectives of Operation Encore on March 6, 1945, the three regiments took up positions in the mountains around Castel d'Aiano. The 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 85th Regiment remained entrenched until April 13 between Monte della Spe and Monte della Castellana. Opposite them, from Monte Balgaro, on the mountains overlooking Rocca di Roffeno, to Monte Pero, above Vergato, German soldiers were entrenched. As soon as they established themselves in the area, the engineers began to repair and improve the road they called "Sprilla Road," which was more of an old path that branched off just beyond the road leading to Pietra Colora from the Canevaccia intersection, heading west-east and then returning north to enter Castel d'Aiano. It was an alternative to the main road, which, in some sections between Passo Brasa and Castel d'Aiano, was in sight and within range of German artillery.
In order to evacuate the wounded from the positions on the ridge of Monte della Castellana and supply the troops with food and ammunition, on March 6, 1945, Company D was asked to connect the top of the mountain with the road at its base, in the village of Campidello, by means of a cable car. In that area, Army trucks could arrive or depart, coming from or going to the rear, sheltered from German observers and artillery.
On March 10, Captain Nagel arrived at the road construction site accompanied by Private Bailie. The two left- t the road where work was being done, accompanied by Lieutenant Martin, Private Gilbert, and Sergeant Scafo, to find a site where the "tramway" could be installed. After carefully reconnoitering a ridge on the other side of a deep canal, they found an excellent spot. Both the starting and finishing points were ideal, and only two A-frames would be needed.
In the early hours of the following morning, the 2nd platoon was on site to install the tramway. Sergeant Lacaille, assisted by Captain Nagel and Private Matczuk, took command again to bring the main cable across the deep channel up to the other site. In six hours, the 670-meter cableway was up and running. The tramway was used to evacuate over 200 wounded soldiers and carry thirteen tons of supplies to the top of the mountain every day. It remained operational until April 2.

Of the 78 casualties suffered by the 126th Mountain Engineer Battalion, 11 were in Company D. One was killed and 10 wounded. Of the 169 medals awarded to the battalion, 44 were awarded to soldiers from Company D, including a Silver Star.

1 Literally Sea Bees. The engineers of the US Navy.
2 The ALCAN Highway (an acronym for Alaska and Canada, which in 1945 was approximately 2,700 km long) connects western Canada, starting from Dawson Creek, with the territories of Alaska up to Delta Junction in the direction of Fairbanks. The proposal for a route connecting America to Alaska via Canada dates back to the years between 1910 and 1920. Although the government of British Columbia encouraged the project in 1929, in the following years, due to the Great Depression and Canada's subsequent unwillingness to finance such a project on its territory, it was not pursued. The situation changed when America entered the war and needed to supply the Soviet Union with aircraft and other materials. American engineers began construction of the road on March 8, 1942, and completed the work on October 28 of the same year. The route, which crossed rough, swampy, and frozen terrain, extended over a rough road surface with direct and consequently steep ascents and descents.
3 Cableways.
4 The A-Frames were frames made of wooden logs installed on either side of the cableway's departure and arrival platforms. The main cable was anchored to the horizontal arm connecting them, above the platform, before being returned to the ground to the 'Dead men', i.e. the cable's anchor points.
5 Literally 'Dead Men'. Heavy rocks used to anchor the cables arriving at and departing from the platforms.
6 Literally translated as 'body bags'. They were used to insert and transport the bodies of dead soldiers.
7 The Grave Registration Service was established in August 1917. Its task was to recover, identify, transport, and bury deceased American or Allied military personnel.
8 Acronym for conscripted soldiers assigned to the unpopular kitchen duty.
9 A person's ability to maintain their balance while walking on a moving ship and/ ly not be disturbed by it.
10 Slang used to refer to a very attractive woman as a sexual attraction.
11 The reference is to the M29, small light tracked vehicles for transporting wounded personnel or supplies on snow, nicknamed Weasels. Invented by Englishman Geoffrey Pike, the first model was built by Studebaker Corp., an American automobile manufacturer. In competition, a similar model was also built by the Canadian Bombardier Corp.
12 A low-quality alcoholic liquor such as illegally manufactured whiskey.
13 4F is a classification for civilians or military personnel indicating that they were "unfit for service in the Armed Forces" for medical or other reasons.
14 The en-bloc clip is not a true cartridge magazine. It consists of a U-shaped steel strip, inside which eight .30-06 Springfield cartridges are held, which is inserted into the Garand rifle's magazine. This system was the main source of criticism of the weapon because, once the eight rounds were fired, the metal clip was ejected, making a distinctive noise that alerted the enemy that the weapon was now empty.
15 The "Weapons carrier" was a light military vehicle designed to transport mortars or machine guns and their respective operators.
16 The S-mine, nicknamed Bouncing Betty by American soldiers, was a lethal German anti-personnel landmine which, once activated by pulling or pressure, was thrown into the air, exploding at waist height and projecting a swarm of steel balls or fragments in all directions.
17 The rank of Technician is a specialist rank. During World War II, T/5 was equivalent to the rank of specialist corporal.
18 A "Trip flare" was a system used by the military to protect an area from enemy infiltration. The system consisted of a rope or cable stretched around an area and connected to one or more flares. When the cable was pulled by someone who was unaware of it, the flare lit up, signaling the intrusion. Usually, the area was covered by a machine gun post to repel the infiltration.

Equipment assigned to Company D of the 126th Engineer Battalion
2 Caterpillar D7 bulldozers and 1 R4
3 six-wheel drive trucks for towing trailers
3 flatbed trailers for transporting the Caterpillars
1 truck-mounted air compressor with compressed air accessories
1 arc welder mounted on a trailer
12 jeeps
6 one-ton, four-wheel drive weapon carriers
2 half-ton trucks, four-wheel drive
12 Trailers for transporting fuel, spare parts, and general supplies
3 Trailers for transporting tramway power units

Source: THE TRAMWAY BUILDER – A Brief History of the Company D, 126th Engineer Mountain Battalion, U.S. 10th Mountain Division. By Philip A. Lunday and Charles M. Hampton. 1994.
Translation: Andrea and Giuliano Gandolfi