Fort Drum soldiers in Europe connect with World War II history
 

Fort Drum soldiers in Europe connect with World War II history
By GORDON BLOCK | Watertown Daily Times (Tribune News Service) | 10-8-17
RE: https://www.stripes.com/news/europe/...7#.Wdt_wlRSyM8

A group of Fort Drum soldiers made a "once-in-a-lifetime" connection with the 10th Mountain Division's World War II roots, visiting several sites the division operated during the war.

The soldiers from the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, currently spread throughout Europe, visited key landmarks including Riva Ridge, Mount Belvedere, Bomporto Bridge, the Po River Valley and Mount Altuzzo.

"Seeing the magnitude of the mountains at Riva Ridge and Monte Belvedere only furthers the audacious reputation and daring accomplishment of the US Army's 10th Mountain Division," said Col. Clair A. Gill, who leads the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade. "It brought realism to the men who defied the odds to fight uphill at night and overwhelm a formidable foe who was well entrenched."

The three-day trip also included a stop at the Florence American Cemetery and Memorial, where 326 division soldiers from the war are buried.

"Then as we scaled the mountains where they gave the last full measure of their devotion to our cause, we called out their names to the earth, stained by their blood forever," the colonel said.

They also visited a recently completed memorial to 25 soldiers, all but one from the division, that died in Lake Garda when the DUKW amphibious vehicle they were in stalled and sank near the lake's north side.

Col. Gill said that among the people the group met during their trip was an Italian man, Elio Pasquale, who was 9 years old when American forces liberated his town and the nearby mountains.

"He scaled (Mount) Belvedere with us and told first-hand accounts of the fateful days in the late winter of February, 1945, remembering it like it was yesterday."

The brigade's soldiers have been deployed around Europe for several months, taking part in aviation operations and training exercises with allied nations.

The Italian landmarks for the division can also be found on street names found throughout Fort Drum.