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S
Raymond R. Thurman,
Private First Class
U.S. Army Tenth
Mountain Division
Submitted by
Marina Rae Thurman Jenkins
My father, who is now
deceased, told the following
story to my sister, Pamela, and
me. He was a United States
Army soldier during WW II.
My father, knowing that
WWII was being fought, had
the desire to quit high school
and join the United States
Army, instead of being drafted,
because he felt it was his
duty to protect America. He
met with opposition from his
parents; they refused to sign
papers for him to quit school.
They needed him to stay and
help work on the family dairy
farm. So my father decided to
drop out of school his senior
year and asked a family friend
to get him a job at the Schenley
Distillery in Lawrenceburg.
After working only two days at
Schenley, he received his draft
notice. The Government solved
his problem.
My father entered the
United States Army on Jan.
25, 1943. He went to Camp
Carson, Colorado for his basic
training and eventually be-
came a part of the Elite Tenth
Mountain Division, the only
group of its kind in the United
States Army. He was also a
member of the 605th Field
Artillery Battalion.
While in basic training, the
soldiers had the task of break-
THE BEACON
June 2018
ALUTE TO THE MILITARY
ing in pack mules, a task most
soldiers did not seem to care
for. But it did not bother my
father since he grew up on a
farm. The mules could carry
300-400 pounds up a moun-
tain without falling and were
of great use.
Upon completion of basic
training, the troops left for
Camp Hale, Colorado.
The 200-mile trip to Camp
Hale took two months because
of all of the equipment and
supplies that were loaded on
the pack mules. Before leav-
ing on this rigorous journey,
General David L. Ruffner was
asked how many cattle and
troop cars would be needed to
make this move. He answered,
“NONE! MY MEN ARE
TOUGH. WE’LL WALK IT.”
After arriving at Camp
Hale, the soldiers had to learn
how to climb mountainous
terrain. Camp Hale was a
9200-foot-high camp, which
would hone the skills of its
soldiers to fight and survive
under the most brutal moun-
tainous conditions like the
Alpine Mountains in Italy.
These training maneu-
vers, known as the D-Series,
required the soldiers to live
in the snow and ice, camping
full-time, in a simulated com-
bat environment. The combat
environment prevented them
from lighting fires or burning
anything for warmth, and all
of the food was cold. The men
slept in sleeping bags dug into
snow holes. Socks were dried
overnight with their body
heat. The next morning frozen
boots were slammed against
trees so that they could be
worn.
Walter Winchell, a news-
caster in the 1940’s, visited
Camp Hale and stated, “You
people that are listening are
concerned about our boys
overseas, as well as myself.
But, we have troops here at
Camp Hale, Colorado that
are training and living in
extreme frigid temperatures of
fifty-five degrees below zero.
Some soldiers losing limbs
and one had experienced a
frozen kidney- we need to be
concerned about them also.”
Training at Camp Hale
lasted approximately one
year, after which field artil-
lery assignments were given
out to the three Regiments.
The 604th to the 85th regi-
ment, the 605th to the 86th
regiment (in which my father
was a member), 616th to the
87th regiment. These were all
Mountain Infantry Regiments.
The Tenth Mountain Divi-
sion was transferred to Camp
Swift, Texas for five months
of flatland training which
involved marching in full field
gear for as much as twenty-
five miles in eight hours of
Texas heat. The resulting
buildup of physical stamina
played an important role in the
Division’s success in combat.
A simulated “MEDICAL
MARCH” was done to teach
the soldiers how to handle
wounds, heat exhaustion cases,
and other emergency aid.
Even though times were
difficult for the soldiers, some
humorous events went on.
Camp Swift received five
hundred seventy-five pack
mules from Oklahoma, to
join the others already carry-
ing burdens for the Division.
Many troopers found it hard
to control the frisky beasts.
At one point, four hundred
of these mules were stalling
traffic on the state highway to
Bastrop, Texas. It took a lot of
work to get these beasts under
control.
The Te