Vail, CO - 10th Mountain Division
During World War II, the Army established a military base near Vail as an experiment to train skiers and climbers to fight in the most difficult, mountainous terrain in Europe. This was in response to the stronghold that the Germans had high in the mountains of Italy that was making it difficult for the Allies to defeat them.
Drawing together an elite group of champion skiers, mountain climbers and mountaineers, the U.S. Army created the 10th Mountain Division, America’s only mountain and winter warfare fighting unit. Their training included skiing, snowshoeing, rock climbing and cold-weather survival tactics. The men lived in the mountains for weeks, working in altitudes of up to 13,500 feet, in five to six feet of snow and in temperatures that dropped to 20 degrees below zero at night.
They served in combat for only four months, but it had one of the conflict's highest casualty rates. Arriving in Italy on January 6th, 1945, they immediately entered combat and fought in the roughest terrain in Italy. 992 of them were killed in action while another 4,154 were wounded during their 114 days of combat.
The 10th Division began the first of a series of daring assaults against the German army in the mountains of Italy where the Germans had stymied the U.S. Army for nearly six months. In a nighttime operation, they quickly took one of Germany’s key strategic positions. The Germans had not bothered with guard patrols, because the conditions were so difficult that they did not believe any American unit could climb the ridge — day or night. But the Germans were wrong, and the soldiers of the 10th climbed, silently, to the top and secured Riva Ridge with minimal casualties. The next day’s operations would prove to be very different. The American soldiers ended up victorious, but not without a price as nearly 1,000 of the 13,000 soldiers in the division died.
The Congressional Medal of Honor is the highest and most-prestigious award given to recognize U.S. military service members who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. One soldier received the award from the 10th Mountain Division - John D. Magrath a young private from Norwalk, CT.
Paraphrasing from Magrath's official Medal of Honor citation:
He displayed conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty when his company was pinned down by heavy artillery, mortar, and small arms fire
Volunteering to act as a scout, armed with only a rifle, he charged headlong into withering fire, killing 2 Germans and wounding 3 in order to capture a machine gun. Carrying this enemy weapon across an open field through heavy fire, he neutralized 2 more machine gun nests; he then circled behind 4 other Germans, killing them with a burst as they were firing on his company.
Spotting another dangerous enemy position to this right, he knelt with the machine gun in his arms and exchanged fire with the Germans until he had killed 2 and wounded 3. The enemy now poured increased mortar and artillery fire on the company's newly won position.
Magrath fearlessly volunteered again to brave the shelling in order to collect a report of casualties. Heroically carrying out this task, he made the supreme sacrifice--a climax to the valor and courage that are in keeping with highest traditions of the military service.
John D. Magrath was killed in action that day in Italy at age 20. Though he was only a private, he bravely chose to lead. I can’t imagine what was going through his mind in those battlefield moments on the mountain.
The stories of the 10th Mountain Division and John Magrath both registered with me as I think about trials and sacrifice.. Like the military did in Vail by tying to simulate battlefield conditions, God often uses trials in our lives to prepare us for greater things:
James 1: 2-4 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
I don’t know anything about John Magrath other than he was a courageous young man of only 20 years. But somehow, he was prepared for that moment of incredible bravery. He gave his life for his fellow soldiers and, in turn, for you and me.
Our present day self-fulfillment culture often falls short of understanding what sacrifice means. I am thankful for men like John Magrath and countless others that sacrificed for us to live in a free country. Even more, I am eternally grateful for the sacrifice that God made when he sent his son Jesus to die for us.
None of us know what sacrifices we may be called on to make in our lives. Most likely, we won’t be called upon to lay down our lives for others but sacrifice comes in many other ways as well. We will have opportunities to sacrificially give our time, offer our talents and share our resources with others. The question is if we will be prepared and willing take to make them in the moment of truth.
Stay Hungry,
Big E