Riva Ridge

Riva Ridge

Coming Soon: Key to breaking the Gothic Line was Riva Ridge—the icy eastern flanks of which were so steep the Germans hardly defended them. Welcome to the most famous chapter in the history of the 10th Mountain Division, when more than 700 mountain troops climbed the...
Camp Hale, Part 1: Episode 11, Unabridged

Camp Hale, Part 1: Episode 11, Unabridged

The Origins of Camp Hale: How the U.S. Army scouted, selected, and developed Colorado’s high-altitude Pando Valley site to create a training ground for mountain warfare. Episode Synopsis: In Episode 11 of Ninety-Pound Rucksack, host Christian Beckwith...
Green No More

Green No More

COMING SOON: When the soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division arrived in Italy, they were mountain hardened, but not battle-tested. This episode looks at the first few weeks in the Italian theater, when their encounters with the enemy took the green off the mountain...

The Old And The New: Episode 10 Unabridged

In Episode 10 of Ninety-Pound Rucksack, we explore the seismic cultural shift that—driven in no small part by citizen-soldiers like John McCown—enveloped the U.S. Army during WWII. As John and his fellow officers underwent their rigorous training at Officer Candidate...