My Year of the Book - Day 148: Today, I offer a heartfelt and humble “thank you” to the brave men and women who have sacrificed their lives to keep us free. “Climb to Conquer” (2003) tells the story of some of those who lost their lives in war, as part of an elite U.S. WWII fighting unit: the 10th Mountain Division. Inspired by the success Finnish ski troops had in 1939 against the Nazis, the 10th became the only U.S. force trained on snow and rock, and — because many of the members were recruited directly from ski teams at major eastern universities as well as from the professional ski racing ranks — it remains the only division to grow out of a sport. The 10th trained at Camp Hale high in the Colorado Rockies, and later fought bravely in the Italian Campaign; first at the Battle of Riva Ridge in early 1945, where the men scaled the sheer rock face of the ridge and surprised the German forces up top. As the last U.S. unit to enter the war, the 10th also suffered the highest number of casualties per combat day. Among the troops were several men who would go on to inspire people to enjoy the outdoors in various ways: David Brower, who wrote the Army’s field manual for mountain operations field, would eventually lead the Sierra Club; Friedl Pfeifer and Pete Seibert, created ski resorts at (respectively) Aspen and Vail; and Bill Browerman co-founded Nike. It is a fascinating (and little-known) story, especially if you love the outdoors as I do. #book #10thmountaindivision #wwii #war #usarmy #bibliophile #bookish #yearofthebook #mylibrary #reading #memorialday #booklover #booknerd #bookaddict #bookworm #bookstagram #bookshelf #rockclimbing #davidbrower #sierraclub #vail #aspen #nike #firstedition #outdoors #mountaineering #skitroops