Elite skiers and Ivy League soldiers in the Italian Alps

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The Olympic Skiers Who Fought in WWII

Olympic champions and Ivy Leaguers deployed to the front lines.

A veteran recounts the unique makeup of the 10th Mountain Division, which brought together ski champions, elite climbers, and Ivy League scholars to fight in Italy.

An American mortar crew adjusts their fire until a shell drops directly into a German command post chimney, producing an explosive breakthrough.

Dropping a Mortar Round Down the German HQ Chimney

A guy killed on patrol is just as dead as one in the big push

A veteran bluntly articulates why unheralded patrol skirmishes carry the exact same lethal price as major offensive pushes.

The Overlooked Cost of Combat Patrols

They told us about the horrors they had experienced

Fresh infantrymen question wounded comrades heading rearward and hear firsthand accounts of trauma and narrow survival.

What Veterans Told Recruits About the Front Line

A veteran explains the danger of advancing up the mountain single file on four narrow paths, where a single grenade could halt their entire offensive.

Why One Soldier Could Stop an Entire Division

There were many planes, but they were yours.

General Hildebrandt describes the total absence of German aircraft for weeks on end, leaving his troops defenseless against Allied reconnaissance.

German General Admits Allied Air Superiority

1,500-foot vertical assault in complete silence.

Specialist rock climbers of the 86th scale sheer cliffs in complete darkness, setting fixed ropes while searchlights bounce artificial moonlight off cloud cover.

Scaling 1,500-Foot Cliffs in Total Silence

The two German weapons soldiers truly feared

A veteran explains why US troops collected Lugers as souvenirs, feared the burp gun, and stayed terrified of the German 88 artillery.

The Two German Weapons Soldiers Feared Most

Even the enemy cried watching this assault

American soldiers crawled forward under intense fire on the slopes of Mount Belvedere, shocking German defenders who watched in disbelief.

Why Both Sides Wept on Mount Belvedere

German general honors his American enemies

General Hildebrandt acknowledges the fierce fighting quality of the 10th Mountain Division after battling them in Italy.

German General Honors His American Adversaries

[04:42.000] The Olympic Skiers Who Fought in WWII
[07:55] Dropping a Mortar Round Down the German HQ Chimney
[10:10] The Overlooked Cost of Combat Patrols
[10:46] What Veterans Told Recruits About the Front Line
[14:50] Why One Soldier Could Stop an Entire Division
[17:11] German General Admits Allied Air Superiority
[19:47] Scaling 1,500-Foot Cliffs in Total Silence
[24:47] The Two German Weapons Soldiers Feared Most
[25:51] Why Both Sides Wept on Mount Belvedere
[27:56] German General Honors His American Adversaries

Elite skiers and Ivy League soldiers in the Italian Alps

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