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The Last Ridge: The Epic Story of the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division and the Assault on Hitler's Europe

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McKay Jenkins' The Last Ridge is the latest in a series of books about World War II where we see the war from the viewpoint of those who fought it.

The 10th's story is a familiar one unless you've never heard it. The brainchild of "Minnie" Dole (no relation to later 10th Member and future senator Robert Dole) who struggled against the stodgy Army bureaucracy before gaining General Marshall's ear. Marshall, seeing that mountain troops were being used by all the belligerent armies, decided that a Mountain unit would be useful to the U.S. Army. So the 87th Mountain Regiment was born. Later, the 85th and 86th Regiments were added and thus, the 10th Mountain Division was born. After over two years of rigorous training, they finally saw action in Italy in 1945. Passed over by Ike's Chief of Staff Walter Bedell Smith, Mark Clark, the commander of the Allied field armies in Italy snapped up the 10th. It was one of his greatest moves.

The 10th, in a series of daring maneuvers and risky night climbing seized enemy held ridges and finished 114 days in combat suffering higher casualty percentages than other divisions.

Jenkins' book views the 10th's actions from both the high command and the soldiers who did the fighting. He mainly sticks to the fighting men for most of the book. Minor errors creep into the text. General Truscott's first name was Lucian, not Lucien and it's General Walter Bedell Smith, not just Bedell.

Still, it's a solid, fast moving story and a first rate war adventure. Recommended

The tale of the 10th Mountain Division is an amazing story and Jenkins does a very good job at telling it to the reader. Churchill called Italy the soft underbelly of Europe, but the reader learns that nothing could be further than the truth. The country is littered with mountain ranges that made for excellent defensive positions for the German soldiers. Attack after attack on the German line was repelled until the soldiers of the Mountain Division were called in and to began the push forward up steep mountains in the cover of darkness.

This is not one of those history books where they author tells the story of a division of soldiers in a chronologically accurate, yet dry manner. Jenkins spent a lot of time researching for this book by going through personal journals of both US and German soldiers who were involved in the battles as well as other sources. The research allowed Jenkins to tell the story of the 10th Mountain Division through the writing of the soldiers themselves. The reader knows the names and learns the thoughts of the soldiers the story follows through the training and combat that the division faced in the pacific and in Italy. Jenkins has tied the journal excerpts together with narrative and information from other sources.

Hearing the story first hand brings the reality of the horror of war home to the reader. We follow soldier after soldier who Jenkins later tells the reader was killed in battle. The losses that the division suffered were staggering, but not nearly as many as were expected by their command due to the difficultly of the terrain and the assignments which the soldiers took on. One of the wounded soldiers whose name is well known was Bob Dole. Jenkins tells the story of how Dole lost the use of his right hand and how Dole suffered and persevered though struggle after struggle, as he willed himself to live through paralysis, kidney failure, high fever and surgeries.

Not that the book is only about the horror. There stories of comrade, bravery, honor and humanity. And there are humorous moments as the soldiers did the best they could with what was around them.

I highly recommend this book.

The men of 10th Mountain Division probably trained harder and fought harder than any other unit in World War II. Their training consisted of hiking through miles of deep snow carrying ninety pound packs, over mountainous terrain at evevations often exceeding ten thousand feet, and living off the land. These training sessions went on for over two years.

The 10th Mountain Division finally was inserted into the Italian Campaign at a time when the German resistance had succeeded in halting the Allied advance and inflicting heavy casualties on the Allies. With its numerous mountain ranges, Northern Italy offered many advantages to an entrenched enemy.

The 10th Mountain Division spearheaded the breakthrough of German defenses on several occassions, faced over 100,000 seasoned German troups and succeeded in destroying six German divisions. The German commander, Frido von Senger a veteran of the French and Russian campaigns, commented that the 10th division was by far the most worthy adversary that he experienced.

The author, McKay Jenkins conducted many interviews, and used many sources including diaries and letters to provide this excellent account. Today we often forget the tremendous sacrifices that previous generations have made so that we can enjoy the good life, today. It is for these reasons that I highly recommend this book.

When I was a child, my family had two friends who served with the 10th mountain division. The great and renound Norwegian Ski jumper and Olympic coach Alf Engen, known as "Mr.Ski" in Utah, and the excellent hollywood ice skater Gary Stephen. As was the nature among the gentlemen of that era, neither said much about their wartime experience. I believe Alf remained in the States as an instructor, perhaps due to his age, and Gary was commissioned and served in Italy.
Alf Engen is mentioned in the book Gary Stephen is not but at last I know the history of their contribution.
Mr. Jenkins writes a very nicely presented work with the perfect blend of personal encounters and military and political facts. As a military history buff I appreciated his generalized description of the Italian campaign and the politics on which it was based which led to the deployment of the only American trained mountain troops.
One minor comlaint is weapons discription. What should be '.30 caliber' is described as 30 milimeter and the German "Schmeiser sub-machine gun is described as a "burp gun" which I believe was the description of a Russian weapon. The de-actived German Schmeiser souvenir Gary Stephen brought back he did not call a "burp gun". Pardon this nit-picking in no way do these minor errors detract from the quality of the book.
This is a good read for the Military buff or anyone who enjoys well written non-fiction. I plan to give a copy to my 11 year old grand son.

The Last Ridge is the story of the creation and employment of the 10th Mountain Division during WW II. As an historical account it is excellent. As a good read, it is fascinating. However, the true value of McKay Jenning's work is as a lesson to our modern strategic thinkers.
Current logic is to create "cookie cutter" Brigade Combat Teams (BCT's) with specialized support to fit the environment. Indeed, this methodology will probably meet our needs for ground forces in most instances. However, our planners should take heed of the experiences of the specially trained and equipped conventional force that was the 10th Mountain. While the use of Rangers and Special Forces can accomplish any of the feats of the comparably sized units of WW II 10th MD units (better, owing to vastly improved lethality, and the general skill and motivation of the individual Soldier), larger scale or protracted missions can only be accomplished on the scale seen in Northern Italy with a specially trained unit of brigade or larger size. Ergo the lesson: be prepared to expend 6-12 months in preparing a large unit for specialized environments. The expense in money, time and material will be far less than the lives expended during an unskilled execution phase.
I recommend this book for leaders at all levels. The intelligence, ingenuity and abilities of the Soldiers in our ranks today exceed those of any time in history. Thankfully, our combat leaders are also more adaptable than at any previous time, willing to try out new and innovative concepts. And new ideas are constantly being incorporated into our current operations at all levels. This book lends to reinforce the concept of adaptability in current environments.
The extensive use of individual veteran testimonials enhances, not detracts, from this work as a historically significant work. The only omission is a more detailed description of the operational planning by the division and brigade staffs. These are covered in a general way, and would be even more useful considering the description of the on-the-fly changes in execution as new information became available during attacks, as well as the quick approval of those changes by higher commanders.
The Last Ridge is entertaining, and at times both heart warming and heart breaking. This is an excellent tribute to the men of the 10th and those outstanding Americans, both in and out of uniform, that coalesced this specially trained division. It is also a lesson in, "get in, get out, quit screwing about," with their speedy employment upon arrival in Italy. This is something that we should always keep in mind in theater level military operations when such is possible.

When it looked like war was certain to come to Europe, the American Army had no troops trained for mountain operations, and none of the specialized equipment that the European armies had developed. Late in 1941 a mountain climber named Minnie Dole persuaded the War Department to let him recruit skilled mountaineers and skiers from American society, European expatriates, and thrill-seekers. They endured two years of training in Colorado, honing mountaineering skills and identifying materiel needs. The division was first used in the recapture of Kiska, an Aleutian island occupied by the Japanese. In 1944 it fought in Italy's Apennine Mountains, helping to break the Germans' Gothic Line. Despite the Army quartermasters having left all the division's mountain equipment in the States, it was successful. After some grueling battles the division was part of the force that liberated northern Italy. Popular history, not a detailed battle chronicle, and largely composed from diaries and recollections. Little material on the tactics and strategy of the division, concentrating instead on the personal experiences of the soldiers. Worth reading if you are interested in the subject, but not a great addition to WWII history.