Boys of Winter: Life and Death in the U.S. Ski Troops During the Second World War

by Charles J. Sanders

Overview

"An immensely valuable and substantial addition to 10th Mountain literature and to the history of skiing in the United States."
- International Ski History Association

The Boys of Winter tells the true story of three young American ski champions and their brutal, heroic, and fateful transformation from athletes to infantrymen with the 10th Mountain Division. Charles J. Sanders's fast-paced narrative draws on dozens of interviews and extensive research to trace these boys' lives from childhood to championships and from training at Mount Rainier and in the Colorado Rockies to battles against the Nazis.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781607320449
Publisher:	University Press of Colorado
Publication date:	01/12/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	147
File size:	19 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Avid skier and 10th Mountain Division descendant Charles J. Sanders is a music industry executive and an NYU professor.

Table of Contents

Contents LIST OF MAPS ix FOREWORD xi by Major John B. Woodward, Tenth Mountain Division (Ret.) PREFACE xv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xvii 1 The Hero of The Thunderbolt (Rudy Konieczny) 1 2 The Pied Piper of Pine Lake (Jake Nunnemacher) 21 3 The Sun Valley Serenader (Ralph Bromaghin) 42 4 The Time of Their Lives 59 5 Rocky Mountain Highs 74 6 From Alaska to Austin 90 7 General Clark and the War in Italy 108 8 Good-byes 113 9 Into the Maelstrom 118 10 The Ridges That Could Not Be Taken 129 11 The Brutal Road to Castel D'Aiano 145 12 Rest and Recuperation 156 13 The Bloodbath of Spring 165 14 Bad Times 174 15 Pursuit to the Alps 191 16 Home 194 17 Legacy 200 NOTES 207 BIBLIOGRAPHY 241 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 245 INDEX 247

Editorial Reviews

Focusing on the lives, and the deaths, of three young men from vastly different backgrounds, Sanders traces the history of the U.S. Army's Tenth Mountain Division from its inception, training in Washington and Colorado, first blooding in the Aleutians, and finally, to deployment to Italy in 1945. . . . Sanders's treatment of strategic questions is capable and his discussion of the division's high command, especially Fifth Army Commander General Mark Clark, is far from uncritical. His accounts of combat, usually in the survivors' voices, are riveting. . . . In his brief, eloquent conclusion, Sanders notes the outstanding contributions of those who survived the war and wonders what might have been. . . . Amply illustrated with photos and maps, The Boys of Winter is a sensitive tribute."
—Western Historical Quarterly


"Sanders distills the complicated and years-long saga of the creation of America's ski troops into an intensely personal story . . .[and] doesn't shy away from a question that haunts the survivors of the division, and the families of those who never returned . . . Was the Italian campaign intensified in the closing months of the war to justify the time and expense devoted to the development of the ski troops? Was the costly campaign primarily intended to keep the name of Gen. Mark Clark in the headlines? No part of this remarkable history is more important, or more relevant, in light of today's American military involvement overseas."
—Durango Herald


"The Boys of Winter perfectly captures the spirit of the men who made the division what it was, as well as the spirit of those troopers who survived to help shape the postwar world."
—John Imbrie, 10th Mountain Division historian and co-editor of Good Times and Bad Times

"Sanders book isn't just another collection of ski tales, but rather serves as a full-fledged study on the U.S. ski troops during World War II. The Boys of Winter endows readers with valuable insight not only in regard to the history of the ski industry, but also the history of America."
—National Ski Areas Association Journal

From the Publisher