IV 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1217 

Honoring Fort Drum’s soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division for their 

past and continuing contributions to the security of the United States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 24, 2010 

Mr. OWENS submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Armed Services 

RESOLUTION 

Honoring Fort Drum’s soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division for their past and continuing contributions to the 

security of the United States. 

Whereas the 10th Mountain Division was first activated as 

the 10th Light Division (Alpine) on July 13, 1943, at 

Camp Hale, Colorado; 

Whereas the 10th Mountain Division began a rigorous training regimen designed to prepare for the imminent invasion of Axis-controlled Europe; 

Whereas, on January 7, 1944, the 10th Mountain Division 

patch was authorized, featuring a blue background with 

two red-crossed bayonets forming the Roman numeral for 

10, emblazoned over a powder keg representing the Division’s explosive power; 


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•HRES 1217 IH 

Whereas, in November 1944, the 10th Division was redesignated the 10th Mountain Division and soldiers were first 

authorized to wear the blue and white ‘‘Mountain’’ tab; 

Whereas the 10th Mountain Division first entered combat on 

January 1945, being deployed to the North Apennine 

Mountains in Italy opposite battle-hardened German 

mountain troops; 

Whereas soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division assaulted the 

German lines along the Monte Belvedere-Monte della 

Torraccia Ridge in a series of stunning attacks that 

broke the German Apennine front; 

Whereas, on April 14, 1945, the 10th Mountain Division 

served as the vanguard of the Fifth Army’s drive to the 

Po Valley, suffering tremendous casualties in a hail of artillery, mortar, and small arms fire from German troops; 

Whereas the 10th Mountain Division continued its relentless 

drive to liberate Italy, culminating in the Division’s occupation of Lake Garda and preventing the escape of German troops to the north through the Brenner Pass; 

Whereas, after 114 days of combat, the 10th Mountain Division destroyed 5 German divisions, suffered 992 

casualities and 4,154 wounded, and saw one of its soldiers, Private First Class John D. Magrath posthumously 

awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor; 

Whereas, on November 30, 1945, the 10th Mountain Division 

was temporarily disbanded; 

Whereas, on July 1, 1948, the 10th Mountain Division was 

reactivated at Fort Riley, Kansas, as a training division, 

preparing 123,000 soldiers for Cold War service and 

combat in the Korean Peninsula; 


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•HRES 1217 IH 

Whereas, between 1954 and 1958, the 10th Mountain Division was redesignated a combat infantry division and deployed to West Germany, protecting strategic North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) points against possible Soviet aggression; 

Whereas, on June 14, 1958, the 10th Mountain Division was 

again temporarily inactivated; 

Whereas, on February 13, 1985, the 10th Mountain Division 

(Light Infantry) was activated in the heart of the North 

Country on Fort Drum, New York; 

Whereas, during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, 

10th Mountain Division soldiers contributed support personnel to the 24th Infantry Division in Iraq; 

Whereas, in December 1992, 10th Mountain Division soldiers 

deployed to Somalia in support of Operation Restore 

Hope, bringing much-needed security to relief operations; 

Whereas, on May 4, 1993, 10th Mountain Division soldiers 

began supporting Operation Continue Hope under the direction of the United Nations Operations in Somalia 

(UNOSOM II); 

Whereas, on October 3, 1993, and October 4, 1993, 10th 

Mountain Division soldiers of the 2–14th Infantry fought 

a brutal gun battle through Mogadishu to secure an evacuation route for Rangers surrounded in the city; 

Whereas, with 6 hours of continuous fighting, this was the 

longest sustained combat since the end of the Vietnam 

War; 

Whereas the 10th Mountain Division spearheaded Operation 

Uphold Democracy in Haiti from September 19, 1994, to 

January 15, 1995, conducting the United States Army’s 

first carrier-based air assault; 


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•HRES 1217 IH 

Whereas, following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the 

United States, units of the 10th Mountain Division first 

deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in 

late 2001, fighting to secure remote elements of Afghanistan against Taliban forces; 

Whereas, in 2003, the 10th Mountain Division headquarters 

and 1st Brigade returned to Afghanistan to battle insurgents in remote areas of the country and provide humanitarian assistance; 

Whereas, from May to December 2003, the 2nd Brigade, 

10th Mountain Division headquarters, and 4–31 Infantry 

deployed to Afghanistan in support of Task Force Phoenix and training for the Afghan National Army; 

Whereas, in July 2004, the 2nd Brigade Combat Team deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, securing the areas west of Baghdad and enduring more 

enemy contacts and casualties than any other unit in 

Iraq at the time; 

Whereas the 1st Brigade Combat Team deployed to Iraq in 

late 2005 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, bringing security to embattled areas in and around Baghdad; 

Whereas the 2nd Brigade Combat Team deployed to Iraq in 

August of 2006, moving in to an area referred to as the 

‘‘Triangle of Death’’, vastly improving security and enduring a grueling 15-month deployment; 

Whereas the 10th Mountain Division headquarters and 3rd 

Brigade Combat Team deployed again to Afghanistan in 

2006, serving in the eastern Afghanistan-Pakistan border 

region; 

Whereas the 1st Brigade Combat Team returned to Iraq in 

2007, conducting stability and security operations in 


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Kirkuk and training the Sons of Iraq to protect their 

neighborhoods from insurgent violence; 

Whereas, in April 2008, the 10th Mountain Division headquarters and 4th Brigade Combat Team deployed to 

Baghdad, coordinating and fighting large-scale operations 

such as Operation Phantom Phoenix; 

Whereas, in January 2009, the 3rd Brigade Combat Team 

deployed to the Logar and Wardak provinces in Afghanistan, guarding the southern approaches to Kabul and 

bringing much-needed security to both provinces; 

Whereas the soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division continue 

to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan, with their families supporting them through arduous deployments; and 

Whereas the 10th Mountain Division is known as the most 

deployed division in the United States Army: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) recognizes the achievements of the soldiers 

3 serving in the 10th Mountain Division, as well as 

4 citizen-soldiers of the Army Reserve and National 

5 Guard who have fought with the 10th Mountain Di6 vision during its 60-year history; 

7 (2) expresses its gratitude to the family mem8 bers of the 10th Mountain Division for their tireless 

9 service and sacrifice on behalf of the United States; 

10 (3) commends the North Country community 

11 for their unwavering support of Fort Drum and the 

12 men and women serving in uniform; and 


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•HRES 1217 IH 

1 (4) offers its heartfelt condolences to the family 

2 and friends of the 10th Mountain Division soldiers 

3 who have given the ultimate sacrifice in the defense 

4 of the United States. 

Æ 


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