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Thanks Jerry and Les,
I got lost in Google and after several hours located all sorts
of data on the 10th Mountain Div, Pando,CO. I just had to include the
following as it was one of the major point in the US ARMY report written AFTER
1945. All in all, guys with low hematocrit readings, anemias, sea-level
background only living, non-mountaineer and climbing type guys--regardless of
age--were quickly washed out. Note that they did pass the regular GI
physical, but when you get above 9000 feet elevation things seem to go wrong
inside the body when severe training is added in the cold dry air and increasing
test loads are added to each "recruits" backpack. I found the same thing
happening with the SU and Finns when using carts and machines of various
sorts to move ammo and rations higher up: it didn't work when the weather became
ice cold or the terrain impassable. What seems worse was the
un-surefootedness of all mules! They were slipping and
falling on wet, icy, or just plain difficult terrain all of which required time
to collect the animals, repack their back loads and get them underway
again. Generally, they lagged so far behind the advancing troops that
their help was questionable at best and in most cases were rejected as
transporters. The job then fell to each and every ski trooper. Even
at "high" altitudes and over rough terrain most armies found that
one mountain trooper could carry a generous weight if securely tied to his
upper back. Better yet the man was more reliable.
So thanks for the lead and remember that I stared
with 10th Mountain Div,Pando,CO in my search but
added the misleading, "altitude sickness" before the 10th MD,
and got zero. Maybe because I'm from the South this happened. See
the blue painted line in the official document below. Thanks
again,
Blake
ps/ Someone asked if people living at extreme
altitudes ever suffer ill-effects when traveling to sea level
places. The answer, according to all med research out of Peru & Dr.
Charles Houston, is YES. Remember, their hematocrits [The
hematocrit is the percent of whole blood that is comprised of red blood cells.
The hematocrit is a measure of both the number of red blood cells and the size of red blood cells] are VERY
HIGH--their blood is thick as mud! They need thick blood to increase the
number of red blood cells in order to increase the oxygen-carrying capacity of
their blood at their very high altitudes. This works against them when
they go lower and in many recorded instances heart attack and stroke are common
at sea-level for these native Indians.
HISTORY OF THE TENTH LIGHT DIVISION
(ALPINE)
The Army Ground Forces Study No. 28
By Capt. Thomas P. Govan
Historical Section Army Ground Forces 1946
[Extracted from middle part of the above titled report without permission]
"The fillers did not quite measure up to the high quality of the original
personnel but the division has maintained a high average both as to AGCT
distribution and the percentage of young men in its ranks. On 7 October 1943 the
AGCT distribution was as follows:
| Grade |
Number |
Percentage |
| I |
549 |
8.0 |
| II |
2695 |
39.5 |
| III |
2189 |
32.1 |
| IV |
1177 |
17.3 |
| V |
211 |
3.1 |
- 3 -
On the same date the age distribution was:
| Group |
Number |
Percentage |
| 18-19 |
1493 |
21.8 |
| 20-22 |
2141 |
31.2 |
| 23-25 |
1167 |
17.0 |
| 26-28 |
839 |
12.2 |
| 29-31 |
580 |
8.4 |
| 32-34 |
313 |
4.6 |
| 35-37 |
262 |
3.8 |
| 38 and Over |
67 |
1.015
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"Most of the filler replacements were not volunteers for mountain troops.
Many of them were from the South, unacquainted with
snow and cold weather and with a lower educational and AGCT level than the
original personnel. [my emphasis] The filler
replacements from the armored infantry and tank destroyer units, however, proved
to be satisfactory, though considerable training was necessary to bring them up
to the standards of the remainder of the division.16
"The need for special-physical requirements for troops in high altitude and
mountain training became more apparent as training progressed. It was found that
a soldier able to do duty at a low altitude may find considerable difficulty
doing duty in the mountains. To learn to live and fight in sub-zero and rarefied
atmosphere was not an easy task. At 9,600 feet and higher there is approximately
30 per cent less oxygen than at sea level. From time to time lists of men not
meeting the physical standards were submitted to higher headquarters for
reassignment. For a time the Army Ground Forces directed the reassignment. Later
XI Corps took over this function and after reassigning 562 enlisted men to other
organizations of the Corps, the task was assumed by Second Army. A total of 982
men were reassigned to other infantry divisions up to 1 February 1944. The
majority of these men were reassigned to other infantry divisions at a lower
altitude. The remainder were reassigned to Headquarters, Special Troops of
Second and Third Armies.17
"Because of the high caliber men in the division a great many were lost to
Air Corps, Ground Crew and Aviation Cadet. There were many volunteers for
parachute training. These losses added to the normal attrition of the division
caused considerable difficulty in reaching table of organization strength. The
division did not reach its full strength until 22 March 1944."
Blake
rbmooney@bellsouth.net
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2003 5:54
AM
Subject: Re: ALTITUDE-INDUCED ILLNESSES
in the Korean War
Useing
google type
in search bar
10th Mountain
Div,Pando,CO
Many web sites
Les Hanson
ALongAgoAirman
1948-1953
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2003 11:33
PM
Subject: Re: ALTITUDE-INDUCED ILLNESSES
in the Korean War
Hi Jerry,
Thanks for the reply. Now I can understand sudden
sickness in even healthy people at Leadville altitudes, but I'm not sure
what caused the cough (croup). Mountain air is notoriously dry and
will, all on its own, start someone's nose to bleed and mouth and throat to
feel as if cotton has been accidentally swallowed. The coughing
would follow but not with many guys as their primary symptom of some form of
altitude sickness.
Because atmospheric pressure decreases the higher we go,
the oxygen available in air also decreases, and when there's less of this
essential stuff we don't function normally. Here's what Dr Charles
Houston told me about going higher. "About a
quarter of all those who go to areas higher than 9000 feet will have
mountain sickness, and a few will die. If the "oxygen transport
system," which includes the heart, lungs and blood, is compromised, even a
much lower altitude may be dangerous."
He was saying, Jerry, that as we go up in altitude on some
high mountains, the oxygen saturation in our whole body drops while the
carbon dioxide builds up. Carbon dioxide is often used in the very
sick patient as a breathing stimulant. But it also acts to dull the
oxygen sensing centers of our body and "tell" us that we are falling into a
deeper sleep. If we have some undiagnosed disease that's immediately
affected by hypoxia--lack of oxygen--serious events may start to force
our compromised bodies into a much greater weakened state. This can
happen to a young person as well as an older person. Imagine
that by just going to eighteen thousand feet altitude you have left behind
one-half of all the oxygen on earth!
So thanks very much about the Leadville info, and if you
know of other symptoms encountered by those new mountain troops when first
going higher for their training please let me know. Symptoms like:
shortness of breath, palpitations, high BP, inability to sleep, agitation,
headache, are the typical plain mountain sickness symptoms, but if you start
to cough for any length of time, while all these other symptoms are active,
you should descend.
If you know of a site for the 10th Mountain Div at Pando CO? please let me
know!
Thanks,
Blake
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, October 29,
2003 4:30 PM
Subject: Re:
ALTITUDE-INDUCED ILLNESSES in the Korean War
In a message dated 10/29/2003 3:15:41 PM Central
Standard Time, rbmooney@bellsouth.net
writes:
If
any veteran, or relative or friend of any Korean War veteran has
experienced ALTITUDE-RELATED ILLNESSES, while serving in the mountains
of Korea, especially in the cold weather, I would appreciate hearing
about their experiences. I wrote a book on ALTITUDE [American Medical
Association endorsed] and it’s effect on MAJOR CHRONIC MEDICAL
ILLNESSES. However, I have never seen a reference to ALTITUDE-INDUCED
ILLNESSES or even death caused by the thin cold air in the high
mountains of Korea which our troops fought on and around. Also, does
anyone know if there were special ACCLIMATION exercises provided by the
American Army or Marine Corps for its troops before they went into
action in the Korean mountains? Professional mountain climbers remind
every climber that it takes a healthy person one day to acclimate to
every 1000-foot increase in altitude. [Of course the old mountaineer's
adage, "Work High, Sleep Low" won't apply in wartime] Inexperienced
troops coming from the low lands of America would, therefore, seem to be
the first ones hit by HYPOXIA. This lack of oxygen could quickly disable
men from sea-level homes who had to carry heavy backpacks in freezing
weather going up, crossing over, and coming down the many high crests
and slopes. I have read that Hannibal lost almost one division of
troops to cold weather and high altitude when crossing the Alps.
Also, there's the great example of the Finnish Forest &Mountain
troops during the Winter War of 1939--1940 with the Soviet Union.
I've taken the liberty to address our heroic allies of the 2nd WW during
their terrible ordeal--1939/1940--with the SU by including the
following:
I was born and raised in the Colo
mountains and remember very well the training of the 10th Mountain Div at
Pando
Colo just outside of Leadville , Colo . in the early years of
WW2 .
The altitude there is
10,152 ft above sea level
. There were many stories about how sick a lot of the 10th Mountain boys
got due to the altitude . I recall they called it the Pando
croup
.
Jerry KW 51-52
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