It was no well-knit group that boarded the train at Camp Hale, Colorado although many of the men had known one another before. Rather it was a bunch of individuals gathered from the northern half of America and from parts of Europe, but all were tied together by a common love of mountains and outdoor life. All of the men had been climbing and skiing enthusiasts before the war, and many of them made their living teaching mountaineering or skiing. They had been picked from Camp Hale by Lt. Col. Cook, Spec. Projects, Sec. G-3, A.G.F. for their instructional ability and experience.

There never was an army trip quite like this one. Instead of being herded into an ancient pullman or decaying coach just behind the engine where soot and dirt came swirling through the cracks of the window frames, the group was given an observation pullman car which took it all the way to Miami. Having a car almost to itself was good for the morale of the group and helped the men come to know each other. They needed time to get together, because they started on the trip not only as separate individuals but as clashing groups from Kiska and West Virginia.

The Officer in charge, Lt. Hazel E. Link set the tone of individual responsibility right from the start. At the almost daily stop-overs he would give the time for return and let every man take off for himself. He had come to the mountain troops from tank corps and never forgot his tank training. Among some of the men his cross-country jeep trips over the hills of Colorado had become famous. He had much army experience in directing mountain training, for he had been in charge of Army rock climbing schools in Buena Vista, Va., training the 45th. Division, and in the West Virginia Maneuver Area where combat teams from the 28th, 29th, 32nd, and 78th. Divisions and other units were trained. He had also been OIC of the Cooper Hill School, 10,000 feet up in the Colorado Rockies where members of the 10th. Division had been given ski training, and served in the detachment giving winter training to the 5th. Armored Division at Pine Camp N.Y. He was promoted to Captain shortly after the unit came overseas, and to Major almost a year later.

Most of the boys could sing the old songs of the 87th. Mountain Infantry Regiment, and in the evenings the observation car would be full of sound and perhaps too little harmony, with the words of "OOLA SKI Jumper from Norway" and "Ninety Pounds of Rucksack" drowning out the rattle of the wheels. Singing was good for the men. Despite their differing experiences it gave them a common bond.

An ex-newspaperman and onetime enlisted man in the 87th., Lt. Burton was able to add a barber-shop chord and a few new verses, and he could always be counted on for a story about the places the train passed through. As an enlisted man he had served on the Columbia Ice Fields expedition in Canada, and as an officer he had been a supervisor at the West Virginia Maneuver Area School. He could sling a good line, and his ability to nose out the situation in any location was to come in handy later on when the detachment arrived in Italy unattached to any unit in the theater.