Because of its unique mission, recruiting for the 10th Mountain Division during World War II focused on experienced skiers and mountaineers, but soon the demand for them exceeded the supply. The Army began assigning soldiers to the 10th without any background in the mountains, and Cruz Rios became one of them. A native of Colton, Calif., a small town near San Bernardino, he enlisted in 1943 and was sent to Camp Hale randomly after basic training.
“Being a Hispanic man, there weren’t that many in the 10th,” his son Val told The Denver Post while he was in Denver for the opening of the new History Colorado exhibit about the 10th, “Winter Warriors.” “It made it really special. To be selected as one of them was really an honor. He absolutely loved it. And the prejudice that existed at the time, he didn’t experience any of that with the 10th guys. They just welcomed him as a brother, as he would say.”
Rios, who died in 2016 at the age of 97, is featured in History Colorado’s new exhibit “Winter Warriors,” along with some color photos he took during his time in Italy during the war. He visited Italy with his wife in 1994 and again in 2005 with his son. They visited a church where Rios had attended mass on Easter Sunday in 1945, five weeks before the Germans surrendered.
“He had no idea where it was,” said his son. “Through the internet I was able to find it, and we went back on Easter Sunday for a service, which was quite special for him. A couple of the pictures he took of the church (in 1945), one of them had some little girls, and two of those little girls — who are now elderly — were at this church service in 2005. It was quite special for him. It’s just a wonderful story.”
