The first focuses on the area’s Indian history through the French and Indian War and War of 1812; another examines Fort Drum’s precursors; another depicts the division’s history during World War II; and the fourth details the division’s deployments since its reactivation in 1985 — Hurricane Andrew, the Gulf War, Haiti, Somalia, Bosnia and Kosovo among them. The last section also includes weapons captured in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“We are living history there as we’re fighting,” said Sgt. Bill Wortman, who was helping the museum get organized while home recovering from a leg injury suffered in Afghanistan.

“When you see our achievements in this context (the museum), you realize you are part of something bigger. For me, I feel I have a stronger bond to the division’s past after being here,” said Wortman, of Prineville, Ore.

The original 10th Mountain Division was created in 1943 at Camp Hale in Colorado as a light infantry division to fight in cold weather and high-altitude terrain. Soldiers trained on skis and snowshoes and slept outside without tents. Many 10th Mountain Division soldiers became pioneers in the recreational ski industry.

One part of the museum is an exhibit called Granddad’s Attic. The display is designed to give both soldiers and other visitors an idea about what to do when an old Army item is found.

“We want people to understand what it is they have, what they can do to protect it, and where they might be able to take it,” Bolke said. “Often these items are not only important to the family, but to the culture of the U.S. Army and America as a whole.”

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Another display highlights the early career of Bill Mauldin, who trained at Pine Camp during World War II with the 45th Infantry Division and later went on to win two Pulitzer Prizes as one of the most popular and influential cartoonists of the 20th century.

The division first made its mark on American military history during World War II at the battle of Riva Ridge in northern Italy. In that battle, 10th Mountain Division soldiers scaled a sheer 1,500-foot cliff under cover of darkness to rout the Nazis and help liberate Italy.

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One of Fort Drum’s most hallowed artifacts, though, is excluded from the display: The Congressional Medal of Honor awarded posthumously to Pfc. John Magrath, the only medal of honor winner in the division’s history.

Magrath won the medal at Mount Belvedere during the Italian offensive when he saved his unit by charging a German machine gun nest, killing three Germans, wounding seven and taking several more as prisoners. He died later that day helping fallen comrades.

Magrath’s medal is on display in the post gymnasium that bears his name.

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