What was supposed to be a simple training event in Colorado, the birthplace of Fort Drum’s 10th Mountain Division, turned into a very special journey for one young soldier.

A gift from his grandmother helped him discover his family's history as he learned he’d be training on the very mountains his great-grandfather did 80 years ago.

What You Need To Know

  • The 10th Mountain Division was formed during World War II, training on Camp Hale in Colorado, in preparations for the mountains of Italy

  • Corporal Wayne Peters was one soldier who helped bring life into the new division

  • Peter's great-grandson, Staff Sgt. Cameron Daniels, was able to recently spend a week training in Colorado on the same grounds

“This would be my great grandfather, Wayne Peters. Corporal Wayne Peters,” Staff Sgt. Cameron Daniels said as he opened a scrapbook.

A scrapbook shares the story of Staff Sergeant Cameron Daniels's military family.

“This page right here is actually original photos of him at Camp Hale,” he added.

Back in the World War II-era 1940s, Camp Hale in Colorado became the birthplace of what we now know as Fort Drum's 10th Mountain Division, a division that Cpl. Peters helped bring to life.

“He was the first set of guys go over to Camp Hill and train,” Daniels said of his grea-grandfather.

Training that became reality as he made his way into enemy territory in Italy.

“My great-grandfather actually earned his Bronze Star during the the Battle of River Ridge,” he said.

Unfortunately, Peters was killed in action not long after that.

“He was just west of leverage in a little town,” Daniels said. “That would have been during the Po Valley offensive.”

Peters' time there was captured in the form of letters sent home.

“To his mother,” Daniels said reading one of the letters. “He's talking about his experience like getting to Camp Hill and he's talking about the landscape.”

Eighty years later, Daniels would train on the grounds himself.

“As soon as I found out that there was a possibility that I could go follow in the footsteps of continue the legacy of my great-grandfather, yeah, I made sure I was going to go,” he said.

As part of the 10th Mountain Division’s renewed focus on returning to its roots, its Alpine history, Daniels was part of a group invited to spend a week training back where it all began — Camp Hale, Colo.

“I’d like to think that my great-grandfather would be extremely proud that we're all here, all of us doing the same exact thing that the originals were doing,” Daniels said from Colorado.

It creates a new chapter for the scrapbook that Daniels' grandmother, who is also Peters' daughter, gave him when they found out he was going.

“She was just beyond herself, excited for me and she wanted me to come back and tell her everything," Daniels said.

Unfortunately, he never got that chance. Just a couple of weeks before he left, she passed away.

“I think she probably was right along with me on the trip,” Daniels said.

Daniels says he hopes his family can soon venture into the parts of Europe where his great-grandfather traveled.