Watch Video HERE
Denver — Today, Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet released a video of Francis Lovett, a 100 year-old WWII veteran, who trained at Camp Hale in the original 10th Mountain Division, and Brad Noone, a U.S. Army veteran who deployed to Afghanistan with the 10th Mountain Division, in which they reflect on their personal relationship to Camp Hale, discuss the importance of the site to veterans, Coloradans, and U.S. history, and advocate for national monument designation for the camp and its surrounding area.
“The experience with the outdoors was, for me, one of the most gorgeous times of my life. I would give anything if I could go again out into all these woods and mountains — and just look and see and feel and smell. And that’s one of the reasons I am so interested in having this declared a national monument,” said Lovett.
“Serving with the 10th in Afghanistan, and then with the Reserve component back in Connecticut and Vermont, and then moving out here to Colorado after I got out of the service, I found nothing but solace, nothing but relief and peace here in these surrounding hills around Camp Hale…I always tell people that these lands – specifically right here around Camp Hale – they act as my therapist, my gym, my church and my playground,” said Noone.
Bennet – alongside Colorado U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper, Colorado Governor Jared Polis, and Colorado U.S. Representative Joe Neguse – continues to urge President Biden to use the Antiquities Act to designate Camp Hale and the Tenmile Range as a national monument. Bennet has delivered dozens of letters to President Biden from Colorado veterans, state and local officials, conservation and outdoor recreation advocates, business owners, and descendants of the 10th Mountain Division urging executive action to protect Camp Hale and the Tenmile Range and other landscapes in the CORE Act.
The following people contributed to the video:
- Sarah Whitson, Whitson Strategies – Videographer
- Jon Resnick, Jon Resnick Photography – Production assistant
- Steve Bernini, Bermini Films – Editor
- Denver Public Library Special Collections