JAMES V. KECK PAPERS

James V. Keck was born September 30, 1923 in Oneida, South Dakota, the second of three sons born to Marvin and Ethel Keck. He grew up in Rapid City, South Dakota and attended South Dakota State University at Brookings, before being drafted. Keck entered military service on April 1, 1943 and received thirteen weeks of basic training at Camp Wheeler, Georgia. Following basic training, Keck transferred to the Army Air Corps and was assigned to Coe College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa for flight training. In Keck's words, he soon learned that he "wasn't quite what the Air Force wanted," and returned to Camp Wheeler for reassignment. He volunteered for the "ski troops," and transferred to Camp Hale, Colorado in June 1944. He was assigned to Company I, 3rd Battalion, 85th Infantry Regiment.

Keck arrived at Camp Hale just as the Division completed its mountain and winter warfare training. He commented that The Division's subsequent move to Camp Swift, Texas, seemed like a return to basic training. During the Italian Campaign, Keck was wounded in action April 14, 1945 at Hill 913. The war ended while he was in the hospital. He returned to duty while the 10th Mountain Division was stationed near the Yugoslavian border in Northern Italy. Following the inactivation of the 10th Mountain Division in November 1945, Keck spent three months at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin before receiving his honorable discharge.

After the war, Keck attended the School of Mines in Rapid City, South Dakota before transferring to the University of Nebraska. He pursued a career in the insurance industry. Keck and his wife, Joanne, returned to Italy in 2003. Keck was also selected to join an honor flight to Washington, D.C. to view the World War II memorial in 2009. James and Joanne Keck had six children and twelve grandchildren.