Three miles up, three miles down

Steve Lathan, among the many volunteers building up the historical experience at Toccoa, Georgia.

(Posted from Mile 57 on I-85 headed to Charlotte International on a bus with wifi and 110)

This mountain was an integral part of training airborne troops
from 1942 to 1945. 

We climbed the 1000 foot Mt. Currahee in Steve Latlhan's 4x4 pickup today, following the same tortuous "three miles up three miles down" route taken by World War II 101st Airborne trainees and made famous in the HBO "Band of Brothers" movie.

Steve knows the route well, his family settled here in the 1700s and got a deed to their land from the king… of England, complete with wax-imprint seal from the signet ring of James Ogelthorpe.

Of course, some of Steve's kin would say none of that was necessary, they had owned the land all along. They're Cherokee. So you might say we were carried to the top by a Cherokee guide, with some Irish thrown in. The massive uplift "stands alone" distinct from the Appalachians to the north and that's what the native name "Currahee" means . . . and "We Stand Alone" became a motto for elite troops.

So how did a family survive so many years in this rugged, wooded Georgia land? Whiskey.

There's plenty of old copper back in those woods, and Steve's grandfather was one of the best operators. "There's drinking whiskey and there's selling whiskey," old grandad would say. He personally consumed a pint of the drinking stuff every day. It must have been good: Grandad lived to be 89, was always in good health, and died with all his teeth..

Steve's employed in the timber industry these days, he pointed out the various species of hard and softwoods as we rose up the mountain. He volunteers for the historical society as needed. They're building up a remarkable history experience, all with donations -- including donors Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. The movie and other factors have made the mountain and area a popular spot for hikers, and backpackers looking for a challenge.

We met a few of them coming up the hard way, not double-timing like Easy Company would, but pushing it nonetheless. Forty-five minutes round trip is a respectable time, we were told. Some do it in less.

FROM THE TOP
You can see North Carolina and South Carolina. On a clear day
you can see Tennesee. Our weather following Hermine was gorgeous.
Above, tour "fixer" Craig Drez enjoys the view.

On the way down, Steve showed us the old family homestead purchased by the government for 20 or 30 dollars an acre years ago.

He also showed us the culvert where Granddad would hide a keg of his selling whiskey every week and the man from town would come to get it and leave the money. "They really needed that income," he mused in his Georgia drawl. Eventually, his grandfather opened a bar at the camp gate and welcomed thirsty soldiers. Many of those soldiers are memorialized today both in granite and at the nearby military museum, which is a fitting repository of thousands of artifacts gleaned from the thousands of airborne troops and others in service to their country.

Everyone was very welcoming at the museum. It's a whistle stop on the Amtrak. Y'all come by some time. There's plenty to see in the museum. But if you want to see an old whiskey still, just ask for Steve.

Is there any activity still going on? "Not," Steve replied with a sober grin, "anything that I am aware of."