The 70th Infantry Division was activated on 15 June 1943 as "Oregon's Own" and was named "The Trailblazers" in honor of the Oregon Trail Centennial. After a year of training at Camp Adair, the division moved to Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri, for final training before departing for Europe in late 1944. The infantry regiments first saw combat as Task Force Herren starting 26 December 1944, when Hitler's "Operation Nordwind" was stopped in the Vosged Mountains of eastern France. The Trailblazers took part in the Ardennes-Alsace, Rhineland, and Central Europe campaigns, suffering 3,919 casualties, including 755 killed in action, during 86 consecutive days of combat.