Camp Cooke, later Vandenberg Air Force Base, was associated with the wartime training and deployment of three armored divisions in World War II. The 5th Armored Division "Victory" was activated at Fort Knox, Kentucky, on 1 October 1941, was at Camp Cooke from February 1942 to March 1943, took part in desert and Tennessee maneuvers in 1942 and 1943, deployed to the European Theater of Operations in February 1944, and landed at Utah Beach, Normandy, on 25 July 1944. It served in Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe, became the first Allied division to enter Germany on 11 September 1944, and at war's end was the closest unit to Berlin on the Elbe River. The 6th Armored Division "The Super Sixth" was activated at Fort Knox, Kentucky, on 15 February 1942, trained at Camp Chaffee in Arkansas, in the Louisiana Maneuvers, at Camp Young in the California Desert, and at Camp Cooke in California, landed at Utah Beach on 18 July 1944, and served in Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe. Its last combat death came on 24 April 1945, and 1,274 men of the division were killed, 4,378 were wounded, and 52 were missing in action. The 11th Armored Division "Thunderbolts" was activated at Camp Polk, Louisiana, on 15 August 1942, trained in the Louisiana Maneuvers, at Camp Barkley in Abilene, Texas, in the California Desert at Camp Ibis, and at Camp Cooke in California, landed in France on December 10, 1944, and served in Ardennes-Alsace, Rhineland, and Central Europe. In October 1991, Colonel James A. McDonough and Colonel William A. Hamberg of the 5th Armored Division Association were recognized for their efforts in making the memorial a reality on Vandenberg Air Force Base.