Organized on July 18, 1917 at Camp Bowie, Texas, the 36th Division was composed of National Guard units from Texas and Oklahoma and traced part of its lineage to the Washington Guards of the Texas Revolution. During World War I, it participated in the San Mihiel Offensive and the Meuse–Argonne Offensive with the French Army near St. Etienne-a-Armes and in the liberation of Rheims. After twenty-three days in active sectors, the division had captured 549 prisoners and suffered 2,528 casualties. Reorganized in 1920 with only Texas elements, it was inducted into active duty on November 25, 1940 and sent to North Africa in April 1943. In September 1943, the 36th took part in the amphibious landing near Paestum on the Gulf of Salerno as the first American troops to fight on the mainland of Europe in World War II. It then joined the campaign on the Winter Line near Mignano, especially at San Pietro, and on May 18, 1944 participated in the Anzio beachhead operations. After the Italian Campaign, the division took part in the amphibious landing near San Raphael and Frejus in August 1944, fought along the Rhone River Valley, crossed the Moselle River, and advanced through Lyon, Bourg, Besancon, and Vesoul in September 1944. It later fought extensively through Germany, capturing Field Marshal Von Runstedt and Air Marshal Goering. During World War II, the 36th Division spent 400 days in actual combat, fought five campaigns in four countries, captured 175,806 enemy troops, and suffered 27,343 casualties, the third highest casualty rate of all American divisions. The division's colors were retired at Camp Mabry, Austin, Texas, on April 1, 1980, and State Highway 36 was designated in 1944 as a memorial to the 36th Division, with the marking of the highway funded in 1981 by the 67th Texas Legislature.