Copied from the monuments at this site:
"70th Infantry Div.
Trailblazers
"Baptized in fire, always self reliant, brotherhood into the future. Erected and dedicated by the 70th Regional Support Command on 25 June 2000. The form of this monument is a replica of a Memorial erected by the people of the District of Forbach in France on Spicheren Heights, site of a major victory of the 70th which was dedicated on the 50th anniversary of V.E. Day, 8 May 1995.
***
The Trailblazers The 70th Infantry Division was activated on 15 June 1942 as "Oregon's own" and was named "The Trailblazers" in honor of the Oregon Trail Centennial after a year of training here at Camp Adair the Division moved to Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri fro final training before departing for Europe in late 1944. The Infantry recruits first saw combat as Task Force Herren starting 26 December 1944 when Hitler's "Operation Normandy" was stopped in the Vosges Mountains of Eastern France. The Blazers participated in the Ardennes-Alsace, Rhineland and Central Europe Campaigns, suffering 3,919 casualties, including 755 killed in action during the 86 consecutive days of combat. This plaque is presented on 27 August 1993 by the 70th Division Association to commemorate "The Trailblazers" 50th anniversary and is dedicated to our fallen comrades. "
****************
"The Wild West Division Power River! Let'er Buck!
The 91st Infantry Division was originally activated 8 September 1917 at Camp Lewis Washington and designated the "Wild West Division". The battle cry "Powder River! Let'er Buck" was adopted in 1918. During World War I the division fought in the Lorraine Meuse-Argonne and Ypres-Lys campaigns, suffering 6,108 casualties including 1,454 killed in action. The division was reactivated 15 August 1942 at Camp White Oregon, moved 1 September 1943 to the IV Corps maneuver area, Bend, Oregon, then transferred to Camp Adair, Oregon 4 November 1943. It departed for North Africa 3 April 1944. In June 1944 the division moved to Italy where it participated in the Rome-Arno, North Apennines and Po Valley campaigns, suffering 8,744 casualties, including 1,573 killed in action during 271 days of combat. Dedicated to the memory of the gallant men of the 91st Infantry Division who died in defense of our Country and to all who served the cause of freedom. Erected by the Power River veterans of the 91st Division Association and the 361st Infantry Association of WWII. 5 September 1997."
***************
"The Timberwolves
The 104th Infantry Division was activated on 15 September 1942, at Camp Adair and was named "The Timberwolves". After 18 months of training at Camp Adair and maneuvers in Eastern Oregon and the California, Arizona desert, they moved to Camp Carson, Colorado, for additional training before departing for Europe in August 1944. The Timberwolves were the first American division to land directly on the European continent at Cherbourg, France, and Utah Beach. The Timberwolves entered combat on 23 October 1944, with the First Canadian Army in Belgium and Holland. The Timberwolves participated in the Northern France, Rhineland and Central Europe Campaigns, suffering 6,223 casualties, including 1,447 killed in action during 195 consecutive days in combat. This plaque is presented on 21 May 1994 by the National Timberwolf Association and the 104th Division (Training), U.S.A.R. to commemorate the 50th anniversary of "The Timberwolves" and is dedicated to our fallen comrades."
******************
Copied from website: (
visit link)
"Camp Adair, a World War II army cantonment, was located north of Corvallis on 50,000 acres in Benton and Polk Counties. The site was chosen by the United States War Department as a training site for Triangular Divisions. Each division consisted of 15,000 men assigned to infantry, artillery and engineering units with the necessary support personnel. However, the divisions at Camp Adair never reached their full complement of men. In order to construct this cantonment, which became the second largest city in Oregon, families were uprooted, cemeteries relocated, railroad tracks rerouted, and the small community of Wells was erased.
Today, only a few buildings and foundations remain to mark the main cantonment site of Camp Adair. A sign on US Highway 99W commemorates the divisions that trained there. Each Division also has a memorial located near the public viewing area 0.5 mile east of 99W on Camp Adair Road. The 50,000 acre site that made up the camp is owned by state and local governments and individuals.
Four infantry divisions were trained at Camp Adair for overseas duty: the 91st Powder River Infantry Division, the 96th Deadeye Infantry Division, the 104th Timberwolf Infantry Division, and the 70th Trailblazer Infantry Division. Three of the divisions, the 96th, 104th, and 70th were activated at Camp Adair and 91st was activated at Camp White near Medford, Oregon.
The camp was named in honor of Henry Rodney Adair, a West Point graduate and descendant of Oregon pioneers, who was the first Oregonian killed during the 1916 Mexican border clashes. When General Pershing pushed over the border in search of the bandit general Pancho Villa, Lt. Adair, an officer in the 10th Calvary, wiped out two machine gun nests and accounted for more than 30 Mexican bandits before he was killed.
The area east of Highway 99W, on the valley floor, was used for the base camp while the hilly area west of the highway was used for training maneuvers. To simulate actual conditions, full-scale models of European towns were constructed in this area.
During World War II, the armed forces were segregated. African-American soldiers were assigned to Camp Adair, but were not part of any of the divisions that trained at the camp. Very little information about the African-Americans role at the Camp has been discovered, although reportedly some were assigned to the Quartermaster Corps.
The U.S. Army turned the hospital over to the U.S. Navy when the divisions left. Casualties from the Pacific Theater were brought to Camp Adair for treatment and recuperation. On March 1, 1945, it was reported that the wounded were arriving by train, and the hospital had been enlarged to take care of 3,600.
Shortly after the last division left, part of Camp Adair served as a prisoner-of-war (POW) camp for Italians, then Germans. It appears POWs were at Camp Adair from August 1944 through April 1946. Although former civilian personnel have memories of both German and Italian POWs at the camp, their presence was not common knowledge in nearby communities.
Remembrances of Camp Adair include poison oak, snakes, summer's dust, climbing Coffin Butte, and intense training. Perhaps the most lasting memory for many soldiers was Oregon's rain. After sloshing through the countryside, marching, pushing and pulling vehicles through the mud, trying to keep equipment from rusting, and fording swollen streams, it is no wonder many called the camp--Swamp Adair."