Amazing America 250: Remembering the heroes of the 12th Armored Division

Amazing America 250: Remembering the heroes of the 12th Armored Division ABILENE, Texas — The heroes of the 12th Armored Division helped change the course of World War II, today, their stories live on at the 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum in Abilene. "The 12th Armored Division is a tank division that was active during World War II," Executive Director at the 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum, Mikayla Spivey, said. "They were only active from 1942 to 1946. And they wound up training out at Camp Barkeley, which is about eight miles southwest of town." RELATED | Amazing America 250: How frontier heroes forged our future Before heading overseas, thousands of soldiers spent more than a year preparing for war in West Texas. RELATED | Amazing America 250: The history of Dyess Air Force Base Camp Barkeley became home to the 12th Armored Division, where troops learned to operate tanks, artillery, and armored infantry units that would later fight across Europe. "We're looking at how one individual division impacted World War II," Spivey said. "We're able to put faces and names to these stories that you hear on a grander scale. The 12th played a big role in helping with the southern part of Germany, getting over all the way to Munich." Those stories are what make this museum unique. Rather than focusing on broad military campaigns, exhibits follow the men who carried them out. RELATED | Amazing America 250: The women who helped change aviation history Photos, letters and personal artifacts trace the division's path from training grounds in Texas to some of the war's most critical battles. "Our guys are U.N. certified Holocaust liberators," Spivey said. "They did liberate concentration camps in southern Germany. The largest battle that they were involved in was the Battle of Herrlisheim It did have a significant impact. Had it not gone the way it had, the 12th Armored Division was the only division that was in the area that could stop the Germans coming back over the German border into France." The fighting came at a steep cost. Along the museum's memorial walkway, hundreds of names honor veterans of the division. RELATED | Remembering the brave: a heartfelt tribute to those who never made it back home Gold stars mark those who never made it home. "A good chunk of them, you'll see, have gold stars," Spivey said. "They were the ones that were killed in action. Others are just other veterans of the 12th Armored Division." The museum itself was founded by division veterans in 2001, determined to preserve the legacy of the men who served. And the impact of Camp Barkeley extended beyond the battlefield. RELATED | From passion to museum: Local man shares history with military models During the war, as many as 60,000 troops passed through the installation, nearly doubling Abilene's population and forever tying the city to one of America's greatest generations. "I think it's important just because it is such a large part of our history," Spivey said. "And even though it was just 17,000 men, they still left an impact, even today. Their contributions and sacrifices helped ensure that we are still a free country and keep going Once you see a face and see a name and hear their story of what they went through, it makes it more real versus just reading in a book or something." For the museum, preserving history means honoring the soldiers who made it.