Borgstrom brothers

Last updated
LeRoy Elmer Borgstrom
Born(1914-04-30)April 30, 1914
DiedJune 22, 1944(1944-06-22) (aged 30)
Italy
Cause of deathServing in the US Army during World War II
Known forHelping lead to the adoption of the Sole Survivor Policy in National Military Establishment regulations in 1948
Clyde Eugene Borgstrom
Born(1916-02-15)February 15, 1916
DiedMarch 17, 1944(1944-03-17) (aged 28)
Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands
Cause of deathServing in the US Marines in World War II
Known forHelping lead to the adoption of the Sole Survivor Policy in National Military Establishment regulations in 1948
Rulon Jay Borgstrom
Born(1925-05-05)May 5, 1925
DiedAugust 25, 1944(1944-08-25) (aged 19)
Brest, France
Cause of deathServing with the US Army in World War II
Known forHelping lead to the adoption of the Sole Survivor Policy in National Military Establishment regulations in 1948
Rolon Day Borgstrom
Born(1925-05-05)May 5, 1925
DiedAugust 8, 1944(1944-08-08) (aged 19)
Yaxham, England
Cause of deathServing in the US Army Air Forces during World War II, aircraft crash
Known forHelping lead to the adoption of the Sole Survivor Policy in National Military Establishment regulations in 1948

The Borgstrom brothers were four American siblings, including twin brothers, killed over a six-month period during World War II.

Contents

Brothers

The brothers were the sons of Alben and Gunda Borgstrom of Thatcher, Utah. The brothers were:

Early life

Alben and Gunda Borgstrom were the parents of ten children, seven of whom were boys. In 1921, their son Veran died from a ruptured appendix at the age of nine. [1] The other six boys attended Bear River High School in Garland, Utah. After the U.S. entered the war, five of the remaining brothers enlisted or were drafted into the military: Boyd, LeRoy, Clyde, Rolon Day, and Rulon Jay Borgstrom. [2]

Military service

Clyde, serving in the 2nd Aviation Engineer Battalion, U.S. Marine Corps, on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, was killed in an accident involving a falling tree while clearing land for an airstrip on March 17, 1944. Three months later, on June 22, 1944, LeRoy, serving with the 361st Infantry Regiment, 91st Infantry Division was killed in action in Italy. On August 8, 1944, Rolon Day, serving with the 506th Bombardment Squadron, 44th Bombardment Group, died when his bomber experienced engine problems and crashed near its base at Yaxham, England, while on a mission to France. His twin brother, Rulon Jay, serving with the 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, was initially reported missing in an attack on Le Dreff, near Brest, France, but was found and died 18 days later on August 25, 1944, from wounds received in action. [3]

When Rulon Jay went missing in August 1944, the Borgstrom family, with help from neighbors and a Utah congressional delegation, successfully petitioned for Boyd, the last Borgstrom son in the military, to be released from service. [4] Shortly thereafter, he was transferred home to the United States and discharged by special order of the Commandant of the Marine Corps Alexander Vandegrift. [5] The Borgstrom's youngest son, Eldon, sometimes spelled Elton, who was not yet of enlistment age in 1944, was exempted from military service.

Burial

Almost four years after the four brothers' deaths, their bodies were returned to Utah by the American Graves Registration Service. [6] A funeral service for the four brothers was then held in the LDS Church's Garland Tabernacle in Garland, Utah on June 25, 1948. Clarence E. Smith, former principal of Bear River High School, Utah Governor Herbert B. Maw, LDS Church President George Albert Smith, and General Mark W. Clark spoke at the funeral. Rear Admiral John R. Redman, Major General LeRoy P. Hunt, and Brigadier General Ned Schramm were in attendance. [7] The brothers were then buried side by side in the Riverview Cemetery in Tremonton, Utah. [8]

During the funeral service, the brothers were posthumously awarded three Bronze Star Medals, one Air Medal, and one Good Conduct Medal. [9] According to Colonel Leonard R. Crews, "commanding officer of the Sixth Army escort detachment at Ogden," the Borgstrom family was the "only four-star Gold Star family on record in World War II" [5] (the Sullivan brothers—all of whom were killed in the same incident in World War II—were a five-star Gold Star family).

Legacy

The Salt Lake Tribune reported in November 1944 that the deaths of the four Borgstrom brothers resulted in "the armed services rul[ing] special consideration will be given any family in which two or more sons have been killed and only one member in service survives." [4] Even though the article was published a few years before the Sole Survivor Policy was enacted (1948), the deaths of the Borgstrom brothers, along with the deaths of the Sullivan brothers and others, may have contributed to the development of this policy. The loss of four of the Borgstrom brothers, along with the loss of all five Sullivan brothers, led to the official adoption of the Sole Survivor Policy in National Military Establishment regulations in 1948.

In April 1959, the Army honored the Borgstrom brothers by naming a reserve training center in Ogden, Utah in their honor. In August 2001, a soldiers' memorial was dedicated in Tremonton, Utah, which had the images and names of the brothers in a place of prominence. [10]

See also

General

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tremonton, Utah</span> City in Utah, United States

Tremonton is a city in Box Elder County, Utah. The population was 9,894 at the time of the 2020 census. As of 2024, Tremonton has an estimated population of 13,713 and is one of the fastest growing municipalities in the state of Utah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heber J. Grant</span> American religious leader (1856–1945)

Heber Jeddy Grant was an American religious leader who served as the seventh president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Grant worked as a bookkeeper and a cashier, then was called to be an LDS apostle on October 16, 1882, at age 25. After the death of Joseph F. Smith in late 1918, Grant served as LDS Church president until his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel H. Wells</span> American religious leader and politician

Daniel Hanmer Wells was an American apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the 3rd mayor of Salt Lake City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apostolic United Brethren</span> Polygamous Mormon fundamentalist church

The Apostolic United Brethren (AUB) is a Mormon fundamentalist group that practices polygamy. The AUB has had a temple in Mexico since at least the 1990s, an endowment house in Utah since the early 1980s, and several other locations of worship to accommodate their members in the US states of Wyoming, Arizona, and Montana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rulon Jeffs</span> Fundamentalist Mormon church leader (1909–2002)

Rulon Timpson Jeffs, known to followers as Uncle Rulon, was an American polygamist and religious leader who founded and was recognized as the 5th president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a Mormon fundamentalist organization based in Colorado City, Arizona, United States, from 1986 until his death in 2002. He was the father of later FLDS Church leader and convicted felon Warren Jeffs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Niland brothers</span> American brothers who served in World War II

The Niland brothers were four American brothers from Tonawanda, New York, who served in the military during World War II. They were sons of Mr. and Mrs. Michael C. Niland. Two survived the war but, for a time, only one, Frederick "Fritz" Niland, was believed to have survived. After the reported deaths of his three brothers, Fritz was sent back to the United States to complete his service, and only later learned that his brother Edward, missing and presumed dead, was captive in a Japanese POW camp in Burma.

The Sole Survivor Policy or United States Department of Defense Directive 1315.15 "Special Separation Policies for Survivorship" describes a set of regulations in the United States military, partially stipulated by law, that are designed to protect members of a family from the draft during peacetime or wartime if they have already lost family members to military service. This policy has been in effect since 1948.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leroy S. Johnson</span> Fundamentalist Mormon leader (1888–1986)

Leroy Sunderland Johnson, known as Uncle Roy, was a leader of the Mormon fundamentalist group in Short Creek, which later evolved into the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, from the mid-1950s until his death.

Elaine Jack was the twelfth Relief Society general president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1990 to 1997. She also served in the general presidency of the church's Young Women organization from 1987 to 1990. Jack was the first Relief Society General President to be born outside of the United States.

Glenn Leroy Pace was a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1985 until his death. As a general authority, he served as a counselor in the presiding bishopric and also in the First Quorum of Seventy. In 2010, he was designated an emeritus general authority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Osmond</span> American missionary (1917–2007)

George Virl Osmond Sr. was the patriarch of the singing Osmond family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joel LeBaron</span> American religious leader and Mormon fundamentalist

Joel Franklin LeBaron was a Mormon fundamentalist leader in northern Mexico. He was murdered by a member or members of a rival church which was headed by his brother Ervil LeBaron.

Warren Eugene Hansen was a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1989 until his death. He became a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy in 1989 and was a member of the Presidency of the Seventy from 1993 to 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jay Lambert</span> American boxer

Elbert Jay Lambert was an American amateur and professional boxer, medical doctor and general surgeon in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was the 1948 U.S. Olympic Trials Champion and represented the United States as a heavy weight in the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, England. He fought professionally from 1948 to 1950 before leaving the sport to pursue a career in medicine.

Irene Spencer was an American author and a widow of Verlan LeBaron, brother of former prophet Joel LeBaron of the Church of the Firstborn of the Fulness of Times, a fundamentalist Mormon offshoot.

Alma Adelbert "Del" Timpson, was an American Mormon fundamentalist leader. He was involved with a number of Mormon denominations, including the mainstream LDS Church, followed by the Council of Friends, and eventually heading the Centennial Park group, a fundamentalist sect headquartered in Centennial Park, Arizona. In each denomination, he held positions of importance within the priesthood and leadership structures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Council of Friends (Woolley)</span> One of the original expressions of Mormon fundamentalism

The Council of Friends was one of the original expressions of Mormon fundamentalism, having its origins in the teachings of Lorin C. Woolley, a courier and bodyguard for polygamous leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who was excommunicated in 1924.

Leroy "Roy" Barlow Jeffs was a former member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He was one of Warren Jeffs' fifty four children.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Memory Grove</span> Park in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.

Memory Grove, formerly known as Memory Park and sometimes called Memory Grove Park, is a park in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Established as a war memorial at the mouth of City Creek Canyon in 1924, the park "spawned a long tradition of support and involvement by private, civil, fraternal, military, and political organizations, and its evolution over the span of five generations reflects Utah's changing values along with her participation in world events", according to William G. Love of Utah Historical Quarterly.

References

  1. ↑ Lefevre, Zach (2019-05-13). "The Borgstrom Family Story". Tremonton City. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
  2. ↑ "World War II Claimed the Lives of Four Utah Brothers". History to Go. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
  3. ↑ Associated Press, "Farm Family's Fourth Son Lost in War", The San Bernardino Daily Sun, San Bernardino, California, Tuesday 7 November 1944, Volume 51, page 1.
  4. 1 2 "Hope Dims to Grief As 'Lost' Status Takes Worst Turn," Salt Lake Tribune, November 4, 1944.
  5. 1 2 "4 Borgstrom Brothers Home," Deseret News , June 25, 1948.
  6. ↑ "The Parents Wait," Life Magazine , July 19, 1948.
  7. ↑ "Four Fallen Heroes Honored," Deseret News, June 26, 1948.
  8. ↑ "U. S., State Set Borgstrom Honor Today." Salt Lake Tribune, June 26, 1984.
  9. ↑ "Military, State, LDS Heads Pay Tribute to Borgstroms." Salt Lake Tribune, June 27, 1948.
  10. ↑ "'Gratitude is our Feeling Today'," Church News , August 25, 2001.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.