“All Gave Some, Some Gave All”

Midland Square Veterans Memorial is part of Midland Square Park in downtown Tremonton where the historic Midland Hotel once stood. The memorial was conceived and supervised by A. C. Christensen of Elwood, Utah.  Mr. Christensen, a veteran of World War II, spent three and a half years as a POW in a Japanese prison camp.

The memorial consists of a block-shaped monument displaying sculptures of four Borgstrom brothers who died in 1944 during World War II. The brothers, Clyde, Leroy and twins Rulon and Rolon, from nearby Thatcher, Utah, died in 1944, within six months of each other. Jackie Allred Hunlow sculpted their portraits.

Overlooking the monument is a larger-than-life bronze statue of a soldier gazing at the four brothers. The 7-foot 7-inch-tall statue was sculpted by local artist Val Lewis. Surrounding the memorial are stainless steel plaques, displaying the names of over 3,000 local veterans and the wars in which they served. The memorial was dedicated on August 18, 2001. Funding to construct the mural was provided by private donations.

The Story of the Monument

After a fire destroyed the Midland Hotel in 1995, a quarter acre lot where it once stood vacant in the middle of Tremonton’s Main Street.  The Tremonton Beautification Committee, envisioned constructing a small park being built on the lot, with a Veterans Square as a tribute to the area’s many veterans who had served in the country’s military.

Colleen Johnson, committee president, asked A.C. Christensen to serve as chairman of the committee in 2001. When A. C. accepted, he was given the assignment to see if the project was feasible and make recommendations of how best to continue. One of A.C.’s first tasks was to identify the veterans of Northern Box Elder county who had served, or were currently serving in the military from World War I to that time.

After an exhaustive search of local residents, by the spring of 2001, close to 3,000 veterans had been identified. Tremonton’s newspaper, The Leader, aided the search in a major way. Veterans from Beaver Dam, Bear River City, Bothwell, Deweyville, Elwood, Fielding, Garland, Grouse Creek, Honeyville, Howell, Park Valley, Penrose, Portage, Promontory, Snowville, Thatcher, Tremonton, and Washaki were identified. Their names are now on the monument.

A.C. and Doris Christensen traveled to many towns in Utah, gathering photos and information of many statues and monuments, to determine what would be appropriate for the area’s memorial. Gradually a vision of the desired project formed, after visiting many communities. They carefully selected recommendations for the monument’s final design.  Chairman A. C. Christensen presented his concept to the members of the Veterans Committee and the Beautification Committee, who approved his design. Chairman Christensen chose the theme of “All Gave Some, Some Gave All

A ground-breaking ceremony was held on March 31st, 2001, to commence building the commemorative site. Relatives or friends of seventy-eight veterans who lost their lives gave tributes to those who had passed. They then posted the colors in each fallen warrior’s name, making a moving tribute on Midland Square that beautiful morning.

We hope that this memorial will be a reminder to all who visit this site of patriotism, love of country, freedom and to realize that Freedom Isn’t Free. Great causes are not won in a single generation. The heritage of freedom is as precious as life itself. It is our desire that with this visual, tangible monument, the passing students and populace can be taught and reminded of patriotism, love of country and freedom.

Source:  http://tremontoncity.org/veterans-memorial/