TREMONTON – Governor Spencer J. Cox came to Tremonton on Friday, Oct. 25 to rename Highway 102, which runs through the city and to Deweyville, the Borgstrom Brothers Memorial Highway. The ceremony was held at Midland Square/50 West Main Street.
Tremonton Mayor Lyle Holmgren, who conducted the ceremony, said it has been 80 years since the Borgstrom Brothers lost their lives in WWII.
“Highway 102 goes past where the Borgstrom farm in Thatcher was and on the way to Deweyville,” he said. “It is a way of honoring not only the Borgstrom brothers but all those who served our country and lost their lives protecting our freedom.”
The four brothers and sons of Alben and Gunda Borgstrom were serving in WWII and were killed within six months of each other. Clyde, the fifth son, was sent home and the sixth son was too young to serve.
The war took the lives of many Utahns, but few families in the U.S. had sacrificed as much as the Borgstrom brothers of the Tremonton area. Clyde was the first to be killed, then Elmer, LeRoy and twins Rulon and Rolon were all killed.
Boyd was discharged and sent home after his four brothers were killed.
On Memorial Day the Governor participated in a ceremony at Riverview Cemetery in Tremonton dedicating a monument to the fallen brothers.
“They went away thinking the memorial was something special,” Holmgren said. “They are the only four gold star family in Utah.”
A Tremonton women’s musical group, Reflections Choir, provided the patriotic music and American Legion performed the flag ceremony and ringing of a bell for the four fallen brothers.
“Renaming the Highway came from the Governor to us,” Holmgren said. “We didn’t ask for the change, they came to us.”
Utah State Representative Tom Peterson spoke as did Nate Sandall, who represented his father State Senator Scott Sandall.
Governor Cox talked about his trip to Normandy and how the French loved the Americans who fought to preserve their freedom. He talked about forgetting the sacrifice of those who fought for our freedom.
“Most of us in Utah have forgotten or never knew the story of the only four Gold Star family in the nation, only surpassed by the Sulivan family.”
Governor Cox said he wanted people who drive down the Borgstrom Memorial Highway and see the signs then google who the Borgstrom brothers were.
“I want them to read about those four boys and I want to think about not just their sacrifice, but I also want them to think about their parents,” he said. ”I want them to think about the poor (Western) Union person that took the message to the bishop because he couldn’t bear to go up there to deliver one more time to the family.”
Cox also wanted people to think about the sisters, they also bore the burdens and the brother who was sent home. He wants them to get to know him.
“I believe all of the problems of our country today, all of them can be solved by remembering, remembering who we are and the people that died for their country,” he said. “We are all brothers and sisters, and we care for each other, especially in times of tragedy.”
Rob Carroll, the governor’s communications director, said Governor Cox thought the sacrifice of the Borgstrom family was something special and needed to be memorialized.