Plot #Block07-Lot02-Plotd
born in Brigham City UT.
Husband of Gunda Petersen
parents of:
Elmer LeRoy Borgstrom (1914-1944)
Clyde Eugene Borgstrom (1916-1944)
Rulon Jay Borgstrom (1925-1944)
Rolon Day Borgstrom (1925-1944)
Eldon Kay Borgstrom (1929-1980)

Alben Borgstrom and his wife, sitting in their farm home before dressing and going to the funeral of their four sons whose bodies have just been returned from over seas.

Location: Garland, UT, US
Date taken: July 1948
Photographer: Nat Farbman

(LIFE Photo Archives, Google.com)

The Zanesville Signal (Zanesville, Ohio)

OCT. 4, 1944

ugust 1998 — World War II Claimed the Lives of Four Utah Brothers. The Daily Spectrum, the Saint George, Utah newspaper published on Saturday, August 8, 1998, Page 16 ‘Bart’s Ballads’ by Bart Anderson, the following, “The summer Hollywood movie that is destined for success if “Saving Private Ryan.”


“However, I am not sure that Steven Speilberg had ever heard of the Borgstrom family.



“World War II took the lives of many Utahns, but no family in the state sacrificed more for the allied cause then Alben and Gunda Borgstrom of Thatcher in Box Elder County.

Four of five sons they sent off to battle died within a six-month period during 1944.



“Few families in American history have been called upon to make sure a tremendous sacrifice for the cause of freedom and liberty,” one speaker noted at ceremonies honoring the Borgstrom brothers in 1946.



“LeRoy Elmer Borgstrom was born April 30, 1914, in Thatcher. Like all brothers, he attended Bear River High School and was a farmer before the war. He was drafted into the army on Nov. 7, 1942, and sent to Oregon to train with a medical unit of the 361st Infantry, 91st Division. He was shipped overseas in March 1944 and participated in the battles in Africa and Italy. He was killed in action in Italy, June 22, 1944.



“Clyde Eugene Borgstrom was born Feb. 15, 1916, in Penrose, Box Elder County. He enlisted in the Marines on Oct. 14, 1940, before the U.S. was officially involved in the war and was among the first Bear River Valley men to enter the service. He received basic training in San Diego where he was assigned guard duty until shipped overseas with an aviation-engineering unit. He participated in various island battles in the South Pacific. He was killed in action March 17, 1944, at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.



“Twin brothers Roland Day and Rulon Jay Borgstrom were born May 5, 1925, in Tremonton. The boys were drafted into the Army July 7, 1943, two weeks after their high school graduation. Roland trained at Camp Walters, Texas, where he passed an examination to enter the Air Corps. After further training in mechanics, aerial gunnery and combat, he was shipped overseas in June 1944, as an aerial gunner. He died in England Aug. 8, 1944, of injuries suffered during a bombing mission over France and Germany.



“His twin brother, Rulon, also a gunner on a heavy bomber, was killed in action Aug. 25, two and half weeks after his twin. Rulon initially reported as missing in action was not confirmed dead for several months.



“Boyd Carl Borgstrom, born July 21, 1921, in Thatcher, had enlisted Oct. 14, 1940 with his brother Clyde. Upon news that his fourth brother was missing in action, Boyd was shipped from the South Pacific to Camp LeJeune N.C., where he was discharged Oct. 7, 1944.



“On Sunday, Oct. 29, 1944, the Borgstrom family was honored at a public ceremony in the Bear River Stake Tabernacle in Garland.



“The grieving family received the Good Citizen Medal of the U.S. Government, presented by the Sons of the American Revolution.



“Dignitaries pay respect to the Borgstroms and other Box Elder families with sons killed or missing in action included Utah Governor Herbert B. Maw, President George Albert smith and Senator Perry Jenkins of Wyoming, all of whom were scheduled to speak.



“In October 1946, Alben and Gunda Borgstrom were chosen at National Gold Star Parents by the Future Farmers of America.



“The Borgstroms attended the FFA convention in Kansas City to participate in the memorial program.



“According to the Salt Lake Tribune report, “Applause filled the vast convention hall for several minutes after the introduction of the Utah couple, chosen by FFA, world’s largest farm organization, to represent the parents of all members who served in the armed services of the nation in World War II.



“The Borgstoms followed a procession of 32 national flags into the auditorium



“In April 1959 the four Borgstrom brothers were honored when the army named a training center in Ogden in their honor. Gunda Borgstrom accepted a plaque with pictures of her sons at the dedication ceremony and saw a trophy case with her sons records unveiled in the training center.



“In the Steven Speilberg epic film (said to be “based on a true story”), the Ryan character is based on the real Fritz Niland, who lost two brothers in Normandy and a third brother, who was MIA in Burma, was presumed dead. The third brother was later found alive. Niland (the real soldier) was dropped behind German lines as were many other paratroopers misdropped all over Normandy.



“Again the true story is that the missing trooper, Niland, spent 18 days behind German lines evading enemy patrols helped by local French civilians. He finally walked into U.S. controlled territory on his own.



“When he reported in, the story goes he was told, “Oh, we’ve been looking for you.” A chaplain drives Niland down to the beach in a jeep so he could be evacuated. There was no rescue, no risking a group of men to save one, no bridge and no tiger tank.”

—Source: Utah State Historical Society.