Utah doesn’t have a statewide World War II memorial, but that could soon change

Utah doesn’t have a statewide World War II memorial, but that could soon change

(Utah State History)


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Editor's note:This article is a part of a series reviewing Utah and U.S. history for KSL.com's Historic section.SALT LAKE CITY — On a personal scale, Rep. Jennifer Dailey-Provost, D-Salt Lake City, reflected on the stories her grandfather told her about his time serving in the Navy and fighting in the South Pacific during World War II when she started putting together a bill earlier this year to create a commission that would piece together a plan for Utah's first official World War II memorial.

When she was young, her grandfather showed her an article from a San Francisco article about him and three of his friends climbing up a fire escape of a building so they could reach and take down a Nazi flag flying from the German embassy.

“When they were having a hard time getting the flag down, he crawled out onto the flagpole to cut down the flag,” she said, with a slight chuckle. “In addition to that, he always had really amazing stories.”

But she realized her grandparents were just two members of the “Greatest Generation.” It’s what drew her to World War II history. So when she was informed the state didn’t have any sort of memorial for the people who fought in the world or for those who contributed behind the scenes, she introduced a bill that passed through the 2019 legislative session that created a commission to come up with design elements for a statewide World War II memorial.

“I really want to honor a generation before we lose them all,” Dailey-Provost said. “There’s a sense of pressure timewise to get this done as quickly as we can, but we don’t want to rush this either. We want it to be meaningful.”

Coming up with a design

When HB 369 passed, a commission was put together consisting of Dailey-Provost, Sen. Kirk Cullimore, R-Draper (the bill’s Senate sponsor), as well as other state representatives, a member of the Division of State History, Department of Veterans & Military Affairs and members three different veterans groups.

They were tasked to come up with design elements — such as what the project could be and where it would be located — for a project and that portion is still very much in its infancy. Input meetings were held in veterans nursing homes in Ogden, Payson and Ivins last month. The final input meeting will be held at the Fort Douglas Military Museum at 6 p.m. on Nov. 21 and is open to the public. An online input form will remain open until early December, state historians said.

The five main questions the committee is asking are:

  • Where should the memorial be located?
  • If there are multiple sites, what should those sites be?
  • What kind of digital products would you like to see?
  • What are your suggestions for how a memorial should be designed?
  • Do you have suggestions for fundraising?
“Our main hope is to gather information through this online survey,” said Kevin Fayles, assistant director of operations at the Division of State History.

There have been several ideas generated as to what the memorial may look like. It could be a memorial, some sort of monument or possibly a digital library featuring interviews with veterans and those who were alive at the time talking about their experiences, Fayles said.

Another idea that has gained traction is creating multiple monuments that would be across the state, which could improve statewide community engagement. Dailey-Provost explained the idea would consist of one central monument in a populated area with mini memorials dedicated to specific aspects of the war in locations where they were most meaningful. The different pieces would be identical and if you put them all together, they would create a larger and more comprehensive monument.

Examples of those pieces include a memorial remembering those who were held at Topaz Internment Camp in Millard County or a memorial in southern Utah to honor Native American code talkers. The commission's goals include finding ways to honor those who stayed home and kept factories open during the war. Dailey-Provost mentioned Utah’s important role in manufacturing nylon parachutes as another possible example of a monument.

“(It’s) not just soldiers went to war and died, but many of them came home and kept the American dream going, and built the strongest nation our world has ever seen,” she said. “It’s an homage to the whole entire role that the whole state played.”

A woman working at a factory in December 1943 as World War II was happening and many men who worked factory jobs were enlisted in the military. (Photo: Utah State History)
A woman working at a factory in December 1943 as World War II was happening and many men who worked factory jobs were enlisted in the military. (Photo: Utah State History)

The commission also has heard suggestions for different places the memorial could go and even heard from interested cities, according to Dailey-Provost. However, it hasn’t approached any cities about the project to this point, Fayles added.

In the three meetings already conducted, he said most have suggested their current residing area for the project location, which indicated why a memorial broken up across the state or put online might be a better option.

“One person at our public meeting a couple of days ago suggested, ‘Can we have each community decide what they would want to recognize in their community and have perhaps a dozen small monuments?’” Fayles said.

The only place the commission is not looking at is the Utah State Capitol. That’s due to a law that states only one monument can be added on its grounds per century, which means the earliest a new monument can be added there is 2104.

A fight against time

There were 62,107 Utahns enlisted in active military service by June 1945, according to Utah History Encyclopedia. On Tuesday, 22 of 50 living World War II “centenarian” veterans were honored during a ceremony at the Utah State Capitol. About one-third of those who have reached 100 years old in Utah served in the war in one capacity or another.

Woodrow Wilson New, 101, of Clinton, greets Utah Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, left, and Gov. Gary Herbert, right, during a ceremony honoring centenarian veterans at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019. (Photo: Spenser Heaps, KSL)
Woodrow Wilson New, 101, of Clinton, greets Utah Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, left, and Gov. Gary Herbert, right, during a ceremony honoring centenarian veterans at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019. (Photo: Spenser Heaps, KSL)

The sad reality is the number of surviving veterans from World War II, which ended 74 years ago, thins each year. A representative of American Legion that is on the commission informed Dailey-Provost of two Utah World War II veterans who died over the past week.

Those who contributed to efforts at home as the war happened are also dying. In addition to coming up with a commission, the bill intentionally instructed the board to follow a quick timeline to come up with a design as soon as possible so the memorial could be completed for veterans still alive to see.

“It’s unfortunate that — for whatever reason — something wasn’t done 50 years ago. We’re playing catch-up, but the hope is to honor the veterans,” Fayles said.

What’s next

The commission is still accepting public input on ideas. While there is a strict deadline for the commission, Dailey-Provost admits the sunset dates were “far too ambitious.” She’s due to report the progress of the commission to the Government Operations Interim Committee on Nov. 20 and says she will likely seek to amend the deadlines with another bill.

Her ideal scenario would be to complete the project by Veterans Day next year.

She also plans to introduce a bill during the 2020 legislative session to receive funding for the project. As it currently stands, the commission only has money to cover costs for those who work on or assist the commission. Dailey-Provost said there’s no money for artists to submit a request for proposal when it comes to possible memorial or monument designs.

“It’s been kind of hard to figure out the chicken-and-egg conversation. We can’t build a memorial without money and we can’t get the money until we have a plan for a memorial,” she said. “We’re not going to know how much we need until we know what the scope is but we won’t know what the scope is until we have it designed and we have a place to put it.”

Dailey-Provost declined to say how much that proposal will likely be but said the number would be “a pretty small ask” compared to Utah’s $18 billion budget.

As for side donations, Utah National Guard Charitable Trust was picked to be the organization taking in donations for the project once details for fundraising are figured out, Fayles said.

While there is still so much to be done before a project is completed, those working on the commission remain hopeful that a memorial that perfectly articulates the importance Utah had in the war will be achieved soon.

“We would like something done at a period of time when we actually have some World War II veterans still with us to enjoy celebrating that achievement,” Dailey-Provost said.

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Carter Williams is an award-winning reporter who covers general news, outdoors, history and sports for KSL.com.

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