Utah Veterans Memorial WW II Expansion

The second phase of the EDA Utah Veterans Memorial pays tribute to Utahn veterans who served and sacrificed their lives during World War II.

At the centerpiece of the memorial stands a steel Corona -- six towering columns that rise together to form a unified canopy overhead. The corona serves as a wreath symbolizing honor and remembrance. Each column represents a different branch of the military, standing independently yet joining at the top to symbolize the strength found in unity and collaboration across all service branches. Centered in the Corona is a donated chalice carved on a lathe from a single Little Cottonwood Canyon granite boulder.

Of special significance is a tribute recognizing the contribution of the Navajo Code Talkers - an elite military group whose unbreakable military code served as a vital form of communication and contributed to the success of the Allied victories. Bronze wall plaques mounted to stone panels remember the beach landing at Normandy and Operation Halyard - a mission to rescue 432 American airmen and 80 other Allied personnel in Axis-occupied Serbia. 

Throughout the memorial are four stone benches commemorating Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Four Freedoms: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want and Freedom from Fear.