American Legion Post 28 breaks ground on Veteran Walls of Honor at Springville cemetery
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- American Legion Post 28 members and public officials break ground on a Veteran Walls of Honor Monday, May 25, 2026, in Springville.
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- The national anthem is sung at the Veteran Walls of Honor groundbreaking on Monday, May 25, 2026, in Springville.
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- The Veteran Walls of Honor groundbreaking as seen on Monday, May 25, 2026, in Springville.
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- A flyer for the Veteran Walls of Honor groundbreaking on Monday, May 25, 2026, in Springville.
Honor walls listing the names of local veterans who have died are found in municipalities across the state, so much so that the absence of one in Springville and Mapleton has been noted by some American Legion members.
Springville-Mapleton American Legion Post 28 Commander Craig Hansen said veterans from the Payson and Spanish Fork posts will tease him about it.
“They said Springville isn’t as patriotic because we don’t have a wall,” Hansen said.
Hansen, who has served for three years as Post 28’s commander, made it his objective to bring a Veteran Walls of Honor to the community. The project broke ground during a Memorial Day ceremony Monday at Evergreen Cemetery.
The memorial will commemorate the service of approximately 2,350 military veterans from Springville and Mapleton by engraving their names on granite panels at Evergreen Cemetery in Springville. A smaller companion wall will be constructed at Springville City Historic Cemetery.
“We have a lot to be proud of in Springville and Mapleton, and I think this wall will help us to recognize what we have to be proud of, and it will preserve it for our future generations so they all know,” Hansen said.
Monday’s groundbreaking included a keynote speech from Gen. Phillip Peay, of Mapleton, a combined performance from members of the Springville High band and the Utah National Guard 23rd Army Band, and a three-volley salute followed by the playing of taps. In attendance were local public officials and Jeanette Herbert, the wife of former Governor Gary Herbert.
The ceremony was just one benchmark in what has become a large undertaking to make the wall a reality.
Hansen started the project by reaching out to Evergreen Cemetery sexton Paul Defa. Those two worked with Springville Parks Director Stacey Child and Memorial Art Monument Director Dennis Hill to lay out a plan for the wall. Multiple granite walls will be built next to a veterans plaza in the cemetery.
“We thought it would be ideal to just expand on that a little bit and build this veterans wall of honor next to that on the south side, and that’s what we’re doing,” Hansen said.
The time-consuming part was identifying the names to be placed on the wall. A legion research committee was established to find all the veterans with Springville and Mapleton ties starting with the Mexican-American War in 1847.
Hansen said several sources are being used to find names, including two existing veterans lists made by American Legion members. One was made by Fritz Boyer in 2006 and another was compiled in the 1950s or ’60s.
The legion is also using a list from the Wheeler Mortuary and an update of Boyer’s list made by a Boy Scout project in 2020. One committee member is doing his own field survey at the cemetery, two committee members are searching via FamilySearch and the legion is also gathering names through public outreach. Each new name found, will be independently verified by the legion.
“We have 2,350 names, and about 1,000 of them were missing data,” Hansen said. “We’re going as fast as we can, but it’s slow work. We’ve been looking them up on FamilySearch and Ancestry, and a military one called Fold3, to try to verify what service they were in and what war they were in. We’re making pretty good progress on that but still have a lot to do.”
Hansen said it has become a heart-throbbing process to conduct the research and learn the stories of some of the veterans.
About 130 individuals were members of the Mormon Battalion who eventually settled in Springville and Mapleton. One name that will be listed is Lt. Vernal J. Bird, who was shot down as a pilot in the Pacific theater during World War 2, and went missing until his remains were found and buried in Evergreen Cemetery.
“It makes me feel like we have real heroes in there,” Hansen said.
The project will cost $140,000 in private funding, $75,000 of which has already been raised, according to Hansen. Any person or business that donates more than $1,000 will be recognized on the wall.
Post 28 hopes to complete the project by late fall 2026 or early spring 2027, with a dedication ceremony scheduled for next Memoria Day.
“That’ll be a point of closure, that we have now accounted for and properly recognized the veterans from our hometowns,” Hansen said.
