Borgstrom brothers The Borgstrom brothers were four siblings killed over a six - month period during World War II . They were the sons of Alben and Gunda Borgstrom of Thatcher , Utah . The brothers were : History . Alben and Gunda Borgstrom were the parents of ten children , seven of whom were boys . Six of the boys graduated from Bear River High School in Garland , Utah . Before the United States ' involvement in World War II , one of the sons died from a ruptured appendix . When the U . S . entered the war , five of the remaining brothers enlisted or were drafted into the military : Boyd , Elmer LeRoy , Clyde , Rolon , and Rulon . While clearing an air strip on Guadalcanal , Solomon Islands , Clyde was killed by a falling tree in March 1944 . Three months later , Elmer LeRoy was killed in Italy . In August , Rolon died after a bombing raid over Germany . His twin brother , Rulon , who was initially reported missing , died 17 days later from wounds received in an attack on Le Dreff near Brest , France . When Rulon went missing , the Borgstrom family , with help from neighbors and the Utah congressional delegation , successfully petitioned for Boyd , the last Borgstrom son in the military , to be released from service . Shortly thereafter , he was transferred to the United States and discharged by special order of the Marine Corp ' s commandant . Eldon , sometimes spelled Elton , who was not yet of enlistment age in 1944 , was also exempted from military service . It took almost four years after the four brothers ' deaths for their bodies to be returned to Utah by the American Graves Registration Service . A funeral service for the four brothers was then held in the LDS Church ' s Garland Tabernacle in Garland , Utah on June 25 , 1948 . Clarence E . Smith , former principal of Bear River High School , Utah Governor Herbert B . Maw , LDS Church President George Albert Smith , and General Mark W . Clark spoke at the funeral . Rear Admiral John R . Redman , Major General LeRoy P . Hunt , and Brigadier General Ned Schramm were in attendance . The brothers were then buried side - by - side in the Riverview Cemetery in Tremonton , Utah . During the funeral service , the brothers were posthumously awarded three Bronze Star Medals , one Air Medal , and one Good Conduct Medal . According to Colonel Leonard R . Crews , " commanding officer of the Sixth Army escort detachment at Ogden , " the Borgstrom family was the " only four - star Gold Star family on record in World War II . " ( The Sullivan brothers — all of whom were killed in the same incident in World War II - - - were a five - star Gold Star family . ) The loss of four of the Borgstrom brothers , along with the loss of all five Sullivan brothers , led to the official adoption of the Sole Survivor Policy in 1948 , under which if there is only one surviving sibling , that person will not be accepted into the military , or if already serving , will be immediately discharged . Legacy . The " Salt Lake Tribune " reported in November 1944 that the deaths of the four Borgstrom brothers resulted in " the armed services rul [ ing ] special consideration will be given any family in which two or more sons have been killed and only one member in service survives . " Even though the article was published a few years before the Sole Survivor Policy was enacted ( 1948 ) , the deaths of the Borgstrom brothers , along with the deaths of the Sullivan brothers and others , may have contributed to the development of said policy . In April 1959 , the Army honored the Borgstrom brothers by naming a reserve training center in Ogden , Utah in their honor . In August 2001 , a soldiers ' memorial was dedicated in Tremonton , Utah , which had the images and names of the brothers in a place of prominence .