Bro. Brett Anderson, I recently read the article, "Running to Remember" in the BYU magazine. I am very touched by your desire to honor these brave, wonderful men whose names are in the Memorial Hall. My husband works at BYU and is related to two of these men. I thought you'd like to know a bit about them. Mont F. Stephensen (WWll) and Mark Stephensen (Vietnam) are brothers from Riverton, Ut. Both were pilots, both shot down in the line of duty. Mont F. Stephensen (599thBS 399BG, known as the Bridgebusters) flew B-26 Marauders from July 1943 until Dec 23, 1944, when his plane was shot down while flying the Eller Bridge mission over Germany. He had actually fulfilled his rotation requirements and was scheduled to come home, but the mission was part of the Battle of the Bulge, weather had kept the air forces grounded, the skies cleared and the need was dire. With a shortage of pilots on that day, Mont volunteered to go. He was finally brought home and interred in the Riverton City, UT. cemetery in 1947. I have quite a bit of info on Mont if you are interested. Mark, I know less about. He was MIA until the late 80"s when his body was returned home and buried. He was a fighter pilot and lost his life during a mission near the end of the war. The Riverton City Post Office was recently named in honor of these two brothers. Your respect for our family is very appreciated. To most they are just names on a wall. We love them dearly.Thank you for honoring them. I believe you will make fine airman. It is a comfort to know such young men as yourself have a desire to carry on the tradition of honor, duty and service that these great men exemplify. Catherine Nielsen
Thank you so much for reading my blog, and for the information. I'm glad that I could honor them with this project. If you could email me at jbrettanderson@gmail.com I would love to hear more from you! Thanks!
Bro. Brett Anderson, I recently read the article, "Running to Remember" in the BYU magazine. I am very touched by your desire to honor these brave, wonderful men whose names are in the Memorial Hall. My husband works at BYU and is related to two of these men. I thought you'd like to know a bit about them. Mont F. Stephensen (WWll) and Mark Stephensen (Vietnam) are brothers from Riverton, Ut. Both were pilots, both shot down in the line of duty.
ReplyDeleteMont F. Stephensen (599thBS 399BG, known as the Bridgebusters) flew B-26 Marauders from July 1943 until Dec 23, 1944, when his plane was shot down while flying the Eller Bridge mission over Germany. He had actually fulfilled his rotation requirements and was scheduled to come home, but the mission was part of the Battle of the Bulge, weather had kept the air forces grounded, the skies cleared and the need was dire. With a shortage of pilots on that day, Mont volunteered to go. He was finally brought home and interred in the Riverton City, UT. cemetery in 1947. I have quite a bit of info on Mont if you are interested.
Mark, I know less about. He was MIA until the late 80"s when his body was returned home and buried. He was a fighter pilot and lost his life during a mission near the end of the war. The Riverton City Post Office was recently named in honor of these two brothers.
Your respect for our family is very appreciated. To most they are just names on a wall. We love them dearly.Thank you for honoring them. I believe you will make fine airman. It is a comfort to know such young men as yourself have a desire to carry on the tradition of honor, duty and service that these great men exemplify.
Catherine Nielsen
Thank you so much for reading my blog, and for the information. I'm glad that I could honor them with this project. If you could email me at jbrettanderson@gmail.com I would love to hear more from you! Thanks!
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