Veterans Park Layton Utah

Veterans Park Layton Utah. . , Veterans Park is located between 155 West and 175 West Gentile Street on the east side of the Union Pacific Railroad tracks. The park is an irregular shaped plot, planted with grass and trees. The park is maintained by the Layton City Parks Department, but the area is owned by the Oregon Short Line/ Union Pacific Corporation., The Oregon Short Line/ Union Pacific railroad ran along Main Street in Layton. The Layton depot and railroad tracks were moved from downtown to a new right of way west of Main Street in 1911-1912. A new, larger freight and passenger depot was built on the east side of the tracks about 350 feet south of Gentile Street. The railroad property also included the piece of property where the park is located., From the time it was built until the mid-1940s the Layton depot was an important gathering place, particularly during World War I and throughout the 1920s. At that time freight and passenger trains made regular stops in Layton. Crowds would gather there to meet or bid farewell to passengers, pick up or receive freight, or visit the station just to see the trains pass by In addition to the station there was an area planted in grass and surrounded by a combination wire fence. The fence was necessary then because herds of cattle and sheep were frequently driven up and down Gentile Street. The fence also kept stray horses and cattle from grazing on the lawn. The stationmaster was probably responsible for the care of the fence and lawn. Since the railroad station was the focal point for the town, the grass area next to Gentile Street was regarded as a public park. In 1921 four trees were planted in this park as a memorial to four young men from Layton who died during or very shortly after World War I., Due to railway expansion in 2008 one of those memorial trees was removed and replaced with a new tree in this location., PFC David Day , Serial No. 4269347, David Day, son of James W and Elizabeth Day, was born May 1 1897, in Layton, Utah., He was inducted into service in Company M, 8th Infantry, under Captain Graves, August 9, 1918. He trained for three months in Camp Fremont and the Camp Mills. While on his way to overseas assignment he was involved in a troop train accident in Geneva, Illinois. He was slightly injured and spent the night of the accident exposed to the rain. He was stricken with flu and died of pneumonia at Camp Mills, New York on November 3, 1918., Full military honors were given in the burial in Kaysville cemetery, at Kaysville, Utah., He was the first World War Hero to be buried in Davis County., PFC Hubert Henry Layton , Serial No. 2780989, Hubert Henry Layton, son of Orson and Ruth E. Layton, was born March 22, 1891, in Layton Utah., He was married to Dora June Dunyon and they had one daughter, Jan Ruth Layton. , Hubert Henry Layton was a graduate from University of Utah and practied law has an attorney., He was inducted into service in Battery B of the 348th Field Artillery, April 27, 1918. Three months were spent in training a Camp Lewis and he sailed oversears July 27, 1918., He was stationed a Clearmont Ferand, France, where he died of typhoid fever, October 19, 1918. He was buried in the American cemetery but was later returned home for final burila in the Wasatch Lawn cemetery at Salt Lake City, Utah., PFC David Lane Jones , Serial No. 5206305, David Lane Jones, son of Thomas R. and Carrie Mabel Johnes, was born February 15, 1899, in Fairfield, Utah, but he was raised in Layton, Utah., He volunteered for service October 3, 1918. He was assigned to Company D Student Army Training Camp, University of Utah for a few weeks. He was sent home on account of influenze epidemic but was recalled to Fort Douglas, Utah of influenze, December 1, 1918., He is buried in the Kaysville cemetery, at Kaysville, Utah., PFC William Clyde Layton , Serial No. 2259409, William Clyde Layton, son of Charles A. and Victoria J. Walker Layton, was born July 11, 1895, in Davis County, Utah., He was inducted into service September 19, 1917 and was assigned to Machine Gun Compnay 362nd Infantry, 91st Division. He trained a Camp Lewis, Washington, and Camp Merrit, New Jersey., In March, 1918 he was granted furlough. He came home and was married to Meldon Kirkham, who returned with him to Washington state. He sailed oversears July 5, 1918., On the night of July 23rd near Bonnieres-sur-Seine, France a small village about forty miles north of Paris, a troop train on which his company was riding was struck by a heavy freight train. William C. Layton was amoung those who lost their lives in the wreck. He was killed instantly., July 13, 1921, the body was returned to America and buried in the Kaysville cemetery, at Kaysville, Utah. ,