Between March and August 1944, Alben and Gunda Borgstrom lost four sons in action during World War II: Clyde near Guadalcanal on March 17, Leroy on the Anzio Beachhead on June 22, Rolon over Germany on August 8, and his twin Rulon in the D-Day offensive on August 25. Their fifth son, Boyd, was furloughed out of harm's way, and Eldon, the youngest, was never drafted, though his father said that when his country needed him, he would go. Their family was presented as the personification of Americanism.