Groundbreaking marks major milestone for Utah Agent Orange Memorial

Utah Agent Orange Veterans Foundation groundbreaking ceremony, Sunset, Utah, Nov. 15, 2025. From left to right are Larry Kerr, Shuree Kerr, Bruce Cook, Jay Jones, Louis Lasater, Terri Kerr, Kraig Kerr, Debbie Vigil, Andy Vigil, Hannah Turk, Lori Meyers, Joseph Vigil, and Scott Wiggill. (Photo courtesy of Utah Agent Orange Veterans Foundation)

The highly anticipated groundbreaking ceremony for the Agent Orange Memorial on Nov. 15 in Sunset, Utah, marked an important phase in the construction of an extremely significant and rather ambitious project.

The official ceremony was a special occasion that helps increase public awareness of a project that began nearly two years ago and is now nearing completion. For the Utah Agent Orange Veterans Foundation (UAOVF) and its supporters, the event represented a major milestone.

Following an extensive amount of planning, fundraising events, and a public relations campaign, the UAOVF has achieved an immense measure of success. This accomplishment however, has by no means been attained without a number of disappointing setbacks along the way.

Project challenges are certainly not uncommon in undertakings as enormous in scope as the Agent Orange Memorial. One of the key challenges encountered by the UAOVF, for instance, was obtaining official site approval for such a large monument.

Months of diligent efforts to get permission from the Layton City Council to locate the memorial in Layton Commons Park proved unsuccessful. It was not until the summer of 2025 that the monument received a sanctioned home in Sunset Veterans Park, which is located several miles north of Layton near Hill Air Force Base. 

The lack of an official site for the Agent Orange Memorial also had an adverse effect on much needed financial support. Some of the people who were interested in supporting the UAOVF’s mission were reluctant to make donations until the nonprofit organization found a place to locate the memorial.

Other issues encountered were delays in the construction and acquisition of various components. One problem involved the monument’s orange-colored stone. In a September 2025 phone conversation with Larry Kerr, chairman of the UAOVF, I learned that the stone had broken in half in transit due to an obscure defect.

Those and other frustrating complications forced the UAOVF to reschedule its plan to dedicate the monument on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2025. Nevertheless, formidable obstacles were overcome one by one and essentially overshadowed by the triumphant groundbreaking ceremony in Sunset.

While the event was certainly a joyous occasion, it was also inherently somber in nature. This was due to tragic consequences of toxic chemical exposure. Those circumstances were the motivating force that led to the establishment of the UAOVF and its mission to build a monument that pays tribute to victims of Agent Orange.

The U.S. military stopped using Agent Orange more than 50 years ago. Since then, hundreds of thousands of Vietnam veterans have died from their exposure to it and similar toxic herbicides. Thanks to avid veteran advocacy, the passage of time has not suppressed the memory of those and other veterans who suffered a similar fate.

In addition to Vietnam veterans, other victims of toxic chemical exposure will also be recognized by the Agent Orange Memorial. Earlier this year, the UAOVF included Gulf War veterans who served in places like Kuwait and Iraq as well as veterans who served after Sept. 11, 2001 and were stationed in Afghanistan and other countries. 

The groundbreaking and corresponding activities in Sunset exemplify advocacy that helps preserve the memory of toxic chemical victims who served in Vietnam and elsewhere. This is because those actions help facilitate the construction of one of the most meaningful and distinctive military monuments in the entire Beehive State.