CAMP WILLIAMS — Ten years ago, retired Army Col. Scot Olson watched tears well in the eyes of Hurricane Katrina evacuees as they saw the sunrise over the mountains at Camp Williams.

It was the first time since the hurricane that they felt safe, Olson said. And it was the first time he realized the need for a better worship facility.

"We had done a great job of all kinds of services and support to those families and individuals, but we didn't have a chapel that could accommodate them and their spiritual needs," said Olson, president of the Utah National Guard Charitable Trust. "And it just highlighted it that we weren't doing it for our soldiers either."

Olson said he then began seeking a way to provide a better worship facility than the World War II-era converted barracks that served as a chapel and was "anything but inspiring."

Nearly 10 years and $2.5 million in donations later, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Friday at Sunrise Hall.

"The military doesn't teach us how to raise funds for a nonprofit organization and how to do something like this," Olson said. "So we leveraged friendships."

He began with Gail Miller.

Armed with his John Wayne tie, because "no one can say no to John Wayne," Olson joked, he gave Miller a short presentation on the hall. Afterward, Miller wrote a check.

"It is my hope that as (service members) come here, they will feel the love and dedication that we as a family and a business and a country have in our hearts for the things they do and give to us to keep us free," she said.

The donation from the Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation helped the hall receive donations from Zions Bank, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and members of the community, Olson said.

Those who "worry a little bit less about the money in their pockets and more about the way that they can influence and make life better" helped build the hall, Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox said.

And the influence the hall will have on servicemen and servicewomen from all over the country will last for years, Olson said.

"I see this building changing lives," he said. "Our service members can get married here. Their family can feel a tie to Camp Williams through the enrichment of marriages and families. It's going to serve each member looking for spiritual renewal."

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The hall will also host education programs for families transitioning to and from active duty, Olson said.

It will help heal the "wounds unseen," Chaplain Col. James Montoya said.

"There's a saying that 'there's no atheists in foxholes,'" Staff Sgt. Matt Jensen said. "And perhaps the reason why religion is so central to the military is because many face their deaths on the battlefield. So providing a venue for them to continue to worship their God is, I think, the responsibility of the U.S. military."

Email: klarsen@deseretnews.com

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