105-Year-old World War 2 veteran honored for his service

 

On November 3, 105-year-old army veteran Sergeant Bill Butler was presented with a commemorative coin and a special letter from the secretary of the V.A. In recognition of his distinguished service during World War 2. 

“I'm on cloud seven. It's just amazing. This many people will come out and thanked me for the work that I just had to do,” said Bill.

Sergeant Butler was born in Grand Rapids Michigan in 1918. 

He joined the United States army in 1939, serving in the first armored division. 

Sergeant butler was deployed during World War 2, specifically the north African and Italian campaigns.  

Proud of his service but haunted by what he experienced. 

He would not talk about his deployment for many years, not even Doris, his first wife. 

Then, about ten years ago he started to open up about his service. 

Lori Noyer, his granddaughter, started taking notes.

“Every time we would see him, he would tell us stories from his time during the war, and over time, decided that this was something that needed to be captured,” Lori explained.

He would take out his photo album and tell the story behind each picture. 

Noyer would later scan her grandfather's photos and have him narrate what was happening at the time of the photo, so she could share them with family members. 

Then, her niece made a recommendation.

“So, when we learned about the opportunity to be able to submit his war history, to the Veterans History Project, I was able to send them all of his original photos and artifacts for them to the catalog within their collection for World War Two veterans.” 

That archive is part of the library of congress and historians can access sergeant butler’s first-hand accounts of the war.

“It's been very overwhelming to see the outpouring of love and appreciation for him because like I said, I know how special he is to me. And so, it's great to be able to share that with others,” Lori said.

Now, Sergeant Butler’s legacy will live on in the archives of American history. 

Before I left sergeant butler, I asked him for some advice on staying healthy.

“Yeah, keep walking. When you walk with your wife, you straighten everything out. And believe me, I know I've had three of them.”