World War II veteran enters newly dedicated cemetery

World War II veteran enters newly dedicated cemetery Member of honor guard donates WWII-era Purple Heart to family

By MATT HAGENGRUBER
Of The Gazette Staff
After Dorothy Butz received a crisply folded American flag from a soldier, another man approached and handed her a small gray box.

Butz on Friday was burying her husband of 54 years, Glenn, who died Sunday at 84. Glenn Butz served in the Pacific in World War II and earned a Bronze Star, a Combat Infantry Badge and a Purple Heart.

Butz is the first veteran to be buried in the Yellowstone County Veterans Cemetery in Laurel.

In the box given to Dorothy Butz was a Purple Heart from World War II. Glenn Butz had lost his medal after a break-in a few years ago at the family's home in Billings. After hearing about the theft a few days ago, local members of the Military Order of the Purple Heart found another medal, also an original from World War II. The replacement medal belonged to George Kimmett, also a WWII Purple Heart recipient and member of an honor guard at Butz's burial. "It was nice to be able to get him an original," said Angelo Bianco, local head of the Purple Heart group, who presented the medal to Dorothy Butz. "Ironically, these two gentlemen were wounded within five days of each other."

Butz joined the Army in July 1943. He was sent to the South Pacific in 1945 and was in heavy combat. He was hurt when a grenade landed in his foxhole. Butz survived the blast, though his legs were cut up by shrapnel.

"He had seen so much to know that the true meaning of war is hell," said his son, Matthew. "He was a gunner on the front lines, and he'd seen a lot of gore out there."

Matthew Butz said his father shot two Japanese soldiers as they tried to sneak up on him in his foxhole. It was night.

"He didn't know until the next morning that both of them were right there beside the foxhole," Matthew Butz said.

Butz married Dorothy in 1954, and the couple had seven children. The children are spread out, which is a reflection of how the Butzes lived their lives. The family moved around a lot as Glenn found work as a heavy-equipment operator, among other professions.

Butz also grew wheat in Oregon, built airplanes for Boeing, dug cinder in Arizona, built homes in Oklahoma, guarded a hospital in California and drove tractors in the upper Midwest. He was born in Burns Creek, north of Glendive, so when the Butzes eventually settled down, they chose Billings.

Matthew Butz said it was special that his father could be the first to be buried in the veterans cemetery, which was dedicated on Veterans Day. The cemetery is open to all veterans, and most burials include full military honors.

At Butz's burial, that meant a three-volley salute from members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6774, the flag presentation and the playing of taps. Spouses can also be buried at the cemetery, which is one reason the family chose to bury Glenn there.

"Mom wants to be buried with him, and that's really the only place they had to do it," Matthew Butz said.

For Burt Gigoux, commander of the United Veterans Council and chairman of the cemetery board, the first burial was a special moment. A Marine Corps veteran, Gigoux worked hard to open the cemetery. He also played taps at the burial.

"This is the culmination of four years' worth of work," Gigoux said. "We hope the family was pleased. That's who we do it for."

BillingsGazette.com :: World War II veteran enters newly dedicated cemetery

 

Rip Sir The donation of this place is a nice tribute.