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ByANNWELTON
Rapphannork New. Staff Writer
Marine Sgt. Douglas Butler doesn’t consider himself a hero. But thousands of Korean War veterans all across the country do.
Sgt. Butler, who grew up in Warrenton, and two fellow Marines, have just completed a 3,000 mile trip, on bicycles, to raise both money and awareness for the Korean War Memorial under construction in Washington, D.C. All three-are Desert Storm veterans.
Sgt. Butler’s father and mother, Stevens and Rebecca Butler, reside in Boston, Va., where they have lived for the last nine years. Sgt. Butler graduated from Culpeper High School.
The trip was organized by Lance Cpl. Dan Leach shortly after he returned from the Persian Gulf. Impressed by the outpouring of support the Desert Storm veterans received, he wanted to do something for veterans of other wars, especially Korea, which has become known as the “Forgotten War.”
Leach mentioned his idea to Andy Petranek, a former first lieutenant, who in turn mentioned it to Butler. Before long all three were training vigorously in anticipation of the grueling journey.
They left Camp Pendleton in California on June 25, the 42nd anniversary of the start of the war. After averaging more than 100 miles per day, they rode into Washington, D.C., on July 27, the 39th anniversary of the cease-fire in Korea. Their trip took them through 12 states and 13 major cities.
They visited VFW posts all across the country to let the veterans know what they were doing. “They would-pass the hat and give us all they could, $50 to $100 at a time,” Butler explained in a recent interview.
“We’re all proud of ourselves,” he said. “We kept motivated by seeing the older vets. They were tickled pink. This is the first time that active duty personnel have done anything for older veterans. It really kept us going.”
“It was harder than I expected,” admitted Butler. “For the first two weeks we were in pain. After the second week we took a day off and rested, and it eased somewhat. But the pain would come back in stages, depending on the terrain. Some days we’d be just as sore as we were the first few days.”
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