Roseville remembers Alyn Butler
By: Roseville Press Tribune Photography by Philip Wood
Jim Berg performs “Taps” on the bugle during a special memorial ceremony at the Roseville Cemetery on Wednesday honoring Alyn Butler, the only Roseville resident killed in World War I.
Alyn Butler is buried in the Roseville Cemetery. Butler was the only Roseville resident to die in World War I.
Russell E. Holland of pays tribute to Alyn Butler Wednesday at the Roseville Cemetery. Butler was Roseville's only WWI soldier to die during combat.
A wreath was laid at WWI veteran Alyn W. Butler’s gravesite at Roseville Cemetery Wednesday morning.
U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Robert Hipwell, Ret., left, Harry Butler and Roseville Mayor Pauline Roccucci salute Alyn Butler after laying a wreath at his gravesite in the Roseville Cemetery on Wednesday. Butler was the only Roseville resident to die in World War I.
Roseville's only battlefield casualty in World War I was honored Wednesday during a memorial ceremony exactly 94 years after his death.
The event took place at the gravesite of Alyn Butler in the Roseville Cemetery on Berry Street to honor the man who died at 19 years old in 1918. The ceremony also served as an opportunity for his family and members of American Legion Alyn W. Butler Post 169 to share his story.
During the last week of May, his great-nephew Harry Butler walked Vernon Street at lunchtime and asked about 50 people if they knew of Butler - no one did.
"I too didn't know who Alyn Butler was," Roseville Mayor Pauline Roccucci said at the ceremony. "I'm glad to be here to get to know the family and that young man who gave his life in World War I."
~ Sena Christian