2025 SESSION

ENROLLED

SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 296

Commending James Douglas Butler, Sr.

Agreed to by the Senate, February 22, 2025

WHEREAS, James Douglas Butler, Sr., a member of the Greatest Generation who served the nation during World War II and a highly admired public servant and community leader in Winchester, celebrated his 100th birthday in 2024; and

WHEREAS, Douglas “Doug” Butler was born on December 19, 1924, and grew up in Frederick County, where he attended public schools until the ninth grade, when he transferred to Handley High School in Winchester; and

WHEREAS, while at Handley High School, Doug Butler was a proud member and “watch dog” of the FFA Degree Team, now known as the Parliamentary Procedure Team, which placed first in the state competition in 1941; and

WHEREAS, Doug Butler joined many of the other young men of his generation in service to the nation during World War II when he was drafted into the United States Army after high school graduation; he was initially assigned to an infantry unit, but volunteered for the United States Army Air Corps and subsequently joined the crew of a Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber; and

WHEREAS, Doug Butler deployed to Italy in September 1944 and served as the nose gunner on 35 missions to bomb German-controlled factories and fuel depots across southern Europe; and

WHEREAS, despite facing a hail of anti-aircraft fire on nearly every mission, Doug Butler and his crew finished the war with no casualties; they learned the war in Europe had come to an end while airborne over the Adriatic Sea on May 8, 1945; and

WHEREAS, upon returning to the Commonwealth, one of Doug Butler's uncles helped him find a job as a general manager of Green Chemical Company in Winchester, where he worked for many years; he was also employed by Lamar Sloan Ford of Winchester prior to his well-earned retirement; and

WHEREAS, desirous to be of further service to the community, Doug Butler ran for and was elected to the Winchester City Council from 1960 to 1964; and

WHEREAS, Doug Butler joined the Kiwanis Club of Winchester in 1949 and maintained a perfect attendance record at the organization's weekly meetings for more than 75 years; he has been a passionate champion for the organization's mission to support children and enhance communities in need, founding multiple new chapters in the region and attending Kiwanis Club meetings as far away as Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, well known as a living legend in Winchester, Doug Butler has relished every opportunity to impart his wise life lessons and commitment to servant leadership to everyone he meets; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate of Virginia, That James Douglas Butler, Sr., an esteemed member of the Winchester community, hereby be commended on the occasion of his 100th birthday; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to James Douglas Butler, Sr., as an expression of the Senate of Virginia's admiration for his lifetime of achievements in service to the Commonwealth and the United States.