After more than 80 years, Don Butt received the honor he deserved.
Butt, a British military veteran and one of the last remaining soldiers still alive from the D-Day invasion in 1944, was given a medal from France – the nation’s highest military honor – in recognition of his bravery, helping liberate it from Nazi Germany during World War II.
Butt, who turned 100 years old in August 2025, received the medal last week. The World War II veteran said the honor “completes his life.”
Butt became emotional upon receiving his medal from the Royal Marines, a moment his family said was a dream come true.
On the Front Lines in Normandy
Butt joined the Marines at just 17 years old. One year later, he was in the thick of the D-Day operation, landing with a crew at Juno Beach during the first wave of the invasion. Butt faced heavy enemy fire, seeing fellow soldiers dying all around him. More than eight decades later, he still remembers that day vividly, grasping desperately to ropes as bombs detonated and bullets whizzed past him, trying to make sure lines of troops made it to shore.
Butt witnessed and survived the horrors of war up close. He didn’t dare discuss it with even close friends and family members for many years, until recently. He had carried the false belief that, being only 18 at the time, he was “too young” to have earned a medal.
Butt told his harrowing story to a fellow marine who worked to obtain the Légion d’honneur from French officials for the D-Day veteran.
Through the application process, which was filed in 2024, Butt and his friend discovered that age doesn’t make a difference in receiving the medal, but for unknown reasons, his request was denied.
Butt sent a second application last year, following a suggestion from Britain’s Ministry of Defence, and the Royal Marines Historical Society pitched in to help, encouraging France’s government to speed up its selection process, considering Butt’s age.
Karen Cetin, Butt’s daughter, said the medal “means everything to Dad.”
“He always said it was something he would love to have,” Cetin said. “We were in a bit of a race against time. He is 100, and it was very important to him—and to us—that he was recognized before it was too late. As a family, we are all so proud of his achievements and think he fully deserves it.”
On June 13, 2025, it became official: Butt was promoted to the rank of Chevalier in the Ordre national de la Légion d’Honneur.
The Missing Piece
After receiving the medal, Butt reflected on what it all meant to him.
“It’s the last one missing from my medals. It is my final ambition—my final wish—to get that medal,” he said.
“It would make all the places I’ve been and what I’ve done, complete. I’ve just had my 100th birthday, which was wonderful. My worries have all gone. I cannot thank everyone enough for trying.”
Butt didn’t think much about applying for the honor after receiving an honorable discharge from the Royal Marines after World War II. But he began thinking about it more as he aged, and when he told his marine buddy about his experiences, his friend “got the ball rolling.”
“He was able to get my records and help me apply,” Butt said.
(Melvin G. Tarpley, U.S. Army Europe G-6 Visual Information Services Europe)
D-Day Memories Still Vivid
After the war, Butt met a woman, fell in love, and the couple were married for 66 years. They had four children together, and Butt now has great-great-grandchildren.
When his unit was on the landing craft, taking over for French and Canadian forces during the invasion, Butt said his commander gave him an order not to charge the beach. He was too young.
“Our job was to land the troops, come back, and then go back again. We went back to the ship and then went back three times to land troops in Cherbourg,” Butt said. “I can still see all the D-Day landing troops going in. The sea was very rough, and we were surrounded by all the carnage of war.”
Within minutes, chaos engulfed the young marine with bombs exploding everywhere and non-stop shelling.
“I was very frightened, of course, but after a few minutes you sort of settle down and get used to it in a strange way,” he said. “I had my friends with me, and when you feel you’ve got your mate with you, you feel more secure. We were lucky overall. We only lost one man from our regiment. But I can remember it vividly—there were just so many ships.”
Butt kept these memories locked away in the deep corners of his mind for several decades, only opening up to family and friends in the past few years.
“I am really glad he has started to talk about it. It’s a horrible thing to deal with and never talk about. I am so pleased he opened up and got it off his chest,” his daughter Karen said. “He is just a modest man, and I think only last year he realized how proud of himself he should be.”
Butt and his family credit the steadfast work of many to help him finally receive the prestigious honor, such as John Rawlinson, a member of the Royal Marines Historical Society, who assisted Butt in filling out his application.
“We are delighted that Don has received his medal, as a young man, he was one of the generations who were willing to give all for their country and their friends and families,” Rawlinson said. “The Royal Marines and the wider Commando community are proud he is one of their family—once a marine, always a marine.”
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