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This page was created in my attempt to compile news stories and collect media reports relating to the death of Staff Sergeant Aaron Butler, a mobilized Utah National Guard Soldier and 19th Special Forces "Green Beret" Warrior who was killed in action while on operations in the dangerous Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan on 16 Aug 2017. He was my step-daughter's fiancée and they were planning a wedding immediately after his redeployment scheduled in October.  The stories are sorted first by year, media outlet (by newspaper name or television channel), then chronologically by date within the year. [edit] News Stories in 2017[edit] ABC4/Good4Utah[edit] Utah Guard member killed, 11 injured during mission in Afghanistan (16 Aug 2017)KABUL, Afghanistan (ABC4 Utah) - One service member was killed and 11 were injured from the Utah National Guard during combat operations Wednesday in Afghanistan. According to a press release from the Utah National Guard, the service members were on mission in Eastern Afghanistan partnered with Afghan Forces aimed at further reducing Islamic State of Iraq and Syrian-Khorasan presence in Afghanistan. "My heart aches for the loss and sacrifice of our members and their families," said Maj. Gen. Jefferson Burton, adjutant general of the Utah National Guard. "I know that what we do is dangerous and important work for our country's defense, but this realization does little to console me during times of loss such as this." Wounded personnel have been medically evacuated for treatment and next-of-kin notifications are underway, officials say. Thursday, Governor Gary Herbert held a press conference addressing the incident. "The War on Terror continues and our men and women are being placed in harms way," he said. Eight of the eleven injured lived in Utah. The Governor clarified the other three are member of the Utah National Guard, but do not live in our state. "We appreciate the patriotism, the courage of the men and women in uniform. It is something we as Utahns ought to not forget..and always remember and keep them all in our prayers for their safety and well-being," Governor Herbert said. UPDATE: Thursday the family of the Utah Guard member killed identified him as Sgt. Aaron Butler of Monticello
[edit] Family identifies Utah Guard member killed in Afghanistan (17 Aug 2017)Wednesday, August 16th. Sgt. Aaron Butler paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Sgt. Butler was from Monticello. He was 27 years old. His family released the following statement: “The Army values are: ‘Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless-Service, Honor, Integrity, Personal Courage’. Aaron Butler personified those values in everything he said and did. In a life that was all too brief, our dear son and brother made the ultimate sacrifice for his country. While we are heartbroken to become a Gold Star family, we honor Aaron’s service and sacrifice. Aaron was a strength to us, an inspiration to those around him, and a joy to have in our family.” His family says says Butler and his 11 other team members of Utah's National Guard were sweeping for security when an explosive device went off. The blast killed Butler and injured the 11 other Guard members. Eight of the 11 injured live in the Beehive state. The group was working with members of the Afghan Army on a ground mission fighting members of the Islamic State in eastern Afghanistan. His family says Sgt. Butler is one of four soldiers who graduated with honors from the Army Green Beret Special Forces Qualification course in January 2016. “Aaron was absolutely fearless, selfless, courageous and relentless,” his father Randy said. Butler graduated from Monticello High School in 2008. He was a four-time high school state wrestling champ. After graduating he served an LDS mission in Ghana from 2009-2011. Sgt. Butler is the first Utah Guard member who died in Afghanistan since 2010, according to Gov. Herbert. His body is being flown to Dover, Maryland. [sic] Funeral services are pending.
[edit] Fallen guardsman honored at candlelight vigil (17 Aug 2017)MONTICELLO, Utah (ABC4 Utah) The community gathered Thursday night to mourn the loss of a member of the Utah National Guard who was killed in Afghanistan. Aaron Butler died Wednesday and 11 others were wounded during a building clearing mission in eastern Afghanistan. During the security sweep Butler walked into a booby-trapped building, wired with explosives. Butler’s hometown of Monticello held a candlelight vigil to honor him. A man who helped raise Butler says service to his country was always the dream. "Since he was a little kid, everything was a little combat machine. Every day. So he got to live his dream. I was really proud of him. Went back to work, came back a little later today, just to see all the flags. It was all put together. I don't think you're going to see that in larger towns. It's really neat to be by." Butler’s parents have decided to bring him home to bury him in Monticello. The funeral will be held August 26. He was one of eight children and he would have turned 28 next week.
[edit] Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler dreamt of being in the military (18 Aug 2017)MONTICELLO, Utah (ABC4 Utah)- The community of Monticello is coming together to remember the life and the service of a Utah National Guard member. Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler was killed after he walked into a booby-trapped building in Afghanistan Wednesday. Eleven other members from his team were injured. ABC4 Utah's Sarah Martin had the opportunity to visit Butler’s hometown and speak to those who knew him best. His former coach says Butler was a "career military man" [edit] County mourns 5th soldier lost to War on Terror (25 Aug 2017)SAN JUAN COUNTY, Utah (ABC 4 News) - Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler will be laid to rest here on Saturday -- the fifth soldier from this rural county to die in the War on Terror. Butler, a Special Forces Green Beret, was killed in an explosion last week in Afghanistan. "They just have a love of country and they want to protect and defend," said Terri Winder. Her son, Sgt. First Class Nathan Winder, was a special forces medic killed in Iraq in 2007. “My heart just really goes out to Aaron’s family," said Winder. The news of Butler's death last week brought back the acute pain of losing her own son. “It's been 10 years since Nathan’s death. And so you just kind of re-live, again, and so it’s been kind of emotional," added Winder. So why does this rural San Juan County community, comprised of roughly 16,000 people, send so many of its sons and daughters into harm's way? Winder suggested ABC4 Utah talk to her friend, retired Sgt. Major Bob McPherson. He once served in the 19th Special Forces Group, same as Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler. "We've lost people in Vietnam. We’ve lost them in all the wars. And we remember ‘em. And that’s what’s important. Cause we support ‘em, said McPherson. He says the community has a strong LDS faith tradition; a huge number of kids who join scouts; and a strong culture of sports that instils discipline. Winder says a history of stable families here helps grow strong, resilient children. “We didn’t raise our sons to be soldiers. We raised them to be patriots. To have an appreciation for the county that we live in. And for the blessings that we’ve got. And I think all of these young men from San Juan County — they’re just a natural by product of where they’ve been raised,” she said.
 [edit] A soldier's sacrifice: Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler funeral (26 Aug 2017)Monticello, Utah - Hundreds of people gathered to show their support after a local Special Forces Green Beret died in Afghanistan.
[edit] AP NewsLink: https://www.apnews.com/ [edit] Emotional funeral for Utah soldier killed in Afghanistan (27 Aug 2017)MONTICELLO, Utah (AP) — His fiancee, family and fellow military brothers honored Aaron Butler in an emotional funeral in southern Utah, more than a week after the guardsman was killed in action in Afghanistan. The funeral in Monticello, Utah, for Aaron Butler was held Saturday at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints center that was filled to capacity. He was then buried in the local city cemetery. Butler, 27, a member of the Green Beret Special Forces, was killed on Aug. 16. He died in an explosion at a booby-trapped building in Nangarhar Province in eastern Afghanistan. The blast also injured 11 others. “Aaron’s death makes us acutely aware that the war on terror” continues, said Shannon Young, Butler’s sister. The soldier was eulogized as a mischief-loving boy who grew into a determined soldier and patriot dedicated to serving his country. Although he did not come from a military family, Butler had aspired to be a solider since he was in first grade and stuck to his career path even when his parents and their seven other children tried to talk him out of it, said his parents, Randy and Laura Butler. At Monticello High School, he won four state titles as a wrestling star and enlisted in the Utah National Guard before graduation. He took a break in 2009 to serve as a Mormon missionary in Ghana. Butler became a Green Beret after graduating from the U.S. Army Special Forces qualification course with honors in 2016. Staff Sgt. Trevor Bell, who was with Butler in Afghanistan and accompanied his body back to the U.S., was among the dozens of fellow soldiers who attended the service and offered testimonials on how brave and well-liked Butler was. Butler’s fiancee, Alex Seagroves, wept as she recounted the tender notes he wrote her and the future they had envisioned but won’t ever see. Beside his grave, she clutched a folded U.S. flag and was flanked by loved ones as she sobbed. “Aaron will live through me,” Seagroves said.
[edit] CBS2-KUTV Salt Lake CityLink: http://kutv.com/ [edit] Family identifies Utah soldier killed in Afghanistan as Aaron Butler (17 Aug 2017)(KUTV) – The family of a Utah soldier killed in Afghanistan this week has identified him as Aaron Butler, 27, from Monticello. Butler, a Special Forces soldier with the Utah National Guard, died Tuesday night when he entered a booby-trapped building with his twelve-member team. “Aaron was absolutely fearless, selfless, courageous and relentless,” said his father, Randy Butler. The Butler family has released the following statement to 2News Thursday morning: “The Army values are: ‘Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless-Service, Honor, Integrity, Personal Courage’. Aaron Butler personified those values in everything he said and did. “In a life that was all too brief, our dear son and brother made the ultimate sacrifice for his country. While we are heartbroken to become a Gold Star family, we honor Aaron’s service and sacrifice. Aaron was a strength to us, an inspiration to those around him, and a joy to have in our family.” In the statement, the Butler family wrote that Aaron graduated from Monticello High School in 2008. He later served an LDS Mission in Ghana. Butler was a four-time high school state wrestling champion, claiming state titles in 2005 through 2008, according to the family. Butler graduated with honors from the Army Green Beret Special Forces Qualifications Course in January 2016, the family told 2News. The Butler family said Aaron’s body is being flown back to the United States and funeral plans are pending.
 [edit] Parents, fiancee of fallen Utah soldier Aaron Butler, open up about loss (24 Aug 2017)(KUTV) It's been almost a week since Aaron Butler, a 28-year-old, special-forces solider from Utah, was killed in Afghanistan while clearing a booby-trapped home. Butler's parents, Randy Butler and Laura Butler, have kept to themselves since the news of Aaron Butler's death until Wednesday, when they opened up to 2News about their son and his childhood, telling stories that brought tears to their eyes. "This young man came to us with an abundance, a super abundance of passion," Randy Butler said. It was an emotional interview with Aaron's parents and his fiancée, Alex Seagroves. If you'd like to learn more about Aaron Butler and how those he loved the most are feeling right now, watch the news story above.
[edit] Emotional day as Aaron Butler's body finally arrives in Utah (24 Aug 2017) Monticello, Utah — (KUTV) A precession Thursday brought a whirlwind of emotion to the Monticello community and to the Aaron Butler's family. "There's no words to describe moments like this, there really isn't," Andy Butler, Aaron's brother, said after the procession. Aaron Butler, Special Forces solider, was killed while leading a group of Utah National guard soldiers into a booby trapped building in Afghanistan. The news broke last week. Since then, the entire community has placed American flags and tied yellow ribbons around town. The moment the transport jet touched down in Monticello airport, Aaron's brother believes it changed the family and community. "There's a great sense of peace today," Butler said. For full coverage of this emotional day and to hear from Aaron's brothers and close friends, watch the news story above.
[edit] One last Salute: Hundreds attend burial for Utah war hero, Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler (26 Aug 2017) (KUTV) Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler is finally at peace after a 5 hour service in Monticello, Utah Saturday. Butler was a member of the special forces who was killed in Afghanistan while trying to clear a booby trapped home. Butlers burial came after a week of high emotion, anger, sadness and confusion for the Butler family, friends and community. "The support is overwhelming and has blown us away. We had no idea how people have thought and felt. It has carried us through a difficult time and made us stronger," Laura Butler told 2News. A large number of Butlers fellow green berets, part of the 1st Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group attended the services, including a man who was with him the moment Aaron died, Staff Sgt. Trevor Bell. Bell was one of over a dozen people, including his parents, 6 brothers and sister, who shared emotional memories at Aaron's service. After the service 2News spoke to a few of Butlers childhood friends and they are still trying to comprehend the fact Aaron is no longer with them. Caitlin Weathorford said seeing his casket be carried in front of the community was painful. "He was never sleeping, he was constantly moving so to see him that still was a shock," Weathorford said. To view Butlers services and to hear a few special memories that Aaron's friends will cherish, watch the news story above.
[edit] Daily Caller (Washington, DC)Link: https://dailycaller.com/ [edit] Here's the young Green Beret killed by Isis booby trap in Afghanistan (18 Aug 2017)U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Aaron R. Butler was killed by an Islamic State booby trap in eastern Afghanistan Wednesday. Butler was on a mission to clear a building on a partnered mission with the Afghan National Security Forces when his unit was struck. Eleven other members of the Utah National Guard were wounded in the incident but are expected to survive. Butler joined the Utah National Guard in 2008 and went on a Mormon mission trip to Africa as a young man. “He was an absolute force of nature,” his family spokesman told local Utah media. “Ultimately, what we do is very dangerous business,” his commander Maj. Gen. Jeff Burton said in a statement. “Our hearts are broken when we lose one of our own. We know these people personally, they are our friends, we respect them and it’s very painful.” Butler is the 10th U.S. soldier killed in Afghanistan in 2017, many of whom were killed in the same geographical region fighting the terrorist group. The group controls a relatively small amount of territory but has used it to launch multiple complex attacks on the capital city of Kabul, killing hundreds with its brutal tactics.
[edit] Daily Herald (Provo, Utah)Link: https://www.heraldextra.com/ [edit] Aaron Butler (17 Dec 2017)Aaron Butler, an American soldier most recently from Cedar Hills, died Aug. 16 in a battle with Islamic State militants in eastern Afghanistan. Butler, 27, was a member of the Utah National Guard. His father Randy Butler said in a statement he was a champion high school wrestler who became a Green Beret after graduating from the U.S. Army Special Forces qualification course with honors in 2016.
[edit] Desert News Utah[edit] A force of nature: Monticello remembers hometown hero killed in Afghanistan (17 Aug 2017)MONTICELLO — A Special Forces soldier killed Wednesday in Afghanistan is remembered in his hometown as a scrappy champion wrestler who felt called to protect his country from a young age. Army Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler, 27, died in an explosion while he was clearing a booby-trapped building in the eastern part of the country. The Utah National Guard member knew as a youngster he would become an elite soldier, said his wrestling coach Kent Adair. "He wasn't a sit-in-the-back-row kind of guy," Adair said. "That's probably why he got killed — because he was the first one through the door. That was his nature: I'll handle it for you, I'll take care of it. He was a leader. He wasn't a follower." Adair and more than 200 others gathered at Veterans Memorial Park in Monticello Thursday evening to honor Butler at a somber vigil attended by several veterans in uniform and many who brought American flags. "In a life that was all too brief, our dear son and brother made the ultimate sacrifice for his country," his family said in a prepared statement. The Butler family said he personified the Army's values in everything he said and did. "While we are heartbroken to become a gold star family, we honor Aaron’s service and sacrifice. Aaron was a strength to us, an inspiration to those around him, and a joy to have in our family." Butler is one of four soldiers who graduated with honors from the Army Green Beret Special Forces Qualification Course in January 2016, according to the family. He started visiting home more often, said Adair, who last saw Butler when he returned to visit family in January. The soldier was concerned about his girlfriend staying safe during his deployment, Adair said. "That's what worried me about him going over there. He didn't care about his own safety. He cared about other people's safety, cause that's who he was," Adair said. Butler was with a group of Utah National Guardsmen clearing a building in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday when a bomb went off. Gov. Gary Herbert at a Thursday news conference said Butler was with a group of Utah National Guardsmen clearing a booby-trapped building for "safety purposes" when the shrapnel flew, killing Butler. The other 11 sustained "various degrees of injury," Herbert said. Eight were Utah residents and three live out of state, he said, though they are all members of the Utah National Guard. Family spokesman Bill Boyle said Butler was a career military man. "His parents, when they heard a Utah National Guard soldier was killed in Afghanistan, they breathed a sigh of relief because they considered him a full-time member of the U.S. Army and not affiliated with the Utah National Guard. But he was with this National Guard group. They were all 12 together," he said. Butler was very well-known in Monticello, being born and raised in the small southern Utah town, Boyle said. "He was an absolute force of nature," he said. Butler was the seventh of eight children, and one of seven brothers. He was a four-time state wrestling champion for Monticello High School. The teen who started his freshman year at what his coaches estimated was about 90 pounds developed a singular mindset. "His high school wrestling career is legendary. He was just so dedicated and focused and relentless," Boyle said. Butler applied the steadfast determination to his military goal, reading all he could on Special Forces in the U.S. Army, Adair said. It was during high school that he joined the Utah National Guard. He graduated in 2008. From 2009-11, he served a mission in Ghana for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. On its Facebook page Thursday, the Monticello wrestling team posted: "Always with us never forgotten. We love you Aaron!" "It's a sad day for Monticello, for the Butler family, for the entire state of Utah, for the nation. He gave the ultimate sacrifice and was doing something that he dearly loved," Boyle said. A funeral service for Butler is expected to take place Aug. 26 in the Monticello Stake Center. The sergeant will be buried in Monticello Cemetary. As word spread of Butler's death Thursday, many took to social media to express their condolences and share memories. "This kind of thing happens every day, but it's scary when it is someone that you know. Aaron was an incredibly hard worker. I remember seeing him wrestle and being amazed at how much heart he puts into things. The Butler family is in our prayers," one man posted. The San Juan County Commission released a statement Thursday afternoon, saying county officials' "hearts are broken" and it was praying for the Butler family. "We will remember Aaron as a man that gave his life so that we may continue to live in the land of the free. His selfless service will not go unremembered or unthanked because we will remember and show gratitude to his family. We also send our prayers to the other members of Aaron's unit that were wounded during the mission and wish them a speedy recovery," the statement said. Herbert said he would call the families of all 12 service members on Thursday to offer support, and said Butler's death is a reminder the war on terrorism continues. "Our men and women are serving in very difficult places throughout the world," Herbert said. At the Utah National Guard on Thursday, the mood was "very somber," spokeswoman Ileen Kennedy said. "My heart aches for the loss and sacrifice of our members and their families," said Maj. Gen. Jefferson Burton, adjutant general of the Utah National Guard. Burton said he believes defending the country is important and dangerous "but this realization does little to console me during times of loss such as this." Utah's congressional representatives on Thursday said they were praying for the family and were grateful for those who put their lives on the line to defend the nation. Sen. Mike Lee issued a statement saying his heart goes out to the family and others whose loved ones are serving in the region. And Rep. Rob Bishop said he was praying for the Butlers, along with the other injured service members. Sen. Orrin Hatch also said he spoke with the Butlers to express his gratitude and sorrow.
[edit] 11 Utah Guardsmen recovering as funeral planned for fallen soldier (21 Aug 207) SALT LAKE CITY — The remains of a Green Beret killed in Afghanistan last week will return to his southern Utah hometown on what would have been his 28th birthday. Ahead of the Thursday homecoming, two services were scheduled to honor Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler, who grew up in Monticello. His funeral will be Saturday in the small town, and a vigil is planned for Tuesday night in Cedar Hills, where neighbors say he lived most recently before deployment. Butler's family members in a Monday statement said they had "heartfelt appreciation for the outpouring of love and support at this difficult time." Butler died in combat Aug. 16 in eastern Afghanistan, authorities said, when he was clearing a booby-trapped building. He was in the Utah National Guard 19th Special Forces and was part of a mission against the Islamic State in Nangarhar Province. Following President Donald Trump's assurance Monday that the war in Afghanistan would be a victory for American troops in the end, Butler's parents said in a statement they believed their son would support possible changes designed to make the U.S. strategy more efficient, "even if it required additional sacrifice." “Our loss is painful and agonizing, but it will be even worse for the nation if we don’t stand up and take steps to stop the spread of terrorism," Randy and Laura Butler said, in part. "Aaron felt this way and he sealed this belief with his life. We support our son and the cause for which he died." Eleven other Utah National Guard members in Butler's unit were wounded, and several had "pretty bad shrapnel wounds," Maj. Gen. Jefferson Burton said Monday. "The good news is, they're all going to survive," Burton said, though they were mourning the loss of Butler. Three who were in critical condition last week have improved to serious but stable condition, Burton said. The group will remain in Afghanistan, where doctors will monitor them for concussions. Of the 11, eight were from Utah and three from other states, though they all served in the Utah contingent. In Butler's Utah County neighborhood over the weekend, American flags lined homes and streets in remembrance the former Monticello High wrestling champion who had a fiancé at home. On Friday, Butler's remains arrived at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where seven soldiers carried a case off of a military plane in the dark as officers saluted. Butler's remains are expected arrive at the Monticello Airport on Thursday and then travel via motorcade to the San Juan Mortuary in Blanding. Details on events honoring Butler this week: Vigil: 8 p.m. Tuesday at Heritage Park, 4425 W. Cedar Hills Drive in Cedar Hills. Funeral service: Noon on Saturday at the Monticello LDS Stake Center in Monticello. Prior to the service, a viewing is scheduled from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Burial to follow at Monticello City Cemetery.
[edit] 'Indescribably brave': Monticello soldier's family remembers the love, patriotism that defined his life (26 Aug 2017)MONTICELLO — Looking back, it's clear to Aaron Butler's tight-knit family that the qualities that made the southern Utah native such a remarkable soldier defined his nearly 28 years of life. As a child he had boundless energy and a knack for mischief to match. On the wrestling team he was known for his work ethic and sportsmanship as much as for his four state titles. And to those he loved, he was generous, intelligent, patriotic and protective. Butler, a staff sergeant in the Army National Guard and a member of the elite Green Berets, died clearing a booby-trapped building Aug. 16 in Afghanistan's Nangarhar Province. Butler was laid to rest Saturday in his hometown of Monticello, as his parents, siblings, fiancee and military companions celebrated a life well-lived and an inspiring man gone too soon. The funeral service in the church Butler grew up attending was filled to capacity by family and friends from Butler's hometown, as well as his military associates. The service concluded with a tearful graveside ceremony — including a 21-gun salute, the playing of taps and a helicopter flyover — where Butler's family gathered close to the casket to say their goodbyes. Members of Butler's Special Forces group presented Laura Butler, Aaron Butler's mother, with the flag that had draped her son's casket, while two folded flags were touched tenderly to its lid before being given to Butler's sister and fiancee. Shannon Young shared a tribute to her brother's life Saturday, emphasizing that her brother's death fighting in a foreign land is a reminder to Americans of the sacrifices their service members are prepared to make for them. "Aaron's death makes us acutely aware that the war on terror is still very much alive," Young said through tears. "There are soldiers fighting and dying for you and for America. Please don't take your freedoms for granted. Teach your children who and what is being sacrificed for them. The fact is that if these brave men weren't willing to go and fight terrorists there, we would all be fighting them here on our land." Butler had a deep love of country from a very young age, Young said, and by the first grade was adamant he wanted to become a soldier. Quinn Butler, one of Aaron Butler's six brothers, said Butler was recognized by all who knew him as fearless. His only fear, it seemed, was of failing to accomplish his goals, including the goal of becoming a Green Beret. His mother agreed, recounting how the patriotism she saw in her rambunctious son stayed with him as he grew into a passionate and dedicated soldier. "From his early days to his last day, Aaron's greatest desire was to serve his country," Laura Butler said. The mother smiled as she said she believed her son had "packed a lifetime into his mere 28 years." Aaron Butler attended Monticello High School from 2004 to 2008, winning a state title in wrestling each of those years and becoming "a legend" at the school. Just before graduation, Butler enlisted in the Army and completed basic training. In 2009, Butler served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Ghana. Upon returning home, Butler picked his military training and, while he waited between processing times and admission into different military programs, started a career extracting gold in Ghana. Butler not only earned a spot among the Army's Special Forces, but he graduated his courses with honors, Young noted, becoming a Green Beret in January 2016. Young shared messages Saturday from some of Butler's fellow soldiers, including the man who was with him when he died. "Aaron fought with everything he had until the bitter end. Your brother was a definite warrior," the man wrote. Butler's team captain wrote, "Aaron Butler simply was what the rest of us pretend to be: Indescribably brave." Butler is preceded in death by 411 other Special Forces soldiers who have lost their lives in combat since 9/11, Raymond Thomas, 11th Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, said Saturday. Thomas said he didn't know Butler personally, but praised him as one of the top members of an already elite group of soldiers. When Butler met his fiancee, Alex Seagroves, his family said a newfound tenderness was revealed beneath the soldier's focus on his military ambitions. They praised Seagroves for the remarkable impact she had on Butler, promising he would always remain her unseen protector. In her remarks, Seagroves wept as she described the loving messages Butler would leave for her in a journal he kept during the times his military assignments kept them from talking for weeks at a time. In them, she said, he spoke of the future they would have together. "I find great comfort in the words that he left me, but I also find myself longing to fulfill the plans that he had," Seagroves said. She went on to promise, "Aaron will live through me, I will honor him. And every day that I do, anyone I come in contact with will know who he was, and what he did, and how much he meant to everybody." As the family heals, Randy Butler, Aaron Butler's father, thanked all those who have offered support and comfort, including dozens of patriotic strangers who have filled the family's mailbox daily with cards and letters thanking them. The father shared his faith in Jesus Christ and the confidence it gives him that he will see his son again after this life. "When I look at my dear family, I find great comfort to know we all have that potential," Randy Butler said. "I pray that each of us will look at this life that we honor today. You are not only giving a tribute, you are a tribute to him because of the wonderful life you have lived."
[edit] Fox13 Salt Lake City[edit] Community mourns Utah Guardsman killed in combat in Afghanistan (17 Aug 2017) MONTICELLO, Utah -- Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler, a Utah Guardsman killed in combat, was remembered by his community in Monticello Thursday night at a candlelight vigil. For one hour, a group stood with candles listening to patriotic music, and sharing memories of Butler. In the Monticello High School wrestling room Thursday afternoon, Butler's former coach, Kent Adair, shared his thoughts. "He’s a great patriot. I mean, I know a lot of people tried to talk him outta joining, but he wanted to join and he wanted to go over there and he wanted to fight for our country," he said He said Butler was a kid who would go far. Since Butler was a kid, he was determined to be a four-time state champion in wrestling. After a rocky start, he made his dream a reality his senior year, 2008. “His first match in high school he got pinned," Adair said. "And so, rather than be deterred at his goal, he worked hard and he fixed things he needed to fix and he was determined enough to do it." Butler was killed August 16 in Afghanistan when he entered a "booby-trapped" building that exploded. He was with 11 other soldiers who were injured. Paul Mants, was at the vigil Thursday. He said he was Butler's first sergeant. "He was my friend," Mants said. "He was one of the top troops I ever had. I guess I gave him a lot of encouragement to go in special forces." Mants also served in the Marine Corps and Special Forces. He said "when I get a kid this good, this fantastic" he had to encourage Butler to do the same. Butler's name will be the fifth added to a memorial of local soldiers who gave their lives fighting for their country during the "War on Terror." “We feel pretty safe here," Adair said. "Nobody wants anything we’ve got, so we’re not gonna get bombed or anything. We feel pretty safe. But when you lose somebody like Aaron, it brings it close to home to you that it’s real. That the violence is real. The hatred’s real.” Funeral services are tentatively planned for Saturday, August 26 in the Monticello LDS Stake Center. Interment will be in the Monticello Cemetery. In a statement issued Thursday night, Gov. Gary Herbert said flags across the state would be lowered to half-staff on the day of Butler's funeral.
[edit] Candlelight vigil held for Utah National Guard soldier killed in Afghanistan (22 Aug 2017)CEDAR HILLS, Utah - Family, friends and neighbors of the Utah Guardsman killed in combat last week gathered at Heritage Park in Cedar Hills Tuesday to remember Staff Sergeant Aaron Butler. While Butler was from Monticello, neighbors said he had just moved to Cedar Hills with his fiancee earlier this year, about a month before he left on deployment. The 27-year-old was a member of the Green Beret Special Forces, his family said. Butler was killed in an attack in Afghanistan that wounded 11 others, including eight soldiers from Utah. On Tuesday evening, more than 150 people showed up to support the family and honor Sgt. Butler. "We wanted them to know that we loved them," said neighbor Annette Klingler, who organized the vigil. "We told Aaron before he was deployed, that we would make sure Alex was okay." She said the neighborhood has been helping with meals and whatever else they can to support Butler's fiancee. "With him being gone, we felt like as a community," Klingler said. "One, we needed to show our honor and for his sacrifice, but also show support to her and the family." At the vigil, bagpipes played and the Lone Peak and American Fork High School bands performed. The Patriot Guard surrounded the candlelight vigil with flags. Butler's family spoke to the crowd, including his godfather and his oldest brother. His family said Butler's purpose in life was to be a patriot. They said he loved his country, his family and his fiancee Alex with all his heart. The body of Sgt. Aaron Butler is expected to arrive back in his hometown of Monticello on Thursday. A funeral will take place on Saturday in Monticello at the LDS Stake Center. Butler will be laid to rest in the Monticello City Cemetery.
[edit] Parents, fiancee speak as fallen Utah Guardsman returns to United States (23 Aug 2017)MONTICELLO, Utah -- With a flag behind them, the parents and fiancee of Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler shared memories about the fallen soldier from the Hideout Community Center in Monticello. “For a man to lay down his life for his friends and his country, you can’t help but love that,” said his mother, Laura Butler. Staff Sgt. Butler was killed in combat in Nangarhar Province in Afghanistan on August 16. His remains will return to Monticello on Thursday at noon. “He’s coming home, on his birthday,” Laura Butler said. Though Staff Sgt. Butler had been on other military assignments, his family said this was his first overseas deployment facing combat. It didn’t seem to slow him down. “He actually proposed while he was in Afghanistan,” said his fiancée, Alexandria Seagrove. She said the pair had been talking about their future for a while, well aware of Butler’s commitments to the military. Seagrove said yes but never got the chance to see her fiancée in person again. “If I only had two minutes, I would spend the two minutes, trying to give him the full perspective of how much I loved him,” said his father Randy Butler. There are many things the Butler family will never have the chance to say to their lost loved one, but they have a good idea what he would say to them. “'I don’t want you to live a sad life,' I think he would say, 'You need to go after your pursuits with greater passion,” Randy said. “I have been tempted not to get out of bed, but I know that would be the tragedy: to allow his sacrifice to affect me in a way that I did not go forward and do something good with the rest of my life,” Laura added. Staff Sgt. Butler’s funeral is set for Saturday. Fox 13 News is working with the Butler family to meet their wishes for media coverage. “He has still got a warrior's heart, he’s just on a different battlefield with a higher purpose, and I would want to assure him that we are fine and he needs to go and do what he needed to do,” Laura said.
[edit] Brothers speak as fallen Utah Guardsman returns home on what would have been 28th birthday (24 Aug 2017) MONTICELLO, Utah — The body of a Utah National Guardsman who was killed in Afghanistan last week has returned home. Family members approach Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler's casket at Monticello Airport. Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler, 27, of Monticello, was killed August 16 in an attack while serving his first deployment overseas in Afghanistan. Butler's body arrived on a private plane shortly before noon Thursday at the Monticello Airport. Family said his remains were brought home on what would have been Butler's 28th birthday. "It's been a perfect time to celebrate him coming home," said Andy Butler, one of the staff sergeant's older brothers. An honor guard carried the flag-covered casket, with flags and Patriot Guard Riders lining the way. As Butler's family, including his parents and fiancee Alexandria Seagrove, approached the casket, Seagrove broke down. Butler's brothers quickly surrounded her with support, and the family stood in an embrace. "The best thing that we can say about moments like that, is that they are sacred," said Adam Butler, another older brother. A procession then took off from the Monticello Airport to the mortuary in Blanding. Hundreds of people in Monticello lined Main Street, holding flags and signs, and saluting or placing their hands over their hearts. "As we came into town, it was phenomenal," Andy Butler said. He said words can't describe the gratitude they've seen toward their brother, and the dignity and respect paid by the military and Patriot Guard Riders. Andy Butler said the family felt a great sense of peace, and they believe Aaron has something to do with that. "We really do believe and feel that he's at peace. He came and did what he wanted to do," Andy Butler said, adding, "He's proud, and we're proud." Butler was assigned to the Utah National Guard 19th Special Forces group. Eleven other soldiers were injured in the attack, which happened in Afghanistan's Nangarhar Province "when [Butler] entered a booby-trapped building that exploded while his group was fighting members of the Islamic State in eastern Afghanistan," according to a statement from a family friend. On Thursday, Governor Gary Herbert issued an order for U.S. and Utah State flags at all state facilities and public grounds to be flown at half-staff from sunrise to sunset on August 26, the day Butler will be laid to rest. Families line the procession route as Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler's motorcade passes through Monticello. "Jeanette and I were heartbroken to hear of the passing of one of Utah’s best, Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler. Tonight, we join all Utahns in grieving for him, and honoring his sacrifice — the ultimate sacrifice. Our hearts ache for his family, friends and loved ones, and they will long be on our minds and in our prayers," Gov. Herbert said in a statement. Funeral services will be held Saturday at the LDS Stake Center in Monticello, followed by interment at the Monticello City Cemetery.
[edit] Hundreds gather to pay respects as Utah Guardsman laid to rest in Monticello (26 Aug 2017)MONTICELLO, Utah -- Hundreds gathered in the Monticello City Cemetery Saturday afternoon to pay respects to a Utah National Guardsman who died serving the country. Staff Sergeant Aaron Butler was laid to rest in his hometown after he was killed in an attack in Afghanistan on August 16. Saturday morning, a procession brought Butler's remains to the Monticello LDS Stake Center for a viewing and funeral.  Bill Boyle, a Butler family friend, said that the family eloquently expressed their love for Butler at the service, and perfectly captured his life. Afterward, another procession traveled down Main Street and to the Monticello City Cemetery. Pallbearers carried Sgt. Butler's casket to his gravesite, as Butler's fellow Green Beret members stood in salute. "We pray that this will be a place of deep respect, for the life that was given in the fight for freedom," said Butler's brother, Nathan Butler, as he gave the prayer and grave site dedication. Family and friends exchanged hugs and tears. Members of each of the eight units of the 19th Special Forces Group, in which Butler served, attended the ceremony, said John Wester, Command Warrant Officer 5 (Ret). "Once you wear that uniform, we're all brothers and sisters," he said. Wester said he used to command the 19th Special Forces Group. He said they're the tightest-knit family in the Army, and the loss of Butler will be felt for years. For the town of Monticello, a small community that watched Butler grow and achieve his dreams, the loss brought everyone together. "He just made this town proud, everything he did throughout his life," Wester said. He said words can't express how it felt to watch the community give back and pay their respects. "All the flags that were out there, lining both sides of the street, seeing the Patriot Guard out there in force, just the total support from the community was just... it brought me to tears," he said. "It has been remarkable," Boyle said, of the town's support. "It's really a testament to Aaron and his life and his sacrifice."
[edit] Fallen soldier honored during Governor’s review of the Utah National Guard (16 Sep 2017) SALT LAKE CITY -- The parents of a Utah soldier who was killed one month ago in Afghanistan received a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star Saturday on behalf of their son. The posthumous presentation took place during the Governor’s 63rd annual review of the Utah National Guard. Staff Sergeant Aaron Butler was killed and eleven other Utah Guard members were injured when they were trying to clear a booby-trapped building in Afghanistan on August 26. “The loss of Sergeant Butler is a heartbreaking reminder of the threat our soldiers face each and every time they are deployed throughout the world,” said Utah Gov. Gary Herbert. The parents of the fallen soldier said they were touched by the presentation and the opportunity to meet other guard members. “It was very touching and tender, especially the ones who knew him,” said Laura Butler, Aaron’s mother. “But it’s been a bittersweet day too because of the love and support we have felt from everyone.” Randy Butler, Aaron’s father, said the awards presentation in front of the entire Utah National Guard made him and his wife feel like they were part of his son’s military family. “We can understand why Aaron loved his military family so much," he said. "It’s endless what the military family has done and the dignity and respect and they have shown.” Major General Jefferson Burton said guard members are facing more threats than ever before. He said Aaron Butler was a great example of how to sacrifice and serve. “He was someone who positioned himself in the front line as all leaders do,” Burton said. “He will forever live in the memories of those he served with. Aaron will never die.” Governor Herbert is the commander-in-chief of the Utah National Guard. He thanked the nearly 7,000 guard members gathered at the review for responding and handling local and national disasters like the fire in Weber County and Hurricane Harvey in Texas. “Very few organizations have the ability and the versatility to react so quickly, which is what is expected of National Guard soldiers,” Herbert said. The Utah National Guard currently has 122 soldiers and 25 airmen serving overseas. The guard is expecting that number will increase soon to handle the numerous global conflicts.
[edit] Fox News U.S.[edit] Green Beret killed in Afghanistan ID'd by Pentagon (17 Aug 2017)The Green Beret who died Wednesday in Afghanistan was a former high school wrestling champion who was always determined to succeed, his former coach said Thursday. Utah National Guardsman Staff Sgt. Aaron R. Butler, 27, was supporting Operation Freedom’s Sentinel when an explosive device detonated during combat operations in eastern Afghanistan, Pentagon officials said. Other U.S. and Afghan soldiers suffered "various degrees of injury” while clearing a booby-trapped building in Nangarhar Province, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert said at a news conference Thursday. Butler, from Monticello, Utah, was remembered by his family, wrestling coach and hometown on Thursday. "In a life that was all too brief, our dear son and brother made the ultimate sacrifice for his country,” his family said in a statement. “While we are heartbroken to become a Gold Star family, we honor Aaron’s service and sacrifice. Aaron was a strength to us, an inspiration to those around him, and a joy to have in our family." At a young age, Butler showed determination, wrestling coach Kent Adair told FOX13 in Salt Lake City. “His first match in high school he got pinned," Adair said. "And so, rather than be deterred at his goal, he worked hard and he fixed things he needed to fix and he was determined enough to do it." Utah lawmakers, including Sens. Mike Lee and Orrin Hatch, also expressed their condolences to the grieving Butler family. Butler was assigned to the 19th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Camp Williams, Utah. Butler was the 10th U.S. service member killed in combat in Afghanistan this year, surpassing the nine killed in 2016. The death comes as President Trump weighs a decision to send up to 4,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan in the coming days to roll back Taliban gains. Asked late last week how soon a decision would be made, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters the Pentagon was “very close.” The combined U.S. and NATO troop contingent currently in Afghanistan is about 13,500.
[edit] FreedomDaily.com
[edit] Every Protesting NFL Player Just Got Smacked With Reality Today After What Suddenly Showed Up (30 Aug 2017) Many Americans alive today have very little appreciation for the country that they call home, completely oblivious to the generations of soldiers who fought, bled, and died to preserve their individual freedoms. These anti-American sentiments are screamed the loudest by “oppressed” millionaire NFL players who refuse to stand for our National Anthem, who ironically continue to protest the very same symbol that gives them the right protest in the first place. As the distraught mourning family laid to rest one of our fallen soldiers over the weekend after Special Forces Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler was fatally wounded during a combat mission in Afghanistan, one single heart-wrenching image is putting every single NFL protester to shame who had the audacity to protest our country’s flag over the past several weeks. Shannon Young never thought that she’d be burying her kid brother. Through tears at her brother Aaron’s funeral over the weekend, she spoke fondly of her 27-year-old sibling who was a championship athlete and avid outdoorsman, who was able to accomplish his life-long dream of becoming an elite American soldier. “If Aaron Butler were to give his own eulogy, it would have been simple: “I came. I lived. I killed bad guys. I died,” Young stated. “Bravery was a quality rooted deep inside him. He showed us how to live.” Shannon Young was just one mourner in a crowd of 1,000 people who showed up to honor the selfless sacrifice Sgt. Aaron Butler made that fateful day in Afghanistan, after his team of elite Special Forces teammates were clearing a a building in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan, searching for Islamic State loyalists. But Butler would never make it out of the booby-trapped building alive. Shortly after entering the compound, an explosion would go off, killing Butler and injuring his 11 teammates. During the somber formal military funeral procession, Shannon Young worked to comfort Sgt. Aaron Butler’s grieving fiancée, Alexandria Seagrove, as the two women clung to each other as the body of the man they both loved was slowly lowered into the ground. The only comfort they had at that moment was clinging onto the American flags that had been meticulously folded into a perfect triangles by the Honor Guard troops who present to help provide support the funeral. “He actually proposed while he was in Afghanistan,” said his fiancé, Alexandria Seagrove. She said the pair had been making plans for the future, but she would never have the chance to see her fiancé in person ever again. FOX 13 reported:
Tragically, this grieving family is becoming intimately familiar with the sacrifice that it takes to preserve the freedom that so many Americans take for-granted. The American flag that family members hold tightly to their chest after it drapes the coffins of our warriors who’ve made the ultimate sacrifice, is the very same symbol that liberals everywhere are so eager to rip, burn, and protest, as they have no clue what it even means to be a real American.
Every time a NFL player takes a knee on the football team, it’s a slap in the face to every single American warrior who has fought and died to preserve their right to act like protesting idiots in the football stadium. If this heart-wrenching photo of these women clinging to their folded flags can’t change the narrative here in America about what that flag truly represents, then I don’t know what will.
[edit] Gepardt Daily News (Salt Lake City, Utah)Link: https://gephardtdaily.com/ [edit] Details released, identity confirmed of Utah Nat’l Guardsman killed in Afghanistan (17 Aug 2017)DRAPER, Utah, Aug. 17, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — The Department of Defense and the Utah National Guard have formally announced that Staff Sgt. Aaron Rhett Butler was the soldier killed Wednesday in Afghanistan. Butler’s father, a resident of Monticello, confirmed earlier today that it was Aaron, his 27-year-old son, who was killed in the explosion of a booby trap in eastern Afghanistan. Eleven other Utah National Guard members were injured in the explosion, which happened as they were clearing a building. Eight of the injured are from Utah. Butler — a member of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group (Airborne) — was the 19th Special Forces soldier killed in Afghanistan, according to a news release issued Thursday evening by the Utah National Guard: Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler, from Monticello and most recently a resident of Cedar Hills, has been a member of the Utah Guard since 2008 and deployed to Afghanistan in April 2017. “Ultimately what we do is very dangerous business,” said Maj. Gen. Jeff Burton, the adjutant general. “Our hearts are broken when we lose one of our own. We know these people personally, they are our friends, we respect them and it’s very painful.” Members of 1-19th SF (A), who are currently deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Resolute Support, were on mission in partnership with Afghan Forces aimed at further reducing Islamic State of Iraq and Syrian-Khorasan presence in Afghanistan. On Wednesday, August 16, Staff Sgt. Butler was killed and eleven others were injured during a building-clearing mission in Eastern Afghanistan. Initial reports indicate that the building was wired with explosives, and the Soldiers were struck upon entry. Tragedies like this serves as a harsh reminder of what is asked of our military, and the threat is very real. Let no one forget the service and sacrifice of those brave men and women on watch for our nation’s defense. Please keep all of our patriots in your thoughts and prayers. The Utah National Guard also released biographical information, noting Butler’s position as the seventh of eight siblings, his wrestling at Monticello High School, his mission to Ghana for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, his extensive military training and his April 1 assignment to serve in Afghanistan. Butler’s survivors include both parents, all his siblings, and his fiancee. The full biography follows:
 On the evening of August 16, 2017, Staff Sergeant Aaron Rhett Butler, 27, passed away in Eastern, Afghanistan as a result of injuries sustained from the explosion of an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations. Staff Sgt. Butler was a Special Forces Engineer Noncommissioned Officer (NCO) with B Company, 1st Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Camp Williams, Utah. Staff Sgt. Butler was a dedicated, ambitious NCO who set goals and achieved them. Staff Sgt. Butler was born August 24, 1989, in Monticello, Utah. He was the seventh of eight children. Staff Sgt. Butler graduated in 2008 from Monticello High School in Monticello, Utah. He was a dedicated and relentless wrestler on the high school wrestling team. Staff Sgt. Butler served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the country of Ghana from 2009-2011. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in April 2008. He completed Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training (AIT) as a Combat Engineer at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. After graduating from AIT, he was assigned to Company C, 1457th Engineer Battalion in Blanding,Utah. In June 2015, he transferred to 1st Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group (Airborne) Operations Detachment in Lehi, Utah. In June 2016, He transferred to Company B, 1st Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Camp Williams, Utah, as a Special Forces Engineer Sergeant. On 1 April 2017, Staff Sgt. Butler mobilized in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel; his only deployment. His military education includes the Combat Engineer Course, Basic Airborne Course, Special Forces Qualification Course, Special Forces Engineer Sergeant Qualification Course (Distinguished Honor Graduate), Basic Special Operations Language Training (French), Advanced Leader Course, and Military Free-Fall Parachutist Course. His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star (Awarded 16 Aug 17), Purple Heart (Awarded 16 Aug. 17), ARCOM, National Defense Service Medal, Non Commissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon, Army Reserve Component Overseas Training Ribbon, Special Forces Tab, Military Free-Fall Parachutist Badge, and Parachutist Badge. Staff Sgt. Butler is survived by his father, Randy K. Butler; his mother, Laura A. Butler, of Monticello, Utah; seven siblings, and his fiance Alex Seagroves.
[edit] Idaho State Journal[edit] Emotional funeral for former Mormon missionary who became Green Beret and was killed in Afghanistan (27 Aug 2017)MONTICELLO, Utah (AP) — His fiancee, family and fellow military brothers honored Aaron Butler in an emotional funeral in southern Utah, more than a week after the guardsman was killed in action in Afghanistan. The funeral in Monticello, Utah, for Aaron Butler was held Saturday at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints center that was filled to capacity. He was then buried in the local city cemetery. Butler, 27, a member of the Green Beret Special Forces, was killed on Aug. 16. He died in an explosion at a booby-trapped building in Nangarhar Province in eastern Afghanistan. The blast also injured 11 members of the Utah National Guard. "Aaron's death makes us acutely aware that the war on terror" continues, said Shannon Young, Butler's sister. The soldier was eulogized as a mischief-loving boy who grew into a determined soldier and patriot dedicated to serving his country. Although he did not come from a military family, Butler had aspired to be a solider since he was in first grade and stuck to his career path even when his parents and their seven other children tried to talk him out of it, said his parents, Randy and Laura Butler. At Monticello High School, he won four state titles as a wrestling star and enlisted in the Utah National Guard before graduation. He took a break in 2009 to serve as a Mormon missionary in Ghana. Butler became a Green Beret after graduating from the U.S. Army Special Forces qualification course with honors in 2016. Staff Sgt. Trevor Bell, who was with Butler in Afghanistan and accompanied his body back to the U.S., was among the dozens of fellow soldiers who attended the service and offered testimonials on how brave and well-liked Butler was. Butler's fiancee, Alex Seagroves, wept as she recounted the tender notes he wrote her and the future they had envisioned but won't ever see. Beside his grave, she clutched a folded U.S. flag and was flanked by loved ones as she sobbed. "Aaron will live through me," Seagroves said.
[edit] InterMat WrestlingLink: https://intermatwrestle.com/ [edit] Green Beret killed in Afghanistan was four-time state champ (19 Aug 2017)A Green Beret killed in Afghanistan Wednesday was a four-time state wrestling champ. Utah National Guardsman Staff Sgt. Aaron R. Butler was supporting Operation Freedom's Sentinel when an explosive device detonated during combat operations in eastern Afghanistan, according to Pentagon officials. Butler, 27, was killed; eleven others were injured by the explosion as the soldiers were trying to clear a booby-trapped building. Butler, who wrestled at Monticello High School, won four consecutive Utah state wrestling titles (103 pounds in 2005; 112 in 2006; 125 in 2007; and 135 in 2008), joining others who achieved this milestone, including Cael Sanderson, four-time NCAA champ for Iowa State who is now head coach at Penn State. Butler still holds a number of records at Monticello, including 37 falls (2006 season), 152 career takedowns, and a 169-15 career record. Very impressive stats, to be sure ... but even more so, considering Butler's rocky start in wrestling. "His first match in high school he got pinned," his high school wrestling coach Kent Adair told the Fox affiliate in Salt Lake City. "And so, rather than be deterred at his goal, he worked hard and he fixed things he needed to fix and he was determined enough to do it." "He wasn't a sit-in-the-back-row kind of guy," coach Adair said to KSL.com. "That's probably why he got killed -- because he was the first one through the door. That was his nature: I'll handle it for you, I'll take care of it. He was a leader. He wasn't a follower." The Butler family issued the following statement about their son Aaron. "The Army values are: 'Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless-Service, Honor, Integrity, Personal Courage'. Aaron Butler personified those values in everything he said and did. "In a life that was all too brief, our dear son and brother made the ultimate sacrifice for his country. While we are heartbroken to become a Gold Star family, we honor Aaron's service and sacrifice. Aaron was a strength to us, an inspiration to those around him, and a joy to have in our family." In the statement, the Butler family wrote that Aaron graduated from Monticello High School in 2008, then served an LDS (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) mission in Ghana. In January 2016, Butler graduated with honors from the Army Green Beret Special Forces Qualifications Course. The Butler family said Aaron's body is being flown back to the United States as of this writing. Funeral plans are pending, but are tentatively planned for Saturday, Aug. 26.
[edit] KSL-TV Broadcasting
[edit] Monticello remembers hometown hero killed in Afghanistan (17 Aug 2017)Video news reports:
[edit] Deceased Utah National Guard member, Aaron Butler, never let anything get in the way of his goals (17 Aug 2017)Utah National Guard member Aaron Butler called Monticello home. Now, that community -- along with the rest of the state -- is mourning his loss. News Specialist Sam Penrod reports in San Juan County where family friends are remembering a man who never let anything get in the way of his goals.
[edit] 11 Utah Guardsmen recovering as funeral planned for fallen soldier (21 Aug 2017)SALT LAKE CITY — The remains of a Green Beret killed in Afghanistan last week will return to his southern Utah hometown on what would have been his 28th birthday. Ahead of the Thursday homecoming, two services were scheduled to honor Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler, who grew up in Monticello. His funeral will be Saturday in the small town, and a vigil is planned for Tuesday night in Cedar Hills, where neighbors say he lived most recently before deployment. Butler's family members in a Monday statement said they had "heartfelt appreciation for the outpouring of love and support at this difficult time." Butler died in combat Aug. 16 in eastern Afghanistan, authorities said, when he was clearing a booby-trapped building. He was in the Utah National Guard 19th Special Forces and was part of a mission against the Islamic State in Nangarhar Province. Following President Donald Trump's assurance Monday that the war in Afghanistan would be a victory for American troops in the end, Butler's parents said in a statement they believed their son would support possible changes designed to make the U.S. strategy more efficient, "even if it required additional sacrifice." “Our loss is painful and agonizing, but it will be even worse for the nation if we don’t stand up and take steps to stop the spread of terrorism," Randy and Laura Butler said, in part. "Aaron felt this way and he sealed this belief with his life. We support our son and the cause for which he died." Eleven other Utah National Guard members in Butler's unit were wounded, and several had "pretty bad shrapnel wounds," Maj. Gen. Jefferson Burton said Monday. "The good news is, they're all going to survive," Burton said, though they were mourning the loss of Butler. Three who were in critical condition last week have improved to serious but stable condition, Burton said. The group will remain in Afghanistan, where doctors will monitor them for concussions. Of the 11, eight were from Utah and three from other states, though they all served in the Utah contingent. In Butler's Utah County neighborhood over the weekend, American flags lined homes and streets in remembrance the former Monticello High wrestling champion who had a fiancé at home. On Friday, Butler's remains arrived at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where seven soldiers carried a case off of a military plane in the dark as officers saluted. Butler's remains are expected arrive at the Monticello Airport on Thursday and then travel via motorcade to the San Juan Mortuary in Blanding. Details on events honoring Butler this week:
[edit] Body of Army Sgt. Aaron Butler turned over from the military to his family (24 Aug 2017)Emotional moments were had as a Utah hero returned home. The body of Army Sgt. Aaron Butler -- who was killed in Afghanistan last week -- arrived in Monticello. News Specialist Alex Cabrero was at the Monticello airport when his body was turned over from the military to his family. He says it appears the whole community came out to support them.
[edit] Body of Utah Guardsman killed in Afghanistan returns home (24 Aug 2017)MONTICELLO — Emotional moments Thursday as a Utah hero returned home. The body of Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler, 27, arrived at the Monticello Airport about noon, where family and friends were waiting to welcome him home. “He’s coming home, on his birthday, and I cannot think of a more fitting thing to happen for Aaron at this time,” said his mother, Laura Butler. Her son would have turned 28 Thursday. Butler died in combat Aug. 16 in eastern Afghanistan, authorities said, when he was clearing a booby-trapped building. He was in the Utah National Guard 19th Special Forces and was part of a mission against the Islamic State in Nangarhar Province. The main highway through Monticello and Blanding was lined with yellow ribbons and American flags. Students, residents, friends and many others were there to welcome him home. A motorcade and procession took Butler's body from the airport through Monticello and to the San Juan Mortuary in Blanding. Butler’s funeral will be on Saturday at noon at the Monticello LDS Stake Center in Monticello. Prior to the service, a viewing is scheduled from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Burial will follow at the Monticello City Cemetery.
[edit] Parents of fallen Utah Guardsman say he died doing what he wanted to do (24 Aug 2017)A week after a Green Beret from Utah was killed in action in Afghanistan, Aaron Butler's parents said he died doing what he wanted to do. News Specialist Alex Cabrero reports.
[edit] ‘Indescribably brave’: Monticello soldier's family remembers the love, patriotism that defined his life (26 Aug 2017)MONTICELLO — Looking back, it's clear to Aaron Butler's tight-knit family that the qualities that made the southern Utah native such a remarkable soldier defined his nearly 28 years of life. As a child he had boundless energy and a knack for mischief to match. On the wrestling team he was known for his work ethic and sportsmanship as much as for his four state titles. And to those he loved, he was generous, intelligent, patriotic and protective. Butler, a staff sergeant in the Army National Guard and a member of the elite Green Berets, died clearing a booby-trapped building Aug. 16 in Afghanistan's Nangarhar Province. Butler was laid to rest Saturday in Monticello, not far from his hometown of Boyle, as his parents, siblings, fiancee and military companions celebrated a life well-lived and an inspiring man gone too soon. The funeral service in the church Butler grew up attending was filled to capacity by family and friends from Butler's hometown, as well as his military associates. The service concluded with a tearful graveside ceremony — including a 21-gun salute, the playing of taps and a helicopter flyover — where Butler's family gathered close to the casket to say their goodbyes. Members of Butler's Special Forces group presented Laura Butler, Aaron Butler's mother, with the flag that had draped her son's casket, while two folded flags were touched tenderly to its lid before being given to Butler's sister and fiancee. Shannon Young shared a tribute to her brother's life Saturday, emphasizing that her brother's death fighting in a foreign land is a reminder to Americans of the sacrifices their service members are prepared to make for them. "Aaron's death makes us acutely aware that the war on terror is still very much alive," Young said through tears. "There are soldiers fighting and dying for you and for America. Please don't take your freedoms for granted. Teach your children who and what is being sacrificed for them. The fact is that if these brave men weren't willing to go and fight terrorists there, we would all be fighting them here on our land." Butler had a deep love of country from a very young age, Young said, and by the first grade was adamant he wanted to become a soldier. Quinn Butler, one of Aaron Butler's six brothers, said Butler was recognized by all who knew him as fearless. His only fear, it seemed, was of failing to accomplish his goals, including the goal of becoming a Green Beret. His mother agreed, recounting how the patriotism she saw in her rambunctious son stayed with him as he grew into a passionate and dedicated soldier. "From his early days to his last day, Aaron's greatest desire was to serve his country," Laura Butler said. The mother smiled as she said she believed her son had "packed a lifetime into his mere 28 years." Aaron Butler attended Monticello High School from 2004 to 2008, winning a state title in wrestling each of those years and becoming "a legend" at the school. Just before graduation, Butler enlisted in the Army and completed basic training. In 2009, Butler served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Ghana. Upon returning home, Butler picked his military training and, while he waited between processing times and admission into different military programs, started a career extracting gold in Ghana. Butler not only earned a spot among the Army's Special Forces, but he graduated his courses with honors, Young noted, becoming a Green Beret in January 2016. Young shared messages Saturday from some of Butler's fellow soldiers, including the man who was with him when he died. "Aaron fought with everything he had until the bitter end. Your brother was a definite warrior," the man wrote. Butler's team captain wrote, "Aaron Butler simply was what the rest of us pretend to be: Indescribably brave." Butler is preceded in death by 411 other Special Forces soldiers who have lost their lives in combat since 9/11, Raymond Thomas, 11th Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, said Saturday. Thomas said he didn't know Butler personally, but praised him as one of the top members of an already elite group of soldiers. When Butler met his fiancee, Alex Seagroves, his family said a newfound tenderness was revealed beneath the soldier's focus on his military ambitions. They praised Seagroves for the remarkable impact she had on Butler, promising he would always remain her unseen protector. In her remarks, Seagroves wept as she described the loving messages Butler would leave for her in a journal he kept during the times his military assignments kept them from talking for weeks at a time. In them, she said, he spoke of the future they would have together. "I find great comfort in the words that he left me, but I also find myself longing to fulfill the plans that he had," Seagroves said. She went on to promise, "Aaron will live through me, I will honor him. And every day that I do, anyone I come in contact with will know who he was, and what he did, and how much he meant to everybody." As the family heals, Randy Butler, Aaron Butler's father, thanked all those who have offered support and comfort, including dozens of patriotic strangers who have filled the family's mailbox daily with cards and letters thanking them. The father shared his faith in Jesus Christ and the confidence it gives him that he will see his son again after this life. "When I look at my dear family, I find great comfort to know we all have that potential," Randy Butler said. "I pray that each of us will look at this life that we honor today. You are not only giving a tribute, you are a tribute to him because of the wonderful life you have lived."
[edit] LDS Church NewsLink: https://www.ldschurchnews.com/ [edit] Fallen LDS soldier remembered for his patriotism and endless energy (31 Aug 2017)An LDS solider who was killed in action Aug. 16 in Afghanistan was remembered by those who knew him best as a brave patriot, champion athlete and loyal friend who gave his life defending others. U.S. Army National Guard Staff Sergeant Aaron Butler — a member of the elite Green Berets — died clearing a booby-trapped building in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar Province. A native of Monticello, Utah, Butler, 27, was laid to rest Aug. 26 in his hometown following funeral services in the meetinghouse he grew up attending. The building was filled to capacity by loved ones, friends and military associates. Butler was proud of his small town roots and was beloved, even as a child, for his energy, intelligence and fun-loving spirit. His dedication to country was demonstrated in his choice to join the military. “From his early days to his last day, Aaron’s greatest desire was to serve his country,” said his mother, Laura Butler, in a Deseret News report of the funeral services. From 2004 to 2008, Butler won four consecutive state wrestling titles at Monticello High School before enlisting in the Army. He served as a missionary in Ghana from 2009 to 2011 and then continued with his military career, becoming a Green Beret last year. Butler’s fiancée, Alexandria Seagroves, said in remarks at the funeral that the man she planned to marry often left tender messages for her in his military journal, the Deseret News reported. “Aaron will live through me; I will honor him. And every day that I do, anyone I come in contact with will know who he was, and what he did, and how much he meant to everybody,” she said. Butler’s father, Randy Butler, said his faith in Jesus Christ assures him that he will see his son again. “When I look at my dear family, I find great comfort to know we all have that potential,” he said.
[edit] LDS LivingLink: http://www.ldsliving.com/ [edit] LDS Soldier and Hero Killed in Afghanistan (21 Aug 2017)Latter-day Saint and Special Forces soldier Aaron Butler was killed in action in Afghanistan on August 16, 2017, after entering a booby-trapped building. While Butler and his 12-member team were clearing a building, an explosion went off, killing Butler and injuring 11 other members of the National Guard. A four-time high school state wrestling champion, a Special Forces Green Beret, and a returned missionary who served in Ghana from 2009 to 2011, Butler always dreamed of serving his country. “Aaron was absolutely fearless, selfless, courageous and relentless,” his father, Randy Butler, told the San Juan Record. After Aaron Butler's death, his family released the following statement:
Our prayers are with the Butler family.
[edit] Navy Times[edit] Pentagon identifies Green Beret killed in Afghanistan (17 Aug 2017)The Defense Department on Thursday night released the name of the soldier who was killed this week in Afghanistan. Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler, 27, died Wednesday in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan, from wounds he suffered when an improvised explosive device exploded during combat operations. The incident is under investigation. Butler, of Monticello, Utah, was a Special Forces soldier assigned to the Utah National Guard’s B Company, 1st Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group. Butler had been a member of the Utah Guard since 2008. He deployed to Afghanistan in April. “Ultimately, what we do is very dangerous business,” said Maj. Gen. Jeff Burton, Utah’s adjutant general, in a statement. “Our hearts are broken when we lose one of our own. We know these people personally, they are our friends, we respect them and it’s very painful.” The Green Berets from 1st Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group who are deployed to Afghanistan were on a mission alongside Afghan forces to reduce the presence of ISIS-Khorasan fighters in the country. ISIS-Khorasan is an offshoot of the Islamic State terror group. On Wednesday, Butler was killed and 11 others were wounded while clearing a building. Initial reports indicate the building was wired with explosives, and the soldiers were struck upon entry, according to the Utah Guard. Butler was a Special Forces engineer noncommissioned officer. He joined the Army in April 2008, and after training was assigned to C Company, 1457th Engineer Battalion in Blanding, Utah, according to bio information released by the Guard. In June 2015, Butler transferred to 1st Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group. He arrived at the battalion’s B Company in June 2016. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. This brings the number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan this year to 11, the same number as were killed in all of 2016 in Afghanistan.
[edit] OpsLensLink: https://www.opslens.com/ [edit] A Tragic Week for American Special Forces (21 Aug 2017) An Army Special Forces team from Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group (Airborne) was hit this week while clearing a reportedly booby-trapped structure in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan. Initial reports, to include from the Governor of Utah, stated that the entire 12 man team had been casualties, to include the fatal wounding of SSG Aaron Butler. Later, one of the mothers of the wounded Green Berets stated that there had been a total of seven operators wounded by the blast; it is unclear if that includes SSG Butler. The ODA was based out of Camp Williams, Utah and was deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. Nine of the ODA’s members were from Utah, the others calling surrounding states their homes. According to Tris Murray, the mother of Wren Murray, her son was one of the Special Forces soldiers wounded in the explosion. According to Mrs. Murray, the team was clearing a mosque after receiving intel that ISIS-K fighters were inside. During the clearing operation, there was an explosive detonation. According to Murray’s father Scott, “The report that we got is Wren was trying to help people and shooting back at the same time.” Wren received a head injury and shrapnel wounds to the neck and arms. Wren’s teammate, SSG Aaron Rhett Butler of Monticello, Utah was killed in the blast. The 27 year old’s death brings the total number of Americans killed in action in Afghanistan this year to ten. In 2016, a total of nine American service members were killed in Afghanistan. Seven of 2017’s fatalities occurred during combat operations against ISIS-K in the eastern part of Afghanistan. SSG Butler is the fifth resident of San Juan County, Utah to be killed in action since September 11th, 2001; two of the fallen were also Special Operations veterans: Navel SEAL Jason Workman was killed in action on August 5th, 2011 in Afghanistan and Green Beret Nathan Winder was KIA in Iraq in 2007. A recent graduate of the United States Army Qualification Course, this was Butler’s first combat deployment but not his first time overseas; Butler served as a missionary for the Mormon church in Ghana from 2009 to 2011, before joining the military. Butler’s role on his team was as an 18C, a Special Forces Engineer Sergeant. In his role as a Charlie, he would have been taking the lead on dealing with any possible booby-traps or explosive devices. His high school wrestling coach stated that Butler “wasn’t a sit-in-the-back-row kind of guy. That’s probably why he got killed, because he was the first one through the door. That was his nature: I’ll handle it for you, I’ll take care of it. He was a leader. He wasn’t a follower.” Aaron Butler would have turned 28 this coming Thursday. Instead his family is left to grieve and remember a man they call “a strength to us, and inspiration to those around him, and a joy to have in our family.” His father Randy said that his son was a champion high school wrestler who had always dreamed of a career in the military. He leaves behind both of his parents, eight siblings, and his fiancée. His father has said that his son was “absolutely fearless, selfless, courageous, and relentless.” His funeral is tentatively planned for Saturday, August 26th.
[edit] Salt Lake Tribune
[edit] Utah governor extols National Guard staff sergeant killed in booby-trapped Afghanistan building as ‘one of Utah’s best’ (17 Aug 2017)Draper. The 27-year-old Utah Special Forces soldier killed Wednesday fighting Islamic State group loyalists in Afghanistan had always dreamed of joining the military, his family said. Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler, of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group, was a four-time state wrestling champion who served a Mormon mission in Ghana after graduating from Monticello High School in 2008. He later became a Green Beret — one of only four soldiers who graduated with honors from the elite Army special forces qualification course in 2016, family members said in a Thursday statement. “Aaron was absolutely fearless, selfless, courageous and relentless,” said his father, Randy Butler. Aaron Butler and 11 of his fellow Utah Army National Guard members were clearing a building in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday — working alongside the Afghan army to root out extremists — when the structure exploded. The booby trap killed Butler and injured the rest of the team, Gov. Gary Herbert said at a Thursday morning news conference at the Utah National Guard headquarters in Draper.  The governor’s office released a statement Thursday night, saying he and his wife, Jeanette Herbert, ”join all Utahns in grieving for him and honoring his sacrifice — the ultimate sacrifice,” calling Butler ”one of Utah’s best.” Names and conditions of the other Utah Guard members hurt in the blast were not released Thursday; Herbert said additional information would come from the Department of Defense. The governor said he was calling the families of the soldiers Thursday, telling them “of our concern, our support and our condolences.” He ordered Utah and U.S. flags to be at half staff Friday. The 12-member Utah National Guard team is made of nine Utahns. The other three hail from states adjacent to Utah and fly to the Beehive State to train and when they deploy, Utah Guard spokeswoman Ileen Kennedy said. In recent years, the elite Utah-based 19th Special Forces Group has deployed to Afghanistan many times to fight alongside that country’s military. In January 2016, a unit from the group, based at Camp Williams in Bluffdale, was in a battle in which a soldier from Washington was killed. “It is a reminder to all of us that the war on terror continues,” Herbert said of Butler’s death. “We have not had a [Utah Guard] fatality since 2010, so we think things are maybe not as severe as they really are. Our men and women are serving in very difficult places throughout the world.” The Utah team had been working alongside the Afghan army on a ground mission in Nangarhar Province, working to push out the Islamic State affiliate in the region, known as Khorosan, or ISIS-K, officials said. Kennedy said Thursday she was unsure, and could not find out, if the wounded were still being treated in Afghanistan or if they had been moved elsewhere. “The Army values are ‘Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless-Service, Honor, Integrity, Personal Courage,’” the Butler family wrote in their statement. “Aaron Butler personified those values in everything he said and did.” The statement from Aaron Butler’s parents and seven siblings noted that while his ”life that was all too brief, our dear son and brother made the ultimate sacrifice for his country.” Bill Boyle, the local newspaper editor and a close friend and neighbor of the family, said Butler joined the Utah Guard while still in high school. And he was a ”legendary” wrestler, Boyle said, so much so that many of his competitors quickly realized ”no one could touch him.” Boyle recalled Butler seriously injuring his leg during his junior year. Butler wouldn’t give in. Still working through his rehabilitation, he hobbled through the championship match on just one strong leg and won yet another state title. ”There are lots of stories of his strength, and determination, and ability to fight through all kind of obstacles to reach his goal,” Boyle said. Members of Utah’s congressional delegation sent out statements and tweets supporting Butler and his comrades Thursday, all saying they were praying and thinking of the family, and were grateful for the sacrifice the soldiers made. Rep. Chris Stewart, a former Air Force pilot, tweeted that the explosion was a “reminder that we live in a dangerous world.” Meanwhile, residents of Monticello, population 2,200, mourned the loss of one of their own. A KUTV reporter tweeted a picture of neighbors placing American flags on the Butler’s front lawn, and a candlelight vigil was planned Thursday night. Boyle helped the family write a statement in the morning, wrote his own news story about the death, then fielded calls from reporters around the state as the family’s spokesman. “Our hearts are broken. We are devastated,” the San Juan County commissioners said in a statement. “Always with us never forgotten. We love you, Aaron!” Butler‘s high school wresting team, the Buckaroos, wrote on Facebook. The Utah National Guard has more than 130 members operating in the Central Command region, which includes Afghanistan, Iraq, and several other countries in the Middle East, northern Africa and Asia, said Maj. Gen. Jefferson Burton, adjutant general of the Utah National Guard. That’s out of a total of 193 Utah Guard soldiers and airmen deployed abroad. The last Utah National Guard soldier to be killed in action was Sgt. 1st Class James Thode, a 45-year-old police sergeant from Farmington, N.M., who died in December 2010 from a roadside bomb. His unit was clearing land mines in Afghanistan’s Khowst province. The last time any Utah service member was killed in combat was in 2013, when 21-year-old Army medic Pfc. Cody Towse, of Salem, became the victim of an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan. Eleven U.S. service members have died in Afghanistan this year, up from 10 in 2016. The Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan is known as ISIS-K, and is a branch of the terrorist organization’s primary base in Iraq and Syria. Afghan and U.S. forces launched a major offensive against ISIS-K in March, according to the Department of Defense. In April and July, American airstrikes — including the so-called mother of all bombs — killed several of the group’s leaders. About 8,400 U.S. troops remain in Afghanistan after nearly 16 years there. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence were scheduled to discuss strategy on the war in Afghanistan with their national security team at Camp David in Maryland on Friday. The strategy could include sending roughly 3,800 more troops to help the Afghan army, which has struggled to turn back Taliban and Islamic State fighters on their own, according to the Associated Press. “We appreciate the patriotism, the courage of our men and women in uniform,” Herbert said. “And it’s something we as Utahns ought not to forget, and always remember, [to] keep them all in our prayers for their safety and well-being.” Butler’s body is being flown to Dover, Md. Plans are being made for a funeral. “Aaron was a strength to us, an inspiration to those around him, and a joy to have in our family,” his family wrote.
[edit] Funeral for Utah National Guardsman who died in Afghanistan set for Saturday (22 Aug 2017)Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler will be buried Saturday in his hometown of Monticello, his family announced Monday. Butler, a soldier in Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group of the Utah National Guard, died in action Wednesday in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan. Butler’s body will arrive Thursday in Monticello with a procession. Thursday would have been Butler’s 28th birthday. A viewing is scheduled from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday. Butler’s funeral will follow at noon at the Monticello LDS Stake Center at 165 S. Main St.in Monticello. The soldier will be buried following the ceremony in the Monticello City Cemetery. Butler and 11 of his fellow Utah Army National Guard members were clearing a building in eastern Afghanistan when the structure exploded. The booby trap killed Butler and injured the rest of the team, Gov. Gary Herbert said Thursday. Following President Donald Trump’s Monday night address announcing new strategies for Afghanistan, Butler’s family members, Randy and Laura Butler, issued the following statement: “Aaron believed that if military leaders thought changes in our strategy would increase the efficiency of U.S. operations in Afghanistan, he would be all for it, even if it required additional sacrifice. “Our loss is painful and agonizing, but it will be even worse for the nation if we don’t stand up and take steps to stop the spread of terrorism. Aaron felt this way and he sealed this belief with his life. We support our son and the cause for which he died. “Aaron was passionate about his patriotism. It ran deep and was an integral part of who he was. He was willing to defend the country against terrorism, at the point of greatest risk, in order to defend freedom, liberty and our blessings. Aaron died doing what he truly believed in. It was what he wanted to do.” A candlelight vigil is also planned for Tuesday night from 8 to 9 p.m. at Heritage Park, 4425 W. Cedar Hills Drive in Cedar Hills. According to a post on the event page, Butler grew up in Monticello but had recently moved to Cedar Hills with his fiancee before his deployment.
[edit] Aaron Butler, killed in Afghanistan, gets a hero’s welcome in his small Utah hometown (24 Aug 2017) Monticello. It seemed nearly every resident of this small southern Utah city was standing on Main Street early Thursday afternoon. They came to welcome home Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler, the Utah National Guard soldier killed by Islamic State group fighters in Afghanistan last week. Butler’s remains arrived at Monticello City Airport just before noon, then were transported 25 miles via motorcade to San Juan Mortuary in Blanding ahead of a Saturday funeral. Along the route, hundreds of American flags and dozens of homemade signs, many held by schoolchildren, sent a clear message: We’re proud a man as brave as Butler grew up here. “If you said he couldn’t do it, he’d go and do it,” Monticello resident Paul Mantz said of Butler. Mantz is retired from the Utah Guard and had mentored Butler, encouraging him to join the elite 19th Special Forces Group several years ago. “He was very intelligent, and he was extremely athletic — just an extremely talented young man,” Mantz said of his 27-year-old protégé. “He was a person I loved and respected.” Butler was killed and 11 of his fellow Utah National Guard members were injured Aug. 16 in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan. The group had been clearing a building looking for Islamic State loyalists, but the structure had been booby-trapped and exploded. The injured are expected to survive, with the conditions of the three most severely hurt recently upgraded from critical to serious, Utah National Guard public affairs officer Lt. Col. Steven Fairbourn said earlier this week. After Butler’s American flag-draped casket was lifted off the airplane Thursday, his parents, Laura and Randy Butler, and his fiancee, Alexandria Seagroves, slowly approached. Seagroves bent over the casket and cried. The three were soon joined by several of Butler’s seven siblings, arm in arm. The last time the Butlers had seen their son was in April, just before his deployment. He stopped in with his fellow soldiers at the family business, Randy’s Auto, as the team was on its way to Texas. Laura Butler made the group chocolate-chip cookies, and the Butlers were able to briefly visit with their son, assuring him things would be fine at home while he was gone. Mantz recalled hearing the news that a Utah National Guard team had been attacked in Afghanistan last week. He quickly went to the Butler home to see if the family members had any news. “I wanted to know if they’d heard from him, so I’d quit worrying,” he said. The family members had not heard anything and were not overly concerned, Mantz said. But shortly after he left, he said, the Butlers got word that Aaron had been killed — the 11th U.S. service member to die in Afghanistan this year, and the first Utahn to die in combat since 2013. Mantz noted that Butler is the fifth San Juan County resident to be killed fighting the war on terror — and three of them, counting Butler, were in special operations units. Jason Workman, a Navy SEAL from Blanding, was killed in Afghanistan in 2011 when a helicopter he was riding in was shot down. Sgt. 1st Class Nathan Winder, an Army Special Forces combat medic from Blanding, was killed in 2007 in Iraq from enemy fire. Gov. Gary Herbert on Thursday ordered American and Utah flags to be lowered Saturday in honor of Butler’s funeral. It is scheduled for noon at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stake center (a large Mormon meetinghouse) in Monticello (population 2,200). A viewing is scheduled from 9 to 11:30 a.m., with burial to follow at the Monticello City Cemetery. Monticello High School students Braxton Atwood, 17, and Brevin Olson, 14, watched Thursday as the motorcade carrying Butler’s remains passed by. Many years separate their tenure at the school from Butler’s. But both have heard inspirational stories about Butler, and know his family. And both are wrestlers, as Butler was. Atwood said a large banner memorializing Butler’s four state championships still hangs proudly at the school. “I look up to him,” Olson said. “He was one of the greatest.”
[edit] ‘He showed us how to live’: Family lays fallen Utah soldier Aaron Butler to rest (27 Aug 2017)Monticello • If Aaron Butler were to give his own eulogy, his sister said, it would have been simple: “I came. I lived. I killed bad guys. I died.” But Shannon Young had much more than that to say about her kid brother at his funeral here on Saturday. She sketched out the 27 years of a championship athlete, an avid outdoorsman, a fast learner, a loving brother — and a man who accomplished his lifelong dream becoming an elite American soldier.  “Bravery was a quality rooted deep inside him,” Young said. “He showed us how to live,” added his brother Shane Butler. More than 1,000 people gathered in this small southern Utah town Saturday for the funeral service of Staff Sgt. Butler, the first Utahn killed in combat since 2013. They packed into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stake center, overflowing the chapel, the basketball court and other rooms where the service was streamed live. On Aug. 16, Butler and his teammates in Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group of the Utah National Guard were clearing a building in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan, searching for Islamic State loyalists. But the structure had been booby-trapped, and exploded, killing Butler and injuring his 11 teammates. Dozens of Butler’s fellow Green Berets — and one of his teammates, who had been at the scene of the explosion — were in attendance. Staff Sgt. Trevor Bell accompanied his comrade’s remains from Afghanistan to the U.S., spending the past few days in Monticello. At the service, Bell recalled a teammate who wasn’t afraid to stand up to his superiors when he felt something was wrong. He told of a guy who would gather his fellow soldiers around to entertain them with stories of his life growing up in Monticello, or tales of serving as a Mormon missionary in Ghana. “You could sense he was different — in all the best ways possible,” Bell said, beginning to tear up. “We lost an incredible man, teammate, friend.” Another of his Special Forces teammates told Butler’s sister that he had “fought with everything he had to the very end.” “Your brother was a warrior,” the teammate told Young. “Some guys try to be alpha males — but Aaron naturally was one.” Young said Butler could seem a little wild as a teenager. He was already obsessed with the military and was known to sometimes ask family members: “Anyone want to go blow something up?” Then there was Butler’s rugged work ethic, Young said. He always stayed after wrestling practice to work out or mentor his teammates. It paid off in the form of four state wrestling titles — making him one of only a handful of Utahns to ever accomplish the feat. Butler also picked up new skills quickly, Young said, including mastering a second language, a requirement to join the Special Forces. Each of Butler’s brothers urged the crowd to live by his example — to say less and do more, Quinn Butler said, and to be “relentless” in the pursuit of your goals, as Chad Butler put it. “He has been a protector his entire life,” said Butler’s only younger sibling, Adam Butler. “He kept me safe when I was small.” Alexandria Seagroves, Butler’s fiancee, read a poem he wrote for her. For years his sole focus in life had been to join the Green Berets, he said. Then he met her — and his perspective on life suddenly shifted. Young said Seagroves had brought out her brother’s “soft and tender side,” which the family had never seen before. “I feel like I’ve lost the love of my life,” Seagroves said, almost whispering as she choked up. “But Aaron will live through me. I know I’ll see him again.” Randy Butler, Aaron’s father, said the past few days have been the hardest of his life. But the support of the tight-knit community — including more than 100 people who stopped by the Butler home the day after Aaron was killed to offer condolences and food — have buoyed his spirits. The family had also received cards and other messages from around the country, he said, thanking them for raising such a fine young man.  The crowd, along with Butler’s remains, eventually moved several blocks down the road, to Monticello City Cemetery. Rows of Green Berets stood near the gravesite, as a half-mast flag flapped nearby under blue skies and a stiff breeze. As the ceremony ended, Butler’s mother and sister flanked a sobbing Seagroves, working to comfort her, and themselves. The funeral capped several days of mourning and celebrating Butler’s life in Monticello. On Thursday, hundreds of residents stood on Main Street and waved American flags as his remains arrived at Monticello City Airport and were driven to a mortuary in Blanding. Gov. Gary Herbert visited the family. Meanwhile, yellow ribbons were tied to trees and light posts in both cities, and many businesses placed signs in their windows thanking Butler for his service. Late Saturday afternoon, a long day of stories and ceremony finished, the Butler family issued a statement: ”The family of Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler expresses their deep gratitude for the remarkable outpouring of love and support from friends, community, the military, the state of Utah and the American people. It has been a wonderful tribute to Aaron, his life and his service.” In central Monticello, there is a veteran’s memorial, with a few dozen names of San Juan County soldiers killed in combat over the decades. In the lower right hand corner are the four San Juan residents killed since the Sept. 11 attacks: Quinn Keith, Nathan Winder, James Thode and Jason Workman. Soon, Butler’s name will be carved into the monument. “Aaron’s death,” his sister said, “makes us acutely aware that the war on terror lives on.”
[edit] San Francisco Chronicle[edit] US soldier killed in battle with IS in Afghanistan (18 Aug 2017)KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An American soldier was killed and several others were wounded in a battle with Islamic State militants in eastern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said. The military said in a statement that several Afghan forces were also wounded in the fighting on Wednesday in the Achin district of the Nangarhar province, a militant stronghold. It did not specify how many forces were wounded. And in three southern provinces, Taliban attacks on Wednesday killed a total of three civilians and 15 Afghan policemen, Afghan officials said Thursday. The Utah National Guard said the American soldier who died was one of its members and that 11 other National Guardsmen were among the wounded. The names were withheld pending notification of family members. He was clearing a building when a booby trap exploded, killed him and injured the other 11 members of the team, said Utah Gov. Gary Herbert. The wounded soldiers were evacuated for medical treatment. The family of the slain solider identified him as Aaron Butler, 27, of Monticello, Utah. His father Randy Butler said in a statement he was a champion high school wrestler who became a Green Beret after graduating from the U.S. Army Special Forces qualification course with honors in 2016. Islamic State militants have gained a foothold in recent years in Afghanistan, where they have battled U.S.-backed government forces as well as the more established Taliban. The IS affiliate largely consists of disgruntled former Taliban insurgents, and has clashed with the larger group over leadership and ideology. Elsewhere in Afghanistan, a suicide car bomber killed three civilians while trying to attack an Afghan army base in the southern Helmand province late on Wednesday. Omar Zwak, spokesman for the provincial governor, said the attacker and three other militants approached the base before guards opened fire on them, killing the three who were on foot. Three soldiers were wounded in the blast. In southern Kandahar province, Taliban fighters stormed police checkpoints in two districts late on Wednesday, killing seven policemen and wounding nine, according to Zia Durani, spokesman for the provincial governor. He said 19 Taliban were killed in the ensuing clashes. And in southern Zabul province, the Taliban attacked a police base, killing eight policemen. A police official, Asif Tokhi, said the attack started on Wednesday night, along the Zabul-Kandahar highway, where the base is located. Fighting there continued into the morning Thursday, he said. Along with the eight killed, three policemen were also wounded, and 12 Taliban fighters were also killed, Tokhi added. The Taliban made no statements on the latest attacks. On Tuesday, the Taliban released an "open letter" to President Donald Trump, reiterating their calls for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan after 16 years of war and warning against new U.S. military buildup in Afghanistan. Trump has so far resisted the Pentagon's recommendations to send almost 4,000 more to expand training of Afghan military forces and bolster U.S. counterterrorism operations. The deployment has been held up amid broader strategy questions, including how to engage regional powers in an effort to stabilize Afghanistan.
[edit] San Juan Record
[edit] Local soldier killed in Afghanistan (17 Aug 2017)Aaron Butler, a Special Forces soldier from Monticello, was killed in action in Afghanistan on August 16, 2017. Butler, age 27, was killed when he entered a booby-trapped building that exploded while his group was fighting members of the Islamic State in eastern Afghanistan. The twelve-member team is part of the Utah National Guard. The other eleven soldiers were injured in the explosion. Officials state that they are expected to recover. The group was working with members of the Afghan Army on a ground mission. Funeral services will begin at noon on Saturday, August 26 at the LDS Stake Center in Monticello. A viewing will be held at the stake center from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Interment will follow at the Monticello City Cemetery. The casket carrying the body of Aaron Butler will be flown from Dover, DE to the Monticello Airport on Thursday, August 24. The plane is set to arrive at noon. A procession will take the casket along Highway 191, including the Main streets in Monticello and Blanding, to the San Juan Mortuary in Blanding. Aaron Butler always dreamed of serving in the US Military. He was a Special Forces Green Beret. Butler graduated from the Army Green Beret Special Forces Qualification Course in January, 2016. Of the more than 100 graduates of the course, he is one of four who graduated with honors. Approximately 90 percent of soldiers who begin Special Forces training do not complete the process. “Aaron was absolutely fearless, selfless, courageous and relentless,” said his father, Randy Butler. The Butler family has released the following statement: “The Army values are: ‘Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless-Service, Honor, Integrity, Personal Courage’. Aaron Butler personified those values in everything he said and did. “In a life that was all too brief, our dear son and brother made the ultimate sacrifice for his country. While we are heartbroken to become a Gold Star family, we honor Aaron’s service and sacrifice. “Aaron was a strength to us, an inspiration to those around him, and a joy to have in our family.” Nearly 300 local residents attended an impromptu candle lighting and memorial service on August 17 at Veterans Memorial Park in Monticello. The family reports that there has been an incredible outpouring of love and support expressed through personal condolences, social media posts and acts of service. US flags and yellow ribbons have been placed throughout the community and in Aaron’s neighborhood in Cedar Hills, UT. Nearly 20 US flags are on display in the front yard of the Butler home in Monticello. Maj. Gen. Jefferson Burton, adjutant general of the Utah National Guard, said, “My heart aches for the loss and sacrifice of our members and their families. “I know that what we do is dangerous and important work for our country’s defense, but this realization does little to console me during times of loss such as this.” Senator Mike Lee said, “My heart goes out to the Butler family on the loss of their son Aaron. I am very grateful for all our service men and women who put their lives on the line for our nation.” Governor Gary R. Herbert said, “Jeanette and I were heartbroken to hear of the passing of one of Utah’s best, Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler. Our hearts ache for his family, friends and loved ones, and they will long be on our minds and in our prayers.” Aaron Butler is the fifth San Juan County resident to be killed in the War on Terror. Navy Seal Jason Workman, of Blanding, was killed in action in Maidan Wardak province, Afghanistan on August 5, 2011. Workman was a member of the elite Seal Team Six. Sgt. 1st Class James Thode, a Farmington, NM resident who was assigned to the National Guard unit in San Juan County, died in 2010 from a roadside bomb in Afghanistan’s Khowst province. Sgt 1st Class Nathan L Winder, of Blanding, died in 2007 near Diwaniyah, Iraq. Winder was a Special Forces medic. Lance Cpl. Quinn A. Keith, of Blanding, was killed on September 6, 2004 near Fallujah, Iraq
[edit] Funeral services confirmed for Aaron Butler (21 Aug 2017)Funeral services for Aaron Butler will begin at noon on Saturday, August 26 at the Monticello LDS Stake Center in Monticello, UT. A viewing will be held from 9 to 11:30 a.m. and interment will follow in the Monticello City Cemetery. Butler’s body is scheduled to arrive at the Monticello Airport on Thursday, August 24. A motorcade will travel through Monticello and take the body to the San Juan Mortuary in Blanding, UT. The time has yet to be determined. Staff Sgt Aaron Butler was killed in action on August 16 in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan. The 27-year-old soldier from Monticello is a member of the Green Beret Special Forces. Butler was assigned to the Utah National Guard 19th Special Forces group. [edit] Family sits down to discuss fallen soldier Aaron Butler (23 Aug 2017)“I don't know if he understood fear like the rest of us,” are the words Randy Butler used to describe his son, Aaron. Aaron Butler will be laid to rest on Saturday, August 26. The special forces Green Beret was killed in action in Afghanistan in August on August 16. On August 23, the Butler family sat down with the media to discuss their son. Randy Butler described his son as being full of passion. “This young man came to us with an abundance – I would say a super abundance – of passion. He has passion from head to toe. "Everything Aaron did, he did with passion. He had a natural passion to be a defender.” Laura added, “Aaron had a warrior's heart, and he still has a warrior's heart but it is on a different battlefield with a higher purpose.” Aaron Butler grew up in Monticello in a large family with six brothers and a sister. He was well known for his enthusiasm, dedication and fearlessness. He was one of a handful of wrestlers to claim a state championship in all four years of high school. He also served a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Ghana. Aaron Butler's fiancé, Alexandria Seagroves, also discussed her feelings. Seagroves and Aaron met in North Carolina while he was completing special forces training. She is from a military family and said she was surprised when Aaron, who she thought was clearly from the military, initially told her he was in training to be an insurance agent. Seagroves adds that by the second day the teasing had stopped and they had shared their life stories. “Some people say Aaron was rough around the edges, but I never saw that,” said Seagroves. “He was always so caring. He had a huge heart and that made it so easy for me to move out here to Utah.” Seagroves described how Butler proposed to her from Afghanistan. “We were talking about something extremely random and I was looking away. He said, ‘Alex, I want you to look at me real quick.’ “I turned, we were Facetiming, and he was down on one knee. I laughed and said 'Of course,' and told him he had to do it right. He said he had already called my dad.” Discussing his sacrifice, Seagroves said “I am so proud of him and his brothers in Afghanistan.” Laura Butler said they were incredibly excited to go to North Carolina when Aaron received his green beret at the end of special forces training, but added, “I was even more excited to see and meet the woman who turned Aaron’s head.” When asked if the family feared that Aaron would be injured or killed, Laura Butler said, “You can't help but think about it.” “We found out that each one of the family tried to talk him out of it, but this is what he was born to do. I believed it with all my heart and soul and he believed it more than me. "Aaron lives on the edge, he always did and I knew he always would. But he walked that line to protect us and make sure we didn't go over the edge.” Butler's body is scheduled to arrive in Monticello tomorrow, August 24, which is also his 28th birthday. Laura Butler said, “He is coming home on his birthday. I cannot think of a more fitting thing to happen for Aaron at this time. Someone said, ‘Aaron must have pulled some strings.’ Nah, Aaron doesn't pull strings, he knocks heads.” When asked what they would say if they had two more minutes with their son, Randy Butler said, “I would tell him ‘I love you dearly.’ I wish I would have said it more.” Laura Butler said she would tell Aaron that "we were okay." Laura describes her last interaction with Aaron, who traveled with his special forces team through Monticello on the way to deployment in Texas. “Aaron said he probably wouldn't stop but I promised him I would bake cookies if he did. When the team arrived they were so happy that I had baked the cookies.” Butler adds, “In a very brief interaction, you could feel the caliber of the young men in his team.” Randy Butler said that we live in a greatly blessed country and talked to parents whose children have expressed an interest in the military. “Help your kids search out if they have an interest in military service,” said Randy. “Only one of our eight children served in the military, but this one jumped in head and shoulders all the way. “It really helps to know that no matter what, this is what he wanted.” When asked how the family would move forward, the parents said, “Aaron would say, ‘You need to live your lives just like you been doing. You don't want to live a sad life.” “Aaron would say to go after your pursuits with even greater passion,” said Randy Butler.
[edit] 2017 Story of the Year: Sergeant Aaron Butler (27 Dec 2017)It was a remarkable year full of remarkable stories: dominated by the Bears Ears controversy, and including voting rights issues. The “end game” for these events will play out in the future. At the current time, they remain controversial and divisive for many area residents. However, our story of the year is a story that united and inspired San Juan County. Our story of the year is the death of Special Forces Sgt Aaron Butler of Monticello. Butler, age 27, was killed on August 16 when he entered a booby-trapped building that exploded while his group was fighting the Islamic State in eastern Afghanistan. San Juan County – and it seemed the entire State of Utah – honored Aaron and mourned the loss of a hero. It was both heartbreaking and inspiring. His body returned home on his 28th birthday and he was buried with full military honors. While life goes on, much has changed in the four months since those remarkable events. Family and friends are left to pick up the pieces and move on. Aaron’s fiancé, Alex Seagroves, has started a nursing program and is living on the Wasatch Front. For Aaron’s parents, Randy and Laura Butler, the past four months have been bittersweet. They have attended a host of events that honored the life of their son. They have also sought comfort while dealing with the loss of a remarkable life that was cut short too soon. Laura Butler found the following materials while she was going through Aaron’s belongings. They were written by Aaron in June, 2014 as part of an assignment while he was going through a Special Forces training program. Q: What was it in your life that made you want to be in Special Forces?
Q: What do you expect out of the Qualification course?
Q: What do you expect out of Group?
In addition to the journal entries, Aaron also had a note card that contained inspiring quotes. They include:
[edit] SpecialOperations.com[edit] Green Beret From 19th Special Forces Group Killed in Afghanistan (18 Aug 2017)One American Special Forces soldier was killed and 11 others wounded during a battle with Islamic State fighters in eastern Afghanistan according to US military sources. SSG Aaron Butler was killed and his teammates injured as he was clearing a building when a booby trap exploded, killing him and injuring several of his teammates according to Utah Governor Gary Hebert. Butler was assigned to the 1st Bn, 19th SFG(A), a Utah National Guard unit but was a full-time soldier and was the honor graduate of his Special Forces Qualification Course, graduating in 2016. The military said in a statement that several Afghan forces were also wounded in the fighting on Wednesday in the Achin district of the Nangarhar province, a militant stronghold. It did not specify how many forces were wounded. And in three southern provinces, Taliban attacks on Wednesday killed a total of three civilians and 15 Afghan policemen, Afghan officials said Thursday. The Utah National Guard said the American soldier who died was one of its members and that 11 other National Guardsmen were among the wounded. The names were withheld pending notification of family members. Butler was a former high school champion wrestler and had stated back then, that his desire was to someday become a Special Forces operator. His friends and family described him as a “force of nature” and a “leader, not a sit in the back kind of guy.” Funeral services are pending but tentatively scheduled for next Saturday, Aug. 26.
[edit] Stars and Stripes[edit] Utah guardsman killed battling ISIS in eastern Afghanistan (16 Aug 2017)A U.S. servicemember died Wednesday after being wounded during operations with Afghan forces in eastern Afghanistan, the military said. The Utah National Guard said the slain soldier was one of its members and several other National Guardsmen were wounded. “Today we lost one soldier from the Utah National Guard,” Maj. Gen. Burton said, according to news reports. “Initially it was seven wounded, that number has gone up to eleven.” The wounded were evacuated for treatment, the military said. The servicemembers’ names were withheld pending notification of family members. The operation was “aimed at further reducing Islamic State of Iraq and Syria-Khorasan presence” in the country, the military said, referring to the Central Asian Islamic State affiliate also known as ISIS-K. U.S. forces, as part of a counterterrorism operation, have been assisting the Afghan government in efforts to defeat the group, which has maintained a foothold in eastern Afghan provinces near the border with Pakistan. ISIS-K has conducted several deadly attacks throughout the country this year. Wednesday’s death is the third U.S. combat fatality this month, following an attack on a NATO convoy in Kandahar province on Aug. 2 that killed two soldiers and wounded four others. The military did not specify where the operation was being conducted Wednesday, beyond saying it was in eastern Afghanistan. At least six of the other nine combat fatalities so far this year have occurred in eastern Nangarhar province, where troops have been battling ISIS-K in recent months. In April, U.S. forces dropped the “mother of all bombs” – the largest conventional bomb ever deployed in combat – to destroy a series of Islamic State caves in a mountainous area in that province along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, where sustained firefights with ISIS militants had taken place and just days after the first U.S. combat death of the year had occurred. The U.S. has made it a priority to defeat ISIS-K in Afghanistan this year. Earlier this week, when the military announced that it had killed a senior leader in the group, Gen. John Nicholson, commander of U.S. forces in the country, said the U.S. “will hunt them down until they are no longer a threat to the Afghan people and the region.”
[edit] Family identifies US soldier killed in booby-trapped building in eastern Afghanistan (17 Aug 2017) The incident occurred Wednesday while a 12-soldier team was on patrol with Afghan troops battling the Islamic State, which has established a foothold in the eastern part of the country and has carried out several deadly attacks elsewhere in Afghanistan. The building was being cleared “for safety reasons," but it was booby-trapped with explosives, Herbert said in a Thursday morning news conference. The wounded suffered “various degrees of injuries,” he said, but he could provide no further information. U.S. Forces-Afghanistan said earlier that the wounded, which also included Afghan troops, had been medically evacuated. “It’s a tragedy for them and a tragedy for all of us,” Herbert said, adding that he would contact victims’ families to offer condolences. “It also is a reminder to all of us that the war on terror continues.” The family of the slain solider identified him as Aaron Butler, 27, of Monticello, Utah, the Associated Press reported. His father Randy Butler said in a statement he was a champion high school wrestler who became a Green Beret after graduating from the U.S. Army Special Forces qualification course with honors in 2016. “Aaron was absolutely fearless, selfless, courageous and relentless,” his father told the Salt Lake Tribune. Of about 190 Utah National Guard soldiers and airmen now deployed, about 130 are in the Central Command area of operations. At least three of the wounded are not Utah residents but serve in the state’s guard unit. In recent months, U.S. forces have been assisting Afghan troops in battling a Central Asian ISIS affiliate, known as ISIS-K, in eastern Afghanistan. The U.S. has made it a priority to defeat the group in the country this year. At least six of the nine other U.S. combat deaths this year before Wednesday occurred in Nangarhar province, near the border with Pakistan. Wednesday’s death is the first servicemember from Utah killed in action since May 2014, when Pfc. Cody J. Towse, a member of the Army’s 1st Armored Division, was killed by a roadside bomb in southern Kandahar province. It was the first combat fatality for the Utah National Guard in Afghanistan since 2010, when Sgt. 1st Class James Thode of the 118th Sapper Company was killed by a roadside bomb in eastern Khost province, Herbert said.
[edit] Funeral set for Utah soldier killed in Afghanistan (21 Aug 2017) SALT LAKE CITY — Funeral services have been scheduled for a Utah soldier killed in a battle with Islamic State militants in Afghanistan. The family of 27-year-old Aaron Butler says services will be held Saturday at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stake center in his hometown of Monticello. The Butler family says the Green Beret was a champion high school wrestler who always dreamed of joining the military and qualified for the U.S. Army Special Forces with honors last year. His viewing is set for Saturday morning, followed by a funeral at noon. He will be buried at the Monticello City Cemetery. Authorities say the other 11 members of Butler's Utah National Guard team were injured in the Aug. 16 explosion that killed him in eastern Afghanistan.
[edit] United Press International[edit] Utah National Guard member killed in Afghanistan (17 Aug 2017)UPI) -- A member of the Utah National Guard was killed during a military operation in Afghanistan, the U.S. military said Thursday. The slain soldier was identified as Aaron Butler, 27, his family confirmed to KSL-TV, Salt Lake City. "The Army values are loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, personal courage," the Butler family said in a prepared statement. "Aaron Butler personified those values in everything he said and did. In a life that was all too brief, our dear son and brother made the ultimate sacrifice for his country." The family added: "While we are heartbroken to become a gold star family, we honor Aaron's service and sacrifice. Aaron was a strength to us, an inspiration to those around him, and a joy to have in our family." Butler was killed during an operation "aimed at further reducing Islamic State of Iraq and Syria-Khorasan presence" in Afghanistan, according to Stars & Stripes. "Syria-Khorasan" refers to the Central Asian Islamic State affiliate. The Salt Lake Tribune reported that Butler and 11 other Utah Army National Guard members were clearing a building alongside the Afghan army when the structure exploded. The booby trap killed Butler and injured the others. Butler's death is the third U.S. combat fatality in Afghanistan this month. On Sunday, Sgt. Roshain Euvince Brooks, 30, of Brooklyn, N.Y. and Spc. Allen Levi Stigler Jr., 22, of Arlington, Texas were killed. Details of their death have not yet been released by the U.S. Army. Since the U.S. military invaded Afghanistan in 2001, there have been more than 2,400 American combat deaths.
[edit] Washington PostLink: https://www.washingtonpost.com/ [edit] A U.S. service member is killed, others wounded, fighting ISIS in Afghanistan (16 Aug 2017)An American service member was killed Wednesday and an unspecific number wounded while battling Islamic State loyalists in eastern Afghanistan. Members of the Afghan army also sustained casualties in what the U.S. military characterized as a partnered operation. Officials in Kabul have said little else about the engagement, releasing only a brief statement indicating that the wounded were evacuated for medical treatment, the families of those involved were being notified, and the mission was said to be aimed at “further reducing” the Islamic State’s regional presence. The statement does not specify where the attack occurred, although ISIS militants are known to be active along the Pakistan border in Nangahar and Kunar provinces. Wednesday’s fatality is the 11th suffered by U.S. forces in Afghanistan this year, surpassing last year’s total of 10. All but one resulted from hostile enemy action, according to Defense Department data. It comes, too, as the United States’ longest war nears the start of its 17th year, and the Trump administration remains without a clear strategy. The ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan, a group known as ISIS Khorasan, or ISIS-K, is entrenched along the country’s mountainous border with Pakistan. Backed by U.S. troops and firepower, Afghan commando units have aggressively pursued its fighters for many months and shown some progress in disrupting their activity. American and Afghan troops launched Operation Hamza in early March. The following month, U.S. forces carried out a massive airstrike on an ISIS tunnel complex in Nangarhar’s Achin district, reportedly killing upward of 100 militants. At the time, U.S. officials estimated that between 400 and 700 ISIS-K militants remained in Afghanistan. ISIS-K is an offshoot of the terrorist group’s core network in Iraq and Syria, receiving tactical guidance and financial support from outside Afghanistan but few additional fighters. About 14,000 U.S. and NATO troops remain in Afghanistan. With backing from the Pentagon, the war’s top commander, Army Gen. John Nicholson, wants to expand his force by about 4,000 American troops, with a match from other NATO countries. The White House has not committed to that plan. Some advisers have suggested that contractors could gradually assume the training and advisory mission there, allowing U.S. troops to come home.
[edit] Pentagon identifies Special Forces soldier killed battling Islamic State in Afghanistan (18 Aug 2017)The Pentagon has identified the U.S. Army Green Beret who was killed Wednesday battling Islamic State militants in eastern Afghanistan. Staff Sgt. Aaron R. Butler, 27, of Monticello, Utah was killed by an improvised explosive device in Nangahar Province, the Pentagon said in a statement late Thursday. An unknown number of U.S. troops were also injured during the fighting as were several Afghan troops working alongside their American counterparts. Butler belonged to a Special Forces team from 19th Special Force Group and was based out of Camp Williams Utah. The 19th Group is an Army National Guard unit with detachments all over the United States, including Washington and Colorado. A Green Beret from 19th Group, Staff Sgt. Matthew McClintock, was the first U.S. combat death in Afghanistan for the year 2016. Butler’s death brings the total of Americans killed by hostile fire in Afghanistan this year to 10. Seven of those deaths were directly related to fighting Islamic State militants in the eastern part of the country. The U.S. military has invested considerable resources and troops in battling the Islamic State’s Afghan affiliate. Yet despite numerous offensive operations and a concerted bombing campaign that involved the use of a 22,000-pound bomb and several surgical strikes against the group’s leaders, about 1,000 of the militants have remained dug in along the Pakistani border, according to U.S. military officials in Kabul.
[edit] News Stories in 2018[edit] Fox13 Salt Lake City
[edit] NASCAR to honor fallen soldier Aaron Butler during race (22 May 2018)SALT LAKE CITY - On this Memorial Day weekend, NASCAR is honoring a Utah soldier killed in Afghanistan in August. Army Staff Sergeant Aaron Butler’s name will be on the windshield of Aric Almirola's #10 car as part of NASCAR’s ‘600 Miles of Remembrance.’ “It’s going to be a special, almost sacred moment when I get to see the car,” said Quinn Butler, Aaron’s brother. Quinn will be traveling to Charlottesville, North Carolina for the race. Butler’s fiancé, Alexandria Seagrove is already there. “As long as they are going to be doing memorials for Aaron, I’ll always be going to them,” she said from a hotel in North Carolina. The car’s driver, Aric Almirola tweeted: I'm humbled to race in honor of US Army Staff Sergeant Aaron Butler this weekend. Butler was part of the First Battalion 19th Special Forces unit, graduated from the Army Green Berets Special Forces Qualification course in January 2016 & died Aug. 16, 2017. The choice of car and driver is no accident. A member of Amirola’s pit crew met Butler before he was killed. “Even though it’s a weekend for barbecuing and everything, three-day weekend kind of thing, don’t forget why we are actually having this holiday,” said Seagrove. “With Memorial Day we are remembering all those that we lost and everything, but I think the remembering should be done in a way that kind of gives back, you know.” Seagrove says her personal cause is supporting veteran-owned businesses. At the time of his death, Butler was working to set up a leadership training business in Utah.
[edit] Run Sign Up: Purple Heart Run[edit] The Inaugural SSG Aaron Butler Memorial Purple Heart RunPLACE 11800 Horseshoe Bend Way Eagle, ID US 83616 DESCRIPTION  The Inaugural SSG Aaron Butler Memorial Purple Heart Run will be held at the Eagle Bike Park (11800 Horseshoe Bend Way, Eagle, ID 83616) on Saturday August 17th, 2019. The 10K trail race will begin at 0800, and the 5K trail race will start at 0900. The event is about community and sacrifice - feel free to wear traditional running attire and go for a PR, load yourself down with a ruck sack, or rock your military/LEO uniform, boots and body armor for an added degree of awesomeness. Wondering if the "suck factor" may be too high? Ask yourself... What would Aaron do? Embrace the suck! MORE THAN A RACE: This is more than a race, it is a celebration of all US servicemembers who have given their lives or parts of themselves physically in combat operations around the globe. The after party promises to be epic. We will have local beer, music, food, local coffee, and lots to do for kids. All race proceeds will go to the Idaho Department and Chief Joseph Chapter 509 of the Military Order of the Purple Heart (a 501C3 nonprofit). This event was created by local Purple Heart recipients, and there will be an opportunity for all participants and supporters to meet and learn from those men and women who have been wounded in combat. The race courses will be lined with pictures and stories about Purple Heart Recipients who gave their lives in the Global War on Terror (since 9/11/2001). Bring out your families, let your children meet and absorb the words of Gold Star families (who have lost loved ones in combat), Vietnam War Purple Heart Recipients, and Purple Heart Recipients from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are among us every day, this in a unique opportunity for all of us to see and hear from local community members who have given more than most for our Nation. WHAT IS THE PURPLE HEART? The Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed in combat while serving, on or after April 5, 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, which took the form of a heart made of purple cloth, the Purple Heart is the oldest military award still given to U.S. military members. SWAG AND AWARDS: All finishers will receive custom SSG Aaron Butler Memorial Purple Heart Run Technical T-shirts and a custom (and memorable medal). Swag from all kinds of local military friendly vendors, plus some amazing raffle prizes throughout the day. CONTACT US / SPONSOR US: Have questions? Interested in having your local coffee, beer, or swag on display at our event? Want to donate or otherwise help with an event that funds the local Chapter (509) of the Military Order of the Purple Heart? Please contact: Race Director: Dan Nelson – [email protected] Assistant Director: Dan Muguira – [email protected] RACE CONTACT INFO If you have any questions about this race, please contact the race director at [email protected] [edit] Salt Lake Tribune
[edit] Eight months after Aaron Butler’s death, stories about the fallen Utah soldier keep the family going — and there are plenty to tell (27 May 2018)Monticello • Eight months after their son died in Afghanistan, as they face their first Memorial Day without him, Randy and Laura Butler say they still have a lot to learn about sadness. Yet in the months that have seemed to both creep and fly by, Randy Butler has managed to realize something: One secret to grieving is balancing the sorrow with the strength gained from each new day. “There’s new strain, but the strain from yesterday, we rested from. The uplifting, the strength from that, it doesn’t go away. It stays,” he said. “So, with time, it’s how you survive it.” They’ve also discovered the healing power of their memories of their determined seventh child, Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler. “Reminisce,” Randy advises. “Reminisce, reminisce.” Sitting inside Randy’s Auto, a small mom-and-pop dealership the Butlers run, Randy turned to his wife on a recent afternoon and asked, “Did you tell the story about the Relief Society lesson?” It must have been Aaron’s junior or senior year in high school, Laura said, because he had the muscles that were winning him state championships in wrestling. The lesson that week for women in the Relief Society in his LDS ward, or congregation, was the atonement and the sacrifices Jesus made for humanity. Aaron climbed on top of a table and the group of 30 women learned that for each 10 pushups he completed, one woman would get a cookie. This would go on until all 30 women had their snack. At first, the women laughed and cheered for Aaron. After a few sets, Laura said, the women got it. They told Aaron he didn’t need to finish, but he didn’t even look at them. Laura wept as she continued. “Everyone was crying and begging for him to stop. It was enough. But he had committed to do 300 pushups for every woman in that room,” she said. “And he was shaking. The whole table was shaking. He was sweating, of course. And he didn’t stop until he finished the last pushup.” Since Aaron’s death, days before his 28th birthday, community members have retold the tale many times. It was just him: driven, confident, strong, selfless and stubborn.
Aaron dreamed of being the best of the best for as long as his parents can remember. That would mean joining the military, and, specifically, the U.S. Army Special Forces. But first it meant winning in wrestling. As a freshman at Monticello High School, short and barely 100 pounds, Aaron was pinned in his first match. But he went on to win the individual state championship for his weight class that year. And again his sophomore year. In his junior season, he tore a hamstring a few weeks before finals. He rehabbed the injury at a motel swimming pool while his teammates practiced at school. And he won a state championship again. Asked if it’s possible for a hamstring to heal that quickly, his wrestling coach, Kent Adair, answered simply, “It did.” Or at least Aaron said it did. “We don’t know how much it hurt him,” Adair said. “If it had torn again, he would have still wrestled. He was just that kind of person.” In his senior year, Aaron became the first Monticello student to win four state wrestling championships. A banner recognizing his winning streak hangs in the wrestling gym. Since then, there’s been another four-time state champion at Monticello High — Cole Eldredge. After Eldredge won his fourth championship, Aaron wrote a post for him on the team’s Facebook page. “When the ref raised your hand, in that moment, you stood alone at the top,” Aaron wrote. “And in that moment, you honored all those who have gone before you, and inspired all those who are yet to come. “And to that, I would add my thanks and respect. … Continue to inspire future wrestling by giving time and knowledge to the sport, because in wrestling, when kids know your achievements, they will watch you closely and hang on to your words, trying to crack your code for success.’ “Don’t fall short of that responsibility.” The Monticello High School wrestling team dedicated last season to Aaron. They wore T-shirts honoring him and brought a banner in his memory to each match. His challenge to Eldredge was sewn into a banner that now, too, hangs in the wrestling gym, alongside a photo of Aaron in his combat fatigues, smiling. This year, Monticello won the team state wrestling championship. The team also added another four-time individual state champion.
Aaron went through basic training after high school, then served a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Ghana. He worked in Africa for two years before returning to the military in 2014 for more training. Two years later, he had joined the Utah National Guard 19th Special Forces Group and was training for his first overseas deployment. He graduated at the top of his class in January 2017. His family last saw him three months later, when he unexpectedly got a 17-day leave in April before his deployment to Afghanistan. The Butler family was enjoying its biannual camping trip at the White Wash Sand Dunes, near the Green River. “He walks in and says, ‘Who wants to come blow something up?’” Laura remembered with a smile. When Aaron left the family camp with his girlfriend, Alex Seagroves, Randy embraced him and was overcome with a feeling that once Aaron deployed, he wouldn’t come back. “I’ll never forget that hug,” Randy said, his voiced strained with emotion. “And the feeling of, you know, not just, ‘Oh, I’m scared for him.’ It was way beyond that — but yet, what do you do?” Once overseas, Aaron seemed to love his new job. In one telling letter to his parents, he wrote: “No sleep for two weeks. MREs [Meals Ready to Eat] every day. No shower. It’s cold. It’s hot. It’s the best vacation I’ve ever had.” He didn’t tell them about his first Purple Heart. Weeks afterward, he did tell his fiancée about the shrapnel that struck his arm. It sobered her to the reality that Aaron could be hurt, Seagroves said. “I talked to him every single day. He would tell me stories, but … how dangerous it was, I guess it didn’t compute,” she said, “because he just made it seem like it was another day, like a desk job.” Aaron was spending weeks in the field, fighting Islamist extremists — a subsection of ISIS — alongside a troop of Afghan soldiers, according to the Utah National Guard. He helped clear ISIS fighters from the area and found the bodies the terrorist group left behind. Later, Laura said, he would watch locals move back, plant their crops and remake their lives.
On Aug. 16, Aaron and his team were clearing buildings in the Nangarhar Province when they walked into a trap. A device exploded and propelled a tiny piece of the dirty bomb through the air, straight between two of Aaron’s ribs and into a ventricle in his heart. Had his arm been down, the shrapnel would have hit it and stopped, his parents said they later learned. Had its trajectory adjusted a millimeter or so, it would have hit his rib. And stopped. Aaron was bleeding internally. While his injury wasn’t visible, it was obvious something was wrong, officials later told his family. Medics covered his body with their own, as the other Green Berets, themselves injured, rushed to return fire. He is the first Utahn killed in action since 2013. That evening, Randy left work and checked the headlines. There were reports of an explosion and casualties in Nangarhar Province. Laura called Seagroves, who was with Aaron’s brother, Nate. Seagroves was crying, knowing Aaron’s unit was in that exact area and unable to reach him. After she hung up, Laura turned to her husband. “I told Randy by now, it was a little after 8 [p.m.], and I said, ‘Whew, just so that doorbell doesn’t ring.’ I actually said those words. “And it wasn’t 10 minutes later, the doorbell rang.” Days later, Seagroves had one last sign of Aaron’s trademark determination. The two had quietly planned to elope to Mexico once he returned home from what was expected to be a six-month deployment. He’d proposed while overseas, and Seagroves bought her dress. It arrived a few days before Aaron was killed, and she sent him a picture of the bag. He asked to see her in it, but she told him no, that was bad luck. Before Aaron deployed, Seagroves sent him a picture of the ring she wanted, an elegant, low-profile silver band with inset diamonds. She later changed her mind. Since Aaron couldn’t wear a traditional ring (many soldiers don’t, to avoid injuries caused when rings catch on machinery), she wouldn’t either. They decided to each wear simple bands of silicone. After a candlelight vigil for Aaron, Nate had Seagroves sit on the steps of her front porch. He said he knew she and his brother had planned to marry. “And in the back of my mind,” Seagroves said, “I was like you have no idea. You have no idea how close we were.” He did. About a week before Aaron died, he had asked Nate to buy a ring so he would have it as soon as he got home. Nate had it with him, tucked inside a smooth cherrywood box. Seagroves opened it — and saw the diamond ring she had chosen.
On the way to the Monticello cemetery, tatters of old yellow ribbons remain tied to fence posts in Aaron’s memory. He is buried beneath an unobtrusive military-style headstone, facing the Abajo peaks he called “his” mountains. In the city’s Veterans Memorial Park, his name is etched alongside the other military members from the county who were killed in uniform. The months have given the Butlers and Aaron’s seven siblings some perspective. They’ve had time to think about the what ifs, and to put those thoughts to rest. The Butlers believe Aaron was called to be a Green Beret and, in the same way, was called to be taken away. He hadn’t been scheduled to be deployed so soon, but always the “door kicker,” had begged to go with an earlier group. The smallest difference in the shrapnel’s trajectory or his stance might have saved him. Instead, officials told the family, “if there had been a trauma team and surgeon right there, they couldn’t have saved him,” Laura said. If there’s any solace to be found in Aaron’s death, his parents said, it’s that their son was living the life he wanted. “He knew what he was going to do and wanted to do,” Randy said. “As a father, I’m just really proud. … He had the courage, and that much passion, to do what he felt like he was supposed to do. He wouldn’t stop for the fear, for the stats of, ‘This is dangerous; these are your odds.’” Laura has the same conviction. “He wasn’t even supposed to be there,” she said. “But in the end we realized, yes, he was supposed to be there.”
[edit] U.S. Army
[edit] USASOC remembers fallen with outdoor ceremony (24 May 2018)FORT BRAGG, N.C. ˗ Twelve new names were unveiled on the U.S. Army Special Operations Command Memorial Wall during a ceremony that brought Gold Star Family Members and Soldiers together at the USASOC Memorial Plaza.  Lt. Gen. Kenneth E. Tovo, USASOC commanding general, echoed the words of the late President Abraham Lincoln, "We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do so ..." "Ladies and gentlemen, especially our Gold Star families, on behalf of the United States Army Special Operations Command, I welcome each of you to our Fallen Warrior Memorial Ceremony," Lt. Gen. Kenneth E. Tovo, said. "It is my sincere honor to address you today as we take a moment to reflect on the lives, the service, and the sacrifices of the teammates, friends, and family we've lost." The service members who were added to the wall all made the ultimate sacrifice while supporting USASOC operations in Afghanistan, Mali, and Niger. "The wall honors each of our fallen as individuals, as sons and daughters, husbands, and wives, teammates and friends," Tovo said. "The men we honor today came from different backgrounds, different hometowns, and different upbringings, yet they all shared common characteristics with the rest of the men and women of this command. Each followed a tough and deliberate path that led to Army Special Operations …" Tovo added. "This year, we solemnly recognize the names of 12 exceptional Army Special Operations Soldiers on the Memorial Wall," Tovo said. "Their steadfast service and great personal sacrifice have earned these men a distinguished place in our ARSOF legacy." Those recognized were Staff Sgt. Mark de Alencar, 7th Special Forces Group; Sgt. Joshua Rodgers and Sgt. Cameron Thomas, 75th Ranger Regiment; Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler, 19th Special Forces Group; Staff Sgt. Logan Melgar, Staff Sgt. Bryan Black, Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright, Staff Sgt. Jeremiah Johnson and Sgt. La David Johnson, 3rd Special Forces Group; Sgt. First Class Stephen Cribben and Sgt. First Class Mihail Golin, 10th Special Forces Group; and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Jacob Sims, 160th Special Operation Aviation Regiment. "These 12, and indeed all those represented on the wall behind me, were exceptional Americans. They are exceptional because of their willingness to fight and sacrifice on behalf of their fellow man, and in response to their Nation's call." Tovo said. "To our fallen warriors, words will never adequately convey our gratitude for all you have given to our nation …" Following the ceremonial laying of the wreaths, a formation of two MH 47 Chinook helicopters from the 160th Night Stalkers, Special Operations Aviation Regiment, conducted a flyover in honor of our fallen. The afternoon commenced with the playing of TAPS and family members laying flowers on the wall.
[edit] USA PatriotismLink: http://www.usapatriotism.org/ [edit] Beloved Lion - Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler (19 Feb 2018) Head leaning into the van window, somber from the funeral proceedings, we drove down the streets of the quaint, small town of Monticello, Utah, towards the city cemetery. My heart was heavy with sadness for a Guard member whom I had never had the honor to meet ... Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler. Staff Sgt. Butler, an engineer sergeant with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group (Airborne), was killed in action in Afghanistan August 16, 2017, when conducting building-clearing operations during his deployment. His unit’s mission was aimed at further reducing Islamic State of Iraq and Syrian-Khorasan presence in Afghanistan. The news of his death hit the state hard, as it had been seven years since Utah Guards last combat loss of Sgt. 1st Class James Thode in 2010. Citizens and Soldiers alike were struck with the harsh reminder of what is asked of our military. "Ultimately what we do is very dangerous business,” said Maj. Gen. Jeff Burton in the official statement issued after Aaron’s family had been notified. “Our hearts are broken when we lose one of our own.” Glancing up, flag after flag passed my view as we drove through the town. The seemingly endless line of flags waved gently in the breeze in the bright sunlight as I reflected on the ceremony that just completed at the Monticello L.D.S. Stake Center in the city where Aaron had grown up and his parents reside in to this day. Aaron was part of a solid Utah family with deep-rooted values, with his father, mother, six brothers and one sister. But his impact obviously reached far beyond his family with so many, both in and out of uniform, attending the funeral proceedings August 26, 2017 in the remote southern Utah town. The room was vast and deep with all of the room dividers open. A sea of love and support stretched through the chapel floor, into the expansion room, across the gymnasium floor, and even onto the elevated stage beyond as all listened. “I know him good enough to know what he would want me to say,” said Shannon Young, Aaron’s sister and close confidant. “I came, I lived, I killed bad guys, I died,” she said evoking teary chuckles. She shared memories of holding Aaron as a newborn child and recounting his zest for life like no other. “By the time he was in first grade, he was telling everyone that he wanted to be a Soldier,” she said. “Aaron’s passion to protect not only his family, but his country, grew stronger with each passing minute of his life.” Aaron was born August 24, 1989, in Monticello, where he excelled in wrestling as a four-time state champion. His momentous wrestling achievement stands to this day unrivaled. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in April 2008, as a Combat Engineer with the 1457th Engineer Battalion, and then served on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from 2009-2011 in Ghana. In June 2015 he transferred to 1st Battalion, 19th SFG (A), in his lifelong pursuit for the Green Beret. “I have been asked many times, ‘When did Aaron first have a desire to be a Soldier?’ I can honestly say that Aaron was happiest when he had on his camouflage diaper,” said Aaron’s mother, Laura Butler, lifting the heavy-hearted room with a bittersweet smile of recollection. “Many of you have called Aaron a hero, a warrior, and a lion. And indeed, he was these things. But to me, he will always be that bright, green-eyed, toe-headed ball of fire.” “We know he had a little extra spices put in by our Heavenly Father when he created him,” said Aaron’s father, Randy Butler. “He had a little bit of extra passion ... with everything he did he used that passion. He had a little bit extra courage, and that courage led him greatly as he grew.” It was apparent to me in the testimony of his family and associates that Staff Sgt. Butler was a man that impacted lives, and that I would have been a better person if I had known him. “In life as well as his death, he has taught us profoundly,” said his brother, Shane Butler. “He did so in the single most powerful way possible ... with his actions.” “He gave us all something. He gave us his life. He also gave us his example of courage,” said another brother Chad Butler. “A hope that we can all, in true Aaron style, be relentless in the pursuit of our goals.” “If you were lucky enough to have known Aaron, you could sense he was different in all the best ways possible,” said Staff Sgt. Trevor Bell, brother-in-arms and fellow member of the 19th Special Forces, who escorted Staff Sgt. Butler home to Monticello, arriving on what would have been Aaron’s 28th birthday. “Very rarely, if ever, do you meet someone like Aaron. When you do, you know it ... and I knew it.” Staff Sgt. Butler had proposed to the love of his life, Alexandria Seagroves, after his departure to Afghanistan via video teleconferencing. Alexandria’s love for Aaron was obvious in every pained word as she spoke of the moments they had shared, of his diary that she had only recently read, and the dreams for the future they both looked forward to. They lived together in Cedar Hills prior to his deployment. While small in stature and weakened with grief, she stood tall in her future resolve. “Aaron will live through me,” she proclaimed for all. “Everything that I do, and everyone I come into contact with will know who he was and what he did, and how much he meant to everybody.”  I was jolted back to the present as the van came to a halt in the Monticello City Cemetery. There was a constant flow of people moving from the stake center to the cemetery along the long, straight roadway lined on both sides with flags swaying. The glimmer of motorcycles from the Patriot Riders paralleled the roadway with the leather-clad, rough riders holding flags adjacent to the crowd. The military members in attendance habitually grouped into a formation, reverently waiting. The military detail stood sharp and ready to render Staff Sgt. Butler a crisp and honorable graveside ceremony. As we waited, I again reflected on how I was so impacted and inspired by a man I had never met. I, too, joined the military to serve my country and make a positive impact on my community. This passion was stoked by the example and dedication of Aaron that I had only just learned about. “I know Aaron would want me to tell you to go to work. Find something in your life that you can improve on. Mend broken relationships. Show more respect and concern for your neighbors. Live your life with more gratitude for the great nation we live in and the freedoms we enjoy every single day,” said Shannon. “Take a stand against evil ... even if you will be hated for it. There is always a price to pay for fighting evil. Do it anyway.” The infectious patriotism of the Butler family and Alexandria was so prevalent, yet this was not a predominantly military family. Aaron was the only one to serve in the military, but the rock-solid foundation of values and support from his family coupled with his desire to serve his country was what forged him. The focus of the group waiting in the cemetery shifted to the procession of vehicles approaching down the roadway. The lead vehicle came to a slow stop and the pallbearers reverently approached and moved into position. Military honors were executed with gratitude and precision with the rifle salute and bugle as it played in the distance. All watched as the flag draping over the casket was sharply folded, inspected, and handed to Maj. Gen. Burton who presented the flag to Aaron’s mother, Laura.  Standing before Laura, as painful tears rolled down her cheeks as she clutched the flag close, his words about Aaron echoed in my mind, “He will live forever in the memories of those he served with. Aaron will never die.” Col. Larry Henry, commander of the 19th SFG (A), presented a second flag to Aaron’s sister, Shannon, followed by Maj. Tyler Jensen presenting the final flag to fiance, Alexandria. The Butler family and Alexandria stood strong, each individual that had been presented a flag, holding them tightly to their chest as if to hug Aaron one last time. Brig. Gen. Francis Beaudette, commanding general of 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne), presented Randy and Laura with the Gold Star banner. Following other tokens presented to the family, the ceremony was completed with teary hugs and quiet conversation. But I realized in that instant that Aaron’s story was not yet over, as his sacrifice and inspiration would live on. I, having never had the privilege of knowing him, will be a better person, father, and Soldier from his example. “Aaron didn’t choose to die, he chose to live and fight for others,” said Gen. Raymond Thomas, commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command, who flew from his Florida headquarters for the ceremony. “And while we can ponder why we are still here, I’d offer that the time is better spent seizing the opportunity to dedicate ourselves to the lasting memory of our fallen comrades.” Laura had echoed this call-to-action in her comments earlier stating “…to his brothers-in-arms, who fought so valiantly shoulder-to-shoulder, who loved our son, and brought him home to us, he would say ‘Fight on, and for so great a cause.’” The tremendous example of Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler will live on in all of us, and is reinforced through the strength and resolve of his exemplary family. Randy summed it up during the funeral stating of Aaron that he was fearless; well, almost fearless. He had one fear ... his mother was the one who could find out what that was. When asked by his mother Aaron said, “The fear I have is that I will grow old…” but he didn’t finish his statement. Randy believes he knows what his son meant, and that he meant it to his core. “That Aaron was afraid to grow old, because that would mean he would not be able to do what his life dream was. And that was to be a Special Forces Green Beret, fighting in Afghanistan, defending his country.” Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler lived and died achieving his life’s dream. And this beloved lion continues to impact us all with a call to action, for each of us in our own way, to do the same.
[edit] News Stories in 2019[edit] Eagle Magazine[edit] Idaho Vets Launch Aaron Butler Memorial Purple Heart Run, Aug. 17 (1 Aug 2019)Unflappable, aggressive and fearless, Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler died two years ago this August in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan, from wounds he suffered when an improvised explosive device exploded in a building that he and his 12-member team entered during combat operations. He will be remembered with the first annual Aaron Butler Memorial Purple Heart Run, Aug. 17, Eagle Bike Park, Eagle. “Aaron was the youngest member of our Special Forces Team. He thrived on the intensity and chaos of war,” observes Dan Nelson, his former detachment commander who co-founded this Purple Heart Run and serves as race director. “He was a fiercely determined, chronic over achiever who could have done anything with his life, but chose to serve his country.” From the Military Order of the Purple Heart website is this description of the decoration: “The Purple Heart Medal is awarded to members of the armed forces of the U.S. who are wounded by an instrument of war in the hands of the enemy and posthumously to the next of kin in the name of those who are killed in action or die of wounds received in action. It is specifically a combat decoration.” Two Idaho Purple Heart veterans are organizing the 5K and 10K trail run—Eagle resident Nelson and Treasure Valley resident Dan Muguira. Nelson first met Aaron in Utah where they served in the Utah National Guard as part of the Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group. Their first deployment together was in North Africa. Muguira, a Marine Corps veteran and Nelson’s childhood friend, never knew Aaron, but feels a soldier’s connection to him. Nelson and 11 soldiers were wounded in the blast that killed Aaron. He sustained multiple traumatic injuries and has many years of surgery and medical treatments ahead. Due to his injuries, he will be medically retired as of May. Drawing attention to himself through media interviews is never something he expected to do, but now he is taking the focus as spokesperson, because Aaron can’t tell his own story. “I was responsible for Aaron, just because he is gone doesn’t mean I am no longer responsible,” states Nelson. “I am obligated to share his remarkable story so that he is not forgotten. He and his family are among many who share a tremendous burden of sacrifice.” A native of Monticello, Utah, Aaron was a Special Forces soldier assigned to the Utah National Guard’s B Company, 1st Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group. He was a four time state high school wrestling champion, claiming titles in 2005 through 2008. He was an admired athlete, or, as Nelson says, the epitome of a warrior. In the military, he was known as a smart soldier who was willing to respectfully question leaders. “He was highly trained and always challenged me to give him legitimate answers,” remembers Nelson. “He wasn’t a mindless brute, but he could be brutal.” Aaron received military honors, the Purple Heart and Bronze Star, posthumously. Through race day events, Nelson and Muguira, seek to bridge misunderstandings between civilians and the warriors who fight for them. “At the event, it’s not that we want to be praised or thanked by the community, but we do want people to remember the outstanding women and men who have sacrificed it all for them,” comments Nelson. The event is planned so that it is a happy celebration with somber moments. The program will include distinguished military and law enforcement speakers, bios and photos of service men and women who have passed away, refreshments and music. Gold Star Veterans and families from the global war on terror will be this year’s spotlight. 10K participants will run along Veterans Trail, which follows the perimeter of the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery. Some of Aaron’s family will be in attendance as will his team from Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group of the Utah National Guard. Race proceeds will go to the Idaho Department and Chief Joseph Chapter 509 of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, which is a support organization for Idaho veterans and their families. Nelson and his wife, Kacey, have two sons, Patrick and Leroy, who are both named after fallen soldiers. Leroy was born at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center while Nelson was a patient there. A 2001 graduate of Boise’s Centennial High School, Nelson graduated in 2007 from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he was team captain of the football squad. He was commissioned in the US Army in 2007, was an infantry officer and served in the 82nd Airborne Division. He transitioned to the 19th Special Forces Group in 2011. His deployments included Iraq, Afghanistan, Philippines, the Levant, which is primarily western Asia, and North Africa. At the height of the Iraq War, he committed to the US Army. It felt like a calling. His father was a Vietnam veteran and his mother an anti-war protestor. They attempted to steer him away from military service, but when he made the decision to join, they fully supported him. He was inspired to serve by, “every service member who served before me, particularly those whom I watched join, fight and sacrifice in Iraq and Afghanistan following the events of 9/11 which I became aware of from the comfort of my young civilian life,” says Nelson. He urges parents to bring their children to the race to meet and hear from combat veterans, to begin to more deeply understand the cost of war. To sign up for the race, visit https://runsignup.com/Race/ID/Eagle/PurpleHeartRun
[edit] Idaho Statesman[edit] Military News: ‘Embrace the suck’ at this 5K created by Boise veterans to honor soldier killed in combat (17 Mar 2019)Aaron Butler fought hard to be a part of the Utah National Guard team tasked with clearing Islamic State fighters from an Afghanistan village in 2017. This summer Butler’s former teammates will honor the Utah man, who was killed when an improvised explosive device detonated, with a Treasure Valley memorial race bearing his name. The Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler Memorial Purple Heart Run, which takes place on Aug. 17 nearly two years to the day after Butler’s death, is a 10K or 5K trail run held at the Eagle Bike Park. Dan Nelson, a Boisean who led Butler’s battalion, and fellow Treasure Valley veteran Dan Muguira organized the event. Fittingly, 10K participants will run along Veterans Trail, which follows the perimeter of the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery. “You’ll either be running under the shadow of the flag or looking down at it,” Nelson said. LOSING AARON BUTLER Nelson, 36, was one of the 11 soldiers wounded in the same blast that killed Butler. “It basically changed a lot of lives,” he said. “We lost Aaron, and every one of my teammates was injured. I think the level and intensity of sacrifice was transformational for all of us.” In August 2018, the first anniversary of Butler’s death, several of Nelson’s fellow Green Berets came to Idaho to mourn together. It was there that the idea for the race began to formulate. “We drank and talked and cried about it and said, ‘We need to do something better, more positive than this,’ ” Nelson said. “’We can’t sit around like sad sacks all the time.’” Nelson has known his co-organizer Muguira, a Marine Corps veteran who received a Purple Heart in 2005, since they were teens. Muguira never had a chance to meet Butler but said he feels a kinship to him, and he hopes others will, as well. “I had an idea of what they went through to get where they got,” Muguira said. “It’s a brotherhood, arguably one of the stronger things I’ve ever been a part of.” The event will benefit the local chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart. Nelson said his team earned 17 of the medals, given to those killed or wounded in action, in the space of five months. According to an article in the ArmyTimes, several members of the team also earned Silver Stars, Bronze Stars and Army Commendations for Valor. Ned Barker, commander of the chapter, said the proceeds will serve a vital need for the veterans’ organization. “In the past, we have received funds from our National Foundation and our local rifle raffles to enable us to continue our charitable giving efforts,” Barker told the Statesman in an email. “The funds from the foundation have stopped due to their not raising enough to pass down, and the rifle raffle is getting stale. The (5K) will replace these sources with a much more community-friendly method to support our one and only mission, which is vets helping vets.” Nelson said a race is a fitting tribute for Butler, a decorated high school wrestler and “total stud,” Nelson said. “He was always a physical specimen, so we wanted to allow people to connect (with his memory) that way,” Nelson explained. Participants can run, walk or “ruck” the race, which costs $30. The courses will feature photos and stories of Purple Heart recipients who were killed in action. “Hopefully (participants) come away with the idea that a lot of what’s sometimes taken for granted, it comes off the back of those who made the ultimate sacrifice,” Muguira said. “There are still a ton of guys and girls overseas that are fighting the good fight. It’s been going on for years and years, but it doesn’t make it less important to cherish them.” According to Nelson, several of Butler’s family members as well as teammates from Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group of the Utah National Guard will attend the race. Nelson, who is still dealing with the aftermath of the severe concussion he incurred in the explosion, will be there alongside them all, no matter how difficult the race might be. “I used to run ultramarathons, and the idea of a 5K on uneven terrain is intimidating,” Nelson said. “But we’ve got guys (from our company) who are double below-the-knee amputees, and they’re doing the 10K.” ABOUT THE ‘SUCK FACTOR’ Their perseverance is in the spirit of Butler, with a nod to a military phrase that soldiers repeat when there’s not choice but to dig into a bad situation. “Wondering if the ‘suck factor’ may be too high?” the race website says. “Ask yourself ... What would Aaron do? Embrace the suck!” That’s exactly what Butler did in North Africa, where Nelson first met him, and later when the two worked together in Afghanistan. “He desperately wanted the mission that we were getting (in Afghanistan),” Nelson said. “When he first wanted to come to the team I said no. He was so eager, I thought it might be a sign of immaturity. I was wrong.” At 27, Butler was the youngest soldier on the team, but that was no hindrance. “There’s a small group of people that thrive in immersed combat, and (Butler) was one of them,” Nelson said. “Unfortunately, Butler was not the first soldier that I lost,” Nelson said. “But the circumstances are unique, and I hope people are interested in learning about him and people like him.” RACE DETAILS ▪ The Inaugural SSG Aaron Butler Memorial Purple Heart Run, 11800 Horseshoe Bend Way, Eagle, ID, 83616 on Saturday, Aug. 17. The 10K race begins at 8 a.m., and the 5K begins an hour later. ▪ Race profits go to the Idaho Department and Chief Joseph Chapter 509 of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, which offers support for local Purple Heart recipients. ▪ The race is open to all participants, not just military members or medal recipients, Nelson said. Those who don’t want to participate in the race can still attend and enjoy music, food, coffee and more.
[edit] SSG Aaron Butler Purple Heart Run is more than a race (18 Jul 2019)SSG Aaron Butler Purple Heart Run on Aug. 17 honors Aaron, who was killed in action in Afghanistan on Aug. 16, 2017, and all the fallen for their sacrifice.
[edit] KIVI-TV Boise
[edit] The inaugural SSG Aaron Butler Memorial Purple Heart Run to remember fallen heroes (16 Aug 2019)EAGLE, Idaho — Army SSG. Aaron Butler was killed in action when his special forces unit was hit in Afghanistan on August 16, 2017, Aaron's commander wants to make sure that people don't forget the sacrifice of his friend and all the heroes who have given their lives for this country. This Saturday starting at 9:00 a.m. there will be a 5k and a 10k run run to bring the community together to make sure we never forget our fallen warriors. “We want all the gold star families in the area to know that people still care even if they haven’t met us," said Dan Nelson who was the commander of Aaron Butler's special forces unit. "We know who their sons and daughters are.” Dan Nelson and Dan Muguira both received purple hearts during their military service, but they made it clear that this event isn't about them and Nelson provided some insight on what kind of soldier Aaron Butler was. “Aaron Butler was a type of guy in a group of meat eaters that made us all look like vegans," said Nelson. Nearly 600 people have signed up to run in this race, veterans from the Idaho State Veterans home will show up, there will be a raffle and all the proceeds will go towards the Chief Joseph Chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart. “Just sign up, show up and embrace the suck," said Muguira. "It is going to be a good time, it’s going to be a good race.” For more information on the inaugural SSG. Aaron Butler Memorial Purple Heart Run click here.
[edit] The inaugural SSG Aaron Butler Memorial Purple Heart Run brings the community together (17 Aug 2019)EAGLE, Idaho — The inaugural SSG Aaron Butler Memorial Purple Heart Run was a big success as weekend warriors came together to "embrace the suck" and honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms. Dan Nelson put this race together because his special forces unit got hit in Afghanistan. The blast killed Aaron Butler and Dan wanted to put something together to make sure we never forget the men and women who gave their lives for our country. The race was quite the spectacle that included an Idaho State Trooper running in full uniform, a Middleton Police Officer in full uniform and a former Boise Police Officer who lost his leg after being shot, his former SWAT team ran the race. “It’s the best team ever and I’ve been on it for fourteen years," said Houltry. " I don’t care If it was 50K or 100K, they would all still do it and we would do it as a team, it’s only a 5K suffer for a little bit.” All the proceeds raised during the event will go to the Chief Joseph chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart. To see more from this inspiring race make sure to watch the video (below).
[edit] RacePlace[edit] The Inaugural SSG Aaron Butler Memorial Purple Heart Run (17 Aug 2019)Event Description  The Inaugural SSG Aaron Butler Memorial Purple Heart Run will be held at the Eagle Bike Park (11800 Horseshoe Bend Way, Eagle, ID 83616) on Saturday August 17th, 2019. The 10K trail race will begin at 0800, and the 5K trail race will start at 0900. The event is about community and sacrifice - feel free to wear traditional running attire and go for a PR, load yourself down with a ruck sack, or rock your military/LEO uniform, boots and body armor for an added degree of awesomeness. Wondering if the "suck factor" may be too high? Ask yourself... What would Aaron do? Embrace the suck! MORE THAN A RACE: This is more than a race, it is a celebration of all US servicemembers who have given their lives or parts of themselves physically in combat operations around the globe. The after party promises to be epic. We will have local beer, music, food, local coffee, and lots to do for kids. All race proceeds will go to the Idaho Department and Chief Joseph Chapter 509 of the Military Order of the Purple Heart (a 501C3 nonprofit). This event was created by local Purple Heart recipients, and there will be an opportunity for all participants and supporters to meet and learn from those men and women who have been wounded in combat. The race courses will be lined with pictures and stories about Purple Heart Recipients who gave their lives in the Global War on Terror (since 9/11/2001). Bring out your families, let your children meet and absorb the words of Gold Star families (who have lost loved ones in combat), Vietnam War Purple Heart Recipients, and Purple Heart Recipients from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are among us every day, this in a unique opportunity for all of us to see and hear from local community members who have given more than most for our Nation. WHAT IS THE PURPLE HEART? The Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed in combat while serving, on or after April 5, 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, which took the form of a heart made of purple cloth, the Purple Heart is the oldest military award still given to U.S. military members. SWAG AND AWARDS: All finishers will receive custom SSG Aaron Butler Memorial Purple Heart Run Technical T-shirts and a custom (and memorable medal). Swag from all kinds of local military friendly vendors, plus some amazing raffle prizes throughout the day. CONTACT US / SPONSOR US: Have questions? Interested in having your local coffee, beer, or swag on display at our event? Want to donate or otherwise help with an event that funds the local Chapter (509) of the Military Order of the Purple Heart? Please contact: Race Director: Dan Nelson – [email protected] Assistant Director: Dan Muguira – [email protected]
[edit] San Juan Record
[edit] New Special Forces training facility will bear the name of Staff Sgt Aaron Butler (6 Aug 2019)Nearly two years after Staff Sergeant Aaron Butler was killed while battling Islamic State fighters in Afghanistan, the Utah National Guard will dedicate a new training facility named in his honor on Friday, August 9. The new $37-million-dollar, 140,000-square-foot readiness facility is located at the Camp Williams State Military Reservation south of Salt Lake City. Camp Williams serves as the headquarters for the 19th Special Forces group, to which SSG Butler belonged. The Utah Training Center at Camp Williams consists of 24,000 acres of combat training areas that resemble the same environments encountered by soldiers currently serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. The new facility will hold classrooms, large training and operations spaces, and offices, and will contribute to the overall mission of the 19th Special Forces Group. According to their website, the unit’s mission is to “provide trained and ready forces to deploy, fight, and win wars under the full spectrum of unconventional warfare and to respond to homeland threats and disasters.” The namesake of the new building, SSG Aaron Butler was killed in action on August 16, 2017 when he entered a booby-trapped building that exploded while his group was fighting the Islamic State in Afghanistan. Following his death, San Juan County and the entire State of Utah honored Aaron and mourned his loss. His body returned home to Monticello on August 24, his 28th birthday, and he was buried with full military honors in the Monticello Cemetery. SSG Butler’s mother, Laura Butler, said he “had a warrior’s heart” in an interview after his death. Indeed, Aaron was known for his enthusiasm, dedication, and fearlessness. He is one of only a handful of wrestlers to claim a state championship in all four years of high school. He also served a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Ghana. It was that mission that opened his eyes to the oppression of corrupt governments over its citizens and eventually inspired him to become a Special Forces soldier. As part of his military training, Aaron wrote why he wanted to be in the Special Forces. He wrote, “I realized…that not everyone enjoys the freedoms and opportunities we do in America. “I’m convinced the Army Special Forces is uniquely equipped and trained to make the biggest difference in the struggle against oppressions I witnessed in Africa. “I was now not only interested and duty bound,” Butler wrote, “but I gained a new-found passion towards being a part of liberating the oppressed. I made up my mind to do whatever it took to become a Special Forces guy.” It is this spirit that the 19th Special Forces Group looks to foster. By attaching the name of SSG Aaron Butler to their new training facility, they will bring to mind that same attitude in all who are there and all who will come in the future.
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