Wood County Board Supervisor Tom Buttke
Several years ago, Wood County Board Supervisor Tom Buttke, then a long-time member of the Marshfield City Council, was walking through the cemetery with his sisters and noticed that many graves of veterans were in poor condition. “Hundreds of graves were not marked with flags, and the older headstones, particularly those from the Civil War, were in poor shape,” said Buttke. It got him, his sisters and some friends thinking. More needed to be done to recognize and honor the service of every veteran. He found out that there was funding available from the federal government to restore graves and add American flags and worked on that. But the group felt more should be done. Ultimately, they decided to raise money to create a Veterans Wall of Honor in a public space. On Presidents Day last February the wall was unveiled at the 2nd Street Community Center. “It’s an amazing wall,” said Buttke, “with a huge flag as a background and a line of clear panels etched with 90 names each” that recognizes 2,600 veterans.
Marshfield Veterans Wall of Honor
The opportunity to do a show with Marshfield Broadcasting came about recently. During Buttke’s 22 years of service on the City Council, he served on the Communications Committee and knew about the services offered by the Communications Department, including its video work. “Tom [Loucks] and David [Ballerstein] do an amazing job of getting out in the community and letting residents know what’s happening. Loucks and Ballerstein knew about Buttke’s interest in veterans’ issues, so when Ballerstein decided to do a show called Heroes from Home, the first person he thought of to host the show was Buttke. “I wanted to help tell the unique stories of local vets and their sacrifice to serve our country and to protect our freedom,” said Ballerstein. “History and documentaries are my passion. And I knew I would enjoy working with Tom Buttke.”
Naturally, Buttke agreed immediately. “I was so happy to be asked to do the show,” said Buttke. “Every vet should be honored and there is so much that I want vets to know about. There are so many services out there for them, but they have to know about them first and then be willing to ask for them.”
Veterans across the state will get a lot out of Heroes from Home. The show is available to WCM member media centers across the state.
Tom Buttke host of Heroes from Home interviews Mark Krueger - Vet and pastor from Marshfield
