Disabled American Veterans Monument
Butler, Bates County, Missouri
Marker Inscription
In Honor And Respect To Every Veteran CMDR Jerry Bay, State of MO, 1994-95 Ron Witte D.S.O. Honorary Member Eugene S. Hunt Dedicated By Disabled American Veterans Nov. 11, 1987 Butler MO Chapter 67
The Story
Dedicated in 1987 by Disabled American Veterans Chapter 67, this monument in Butler honors every veteran regardless of the war they served in. The DAV was founded after World War I to advocate for wounded and disabled servicemembers, and chapters like this one carry that mission into local communities. The monument stands as a general tribute rather than a memorial to one conflict.
Why it matters
It reflects how veterans themselves organized to remember service and sacrifice across all of America's wars, not just to mourn a single one.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
Butler, in Bates County, Missouri, is a county-seat town in the western part of the state, the kind of rural community where civic life has long centered on the courthouse square and the local organizations that bind neighbors together. Among the most enduring of those organizations, across small-town America, have been the veterans' groups.
When this monument was dedicated in 1987, it joined a long American tradition of communities setting aside a permanent place to honor those who served. By the late twentieth century, towns across the country had lived through a whole century of major conflicts, and the impulse to build a lasting tribute — one that reached beyond any single war — was strong.
The Disabled American Veterans, the organization behind this monument, grew out of the aftermath of the First World War, when the nation confronted the needs of enormous numbers of wounded and disabled servicemembers. Its local chapters carried that mission into towns like Butler.
People & events
This monument was dedicated by Disabled American Veterans Chapter 67 on November 11, 1987 — Veterans Day, the most fitting date imaginable — and its dedication reads, plainly and generously, in honor and respect to every veteran. The inscription records the local people who carried the work: a state commander, Jerry Bay, noted for 1994–95; Ron Witte; and an honorary member, Eugene S. Hunt.
Those names matter because they ground a national mission in specific human beings. The DAV was founded after World War I precisely to advocate for veterans whose service had left lasting wounds, and a chapter like number 67 was how that advocacy reached the streets of a Missouri county seat.
What's striking is the monument's refusal to single out one war. Rather than mourning a particular conflict, it honors every veteran, whatever era they served in — a choice that reflects the DAV's own broad, ongoing commitment to all who wore the uniform and bore its costs.
Its place in the American story
The story of American veterans is not only the story of their service but of how they organized, once home, to care for one another. The DAV is a leading example: veterans banding together to make sure the wounded and disabled among them were not forgotten once the parades ended. This monument is that impulse made visible in a small town.
By honoring every veteran regardless of war, the monument reflects a mature and expansive idea of remembrance — one that sees service and sacrifice as a continuous thread across all of the nation's conflicts, not a series of separate episodes. That's a distinctly veteran-centered way of remembering, and it's worth noticing.
Dedicated on Veterans Day by the veterans themselves, it embodies a truth about American memory: that some of the most heartfelt commemoration comes not from the state but from the served, speaking to and for one another.
If you visit
Look for this monument in the civic heart of Butler, and read its inscription with attention to the names on it — the local commanders and members who made it happen. Those names turn an abstract tribute into a record of real people doing the work of remembrance in their own community.
Note the dedication date of November 11, 1987, and let it sink in that this was raised on Veterans Day by a Disabled American Veterans chapter. That framing tells you the monument speaks in the voice of veterans honoring veterans, which gives it a particular warmth.
Bates County holds more than one veterans tribute, so this fits naturally into a short, reflective walking loop of the town's memorials. Come ready to honor breadth rather than a single story — this monument's whole spirit is that no veteran, from any war, should be left out.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · Disabled American Veterans
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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