After More Than 40 Years, W. Sayville Vet is Honored

More than 40 years after serving his country, Vietnam veteran Peter Butko of West Sayville has finally received the recognition he deserves.

On Thursday, Rep. Steve Israel, D-Dix Hills, presented Butko with six overdue service medals: Army Commendation Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal & Bronze Star Attachment, Combat Infantryman Badge, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Ribbon, and the Expert Badge & Rifle Bar.

Butko was drafted into the United States Army and served with the 9th Infantry Division in the Cailai province in Vietnam from April 18, 1966 until April 17, 1968. Butko never received his commendations.

“I feel fantastic to have this honor bestowed upon me by Congressman Israel,” Butko said. “I am overwhelmed and thankful for all of the help his staff has provided.”

Butko met Israel earlier this year at his local American Legion in Central Islip. Israel was there taking part in a new initiative to enlist Long Island Eagle Scouts, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts in recording Veterans’ stories.

The program trains the Scouts to conduct interviews with local combat Veterans. The interviews the Scouts conduct are then prepared for inclusion in the Library of Congress as part of the Veterans History Project, so that future generations may hear directly from Veterans and better understand our nation’s history.

“Through this project, young people get to understand the freedoms they have because of people like Peter,” Israel added.

Butko reached out to the congressman in an effort to finally have his medals. After spending two years in Vietnam and another 16 years in the Reserves, Butko made several attempts to receive the recognition but it always ended up at a dead end.

“It took 44 years for me to finally get these medals,” Butko said. “When I did the video, I realized that young people don’t learn about the Baby Boomer generation and what we did for our country. We weren’t welcomed back into society. We never heard those two famous words: Welcome Home.

“Thanks to people like Steve Israel, who went out of his way to get this done for me, I am finally able to get the recognition for my service.”

Butko also thanked members of Israel’s team for their work, including Juan Leon, outreach coordinator. Leon spends all of his time working for the veterans.

“Having served in Afghanistan, nobody understands their needs better than Juan,” Israel said.

Israel and his team have been involved many other programs to help veterans, and have presented $4.9 million in backpay to veterans dating back to WWII.

“All we do is make some calls; people like Peter fight for our country and this is the least we can do to repay our debt to our veterans,” Israel said.