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Vol. 19, No. 13
December 14, 2022
Gold Star Christmas tree honors fallen service members, families By Taylor Davison Valley Journal
Heritage pg. 5
All-Northwest pg. 13
Sports pg. 18
POLSON — Inside the second floor foyer of the Lake County Courthouse stands the Gold Star Family Memorial Tree, covered in ornaments for families honoring service members who lost their lives. The tree was installed by Jeannie and Bill Butler who lost their son Matthew in 2015 during his service in the Army. “When he passed, he was only 25 years old,” Jeannie said. “We decided to get involved with anything that had to do with the service for veterans, for soldiers that had passed, anything that we could get involved with. We were told that Gold Star families are people that have lost their loved ones.” The Gold Star, which first appeared in World War I, signifies a family member who has lost a loved one in military service taking pride in the loved one’s sacrifice. A Gold Star lapel pin is sometimes worn by these families, display-
SUMMER GODDARD / VALLEY JOURNAL
ing a gold star with a purple background surrounded by a gold laurel wreath. The Christmas
tree, Jeannie said, signifies the same thing. “I saw one on a video and it took my breath
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away. I said, ‘I want to be a part of that if I can.’” The project hit home for her, so she
approached her husband with the idea and he agreed to help. The couple got a tree, and Jeannie reached out to a friend of hers in Polson to make the custom gold star ornaments. She then personally contacted other Gold Star families throughout Montana to ask if they would like to be a part of the tree. “There’s a whole community in Montana for Gold Star families,” she explained. The ornaments are made for the families’ lost service members and can include their name, military branch, rank, birthday, and day of passing, if the family desires. A family can change or leave off whatever they like as they are entirely custom for each soldier. An extra ornament is then made and sent to the family for their own personal tree, all costing the family nothing. The Butlers founded their own nonprofit, Welcome Home Inc., that allows them to
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