Will and Joan Butterworth visit relatives in Normandy cemetery during Jax State alumni trip to France

By Brett Buckner 

 Will (’70) and Joan (’71) Butterworth

Nothing was going to keep Jax State alums Will Butterworth and his wife, Joan, from their destination. In June, the couple traveled to Normandy, France, as part of a Jax State alumni trip. Their mission was to visit the graves of Will's relatives, his first cousin, William H. Butterworth, and uncle, Harbon Sexton, who were buried at the Brittany American Cemetery and Memorial. Both died as part of the D-Day landing.  

There was one problem—the cemetery was essentially closed. Because it was the 80th anniversary of D-Day, President Joe Biden and other dignitaries were attending a solemn memorial. The bus tour, which included roughly 400 people, had tried several times to enter the cemetery and was turned back at every turn. The driver, in a last-chance effort to get his passengers to their destination, took a backroad that put them behind the cemetery. That entry was also roped off.  

"But we'd come more than 4,000 miles," said Will Butterworth, who turned 80 in November. "I wasn't going to let some rope keep me out. This was our last chance. I had relatives buried there, and I was going to see those graves. I just stepped over it. When we were getting off the bus, some of the younger guys said, 'Don't worry, we've got your bail money.'"   

Finding the correct graves in a cemetery that covers 28 acres of rolling farmland and contains the remains of 4,404 soldiers is a daunting task, especially considering they were coming in backward. "Everybody on that bus helped me," said Will Butterworth. "If it wasn't for those young people - I think of them as children, but they were probably in their 20s or 30s – I'd probably still be wandering around that cemetery."  

By late afternoon, Will found what he was looking for. "It was an incredible feeling … just seeing those names," he said. "It was a hard trip, but worth it." Butterworth actually had five maternal uncles who fought in World War II, three of which, along with his cousin, stormed the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. Butterworth, who fought in Vietnam, wasn't the only veteran caught up in the emotion of the journey. "The people we went with were all so gracious," he said. They also encountered a 102-year-old World War II veteran, who stood up from his wheelchair just to shake Butterworth's hand, and a Vietnam vet who'd been awarded the Medal of Honor. "I told 'em both," Butterworth said, his voice shaky, "That I'd see 'em in heaven one day."  

Will, who is from Talladega County, and Joan, a native of Heflin, met at Jax State in June of 1967. Will earned a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Management in December of 1970 and returned in 1973 to receive his master's degree. Joan was a math major who graduated in 1971, the same year they were married in January. Will would spend more than 25 years at Jax State, working at the Center for Economic Development in the School of Business. "We met and fell in love at JSU," Joan said. "It will always hold a place in our hearts."

Will Butterworth (’70) encountered a 102-year-old World War II veteran, who stood up from his wheelchair just to shake Butterworth's hand

Will and Joan stand beside a relative's grave