A large framed "honor roll" listing 50 World War II veterans in the Brush Creek area, all of whom reportedly are deceased, was donated to the Knox Historical Museum in late January 2015. Click link below to view the list.
Click to view Brush Creek World War II Honor Roll
The donation was made by William Butler of Trosper, who has had possession of the honor roll since 1986.
Butler said he is making the donation after his brother-in-law, Billy Hembree, requested a copy. On Friday, January 30, the two went to Barbourville to get a copy and wound up exchanging the original for three copies made by the museum's David Cole.
Butler's father, Beverly Arthur Butler, who served in the Navy, is listed on the Honor Roll.
Hembree's father, Amos Hembree, and uncle, Andrew Hembree, both of whom served in the Navy, are also listed.
Butler said the honor roll was originally displayed in the Big Brush Creek Missionary Baptist Church, of which he has long been a member, from the mid-1940s until 1974.
At that time, during the construction of a new church building, the honor roll "was taken down and put behind the piano," Butler said. Then in 1986, "the whole church voted to let me have it and take it home with me and hang it on the wall."
Said Butler, "I just appreciate the people that were willing to fight in World War II, and we should always honor the men that fight for our freedom."
The World War II Honor Roll from the Big Brush Creek Missionary Baptist Church is now on display in the Museum's Military Room.