Mexican Border Service Medal, “26078” (Col E.L. Butts, 12th Infantry)

Mexican Border Service Medal, “26078″. Issued to Lieutenant Colonel (later Brigadier General) Edmund L. Butts, 12th Infantry, who later commanded the 30th Infantry in the Second Battle of the Marne where the 3rd Division earned the nickname “Rock of the Marne”.

Edmund Luther Butts graduated with West Point’s Class of 1890. As a junior office he developed the Butts system of physical training, adopted by the Army as its standard. He served in the Sioux War (Rosebud Expedition), in Cuba during the Spanish-American War, in the Philippines during the Insurrection there. During World War I, he commanded the 30th Infantry in France. In the Second Battle of the Marne, Butts’ 30th regiment and the adjoining 38th Infantry bore the brunt of a division-strength German assault, breaking the attack. Butts was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for that action. Brig Gen Butts died in 1950. Gen Butts’ incomplete medal group is known to be in collector hands.