Designing Service: Awarded Veteran Seeks to Honor Other Vets

St. Peters resident Bill Rupp has been an integral part of the community for many years.

The World War II vet has lived in St. Peters for 28 years. During that time, he has served on the Planning and Zoning Commission, was the first chairman of the St. Peters Veterans Commission and has helped build memorials to honor veterans.

“He does so much, he is still serving his country, just in a different aspect,” said George Newell, veterans service information officer, and friend of Rupp.

A record of service

Rupp was named Veteran of the Year by the Pentagon in 2006 and was one of nineteen veterans honored in a book titled Distinguished Veterans Who Made a Difference. Also in 2006, Rupp met President George W. Bush when he made a stop in St. Charles.

The former Marine served in World War II, from 1942 until 1945. After the war, he worked as a salesman in the lawn and garden business and became the father of five children.

While he has accomplished much in his life, what matters most to Rupp is the work he has done to build memorials to honor veterans, both past and present.

“It means a lot to me that there’s a place for the vets to come, to honor the guys they served with,” he said.

A monumental contribution

Rupp said in the early '90s he and another vet, Ray Eilmann, offered to design and build the monument outside of city hall. Both men came up with designs and submitted them to the city. Rupp’s design was picked and the two men then set out to raise funds to build the monument. St. Peters Veterans Memorial Memorial was the finished result and was completed in 1998.

Rupp said he had no experience building or designing monuments, but felt building the memorial was an endeavor he couldn’t pass up.

“It was something that needed to be done,” he said of the monument.

The veteran said building the memorial was an idea several decades in the making.

“One of the things that bothered me was when we came back from World War II, we were treated like the greatest thing since Swiss cheese, but we were no more heroes than vets of any other war,” Rupp said.

Rupp knew one day he would create a memorial that would honor veterans of all wars. After he witnessed the reception veterans of the Korean and Vietnam wars were shown compared with the fanfare returning soldiers of World War II received, he knew it was something he had to do.

“I swore then I would build a memorial to honor the men and women of all wars, but especially the Vietnam War,” Rupp said of his idea.

After designing and building the monument outside of city hall, Rupp designed and helped build the memorial honoring veterans of the Korean and Vietnam wars at Veterans Memorial Park.

Serving with honor

In addition to giving back to the community, Rupp has been honored for all he has done. Throughout the years Rupp has received over 35 awards for his service to our country.

When asked if there is any certain award or honor which holds a special place to him, Rupp said what means the most is knowing he’s giving back and doing something for other vets.

“The thing that means the most to me is after a ceremony is over and having a vet walk up to me and thank me,” he said.

Rupp went on to say he feels there is nothing greater a person can do than to serve their country and said he has no regrets about being in the military.

“If asked to do it again, I’d do it like that,” he said with a snap of his fingers for emphasis.