Topeka ? State officials paused from their debate over balancing the state budget Thursday to honor the family of Army Sgt. Jacob Butler for his service to the country.

“He was willing to pay the price,” Gov. Kathleen Sebelius told Butler’s parents, Jim and Cindy, during a meeting in her ceremonial office.

Jacob Butler, 24, was based at Fort Riley and was a scout with the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Armored Division. He was killed April 1 at Assamawah, Iraq, when a rocket-propelled grenade hit his vehicle.

Sebelius presented his parents with a Kansas flag that was flown at the Statehouse and a commemorative coin with the state seal. She concluded the meeting with hugs and cookies for the couple’s three grandchildren.

Jim Butler told the governor that his son, who was not married and didn’t have any children, died protecting the nation’s freedom and doing what he loved. The Wellsville native had been in the Army for five years.

His mother said it was important that his body was recovered and her son was buried in Wellsville.

“We can visit him when we want,” she said. “Parents are supposed to go first.”

Jim Butler added: “I’ve been there quite a lot.”

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, left, speaks to Jim and Cindy Butler and their granddaughter, Shelby Butler, 4, the parents and niece of Army Sgt. Jacob Butler. Butler was killed in action last month in Assamawah, Iraq. The Butlers, of Wellsville, and other family members visited Sebelius Thursday in her office at the Statehouse, where she thanked the family for Jacob's service and presented them with a flag that was flown over the Statehouse and a commemorative coin featuring the state seal.

Sebelius told the Butlers that her mother lost a brother in World War II and his remains were never returned home.

“There was no final goodbye,” she said.

Members of the House and Senate also honored the Butlers with special introductions and a resolution.

On Wednesday, Sebelius and legislators welcomed Pfc. Patrick Miller of Park City, who was taken prisoner during the war.

Miller, 23, and four other members of the 507th Maintenance Company from Fort Bliss, Texas, were captured March 23 in an ambush near the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah.

Those five, along with two helicopter pilots, were freed April 13 near Tikrit in northern Iraq.