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William Anthony Butler
All information was provided by William's nephew, Bill Butler.
| Born In: | Rochester New York June 8, 1922 |
| Education: | Bill attended St. Monica’s elementary school starting in first grade in 1929. He was a graduate of West High School, the class of 1941 |
| Pre-Military Employment: | |
| Military Service Record: |
Bill enlisted on 8-28-1942. Serial Number 0-0803334. He trained at Maxwell Air Force Base in Nov. 1942 . Bill was a member of Class 43-E (that is the 5th class of the year 1943). He graduated on Friday morning, 5/28/1943 from Craig Air Force Base. William graduated as a Lieutenant. He graduated from Craig Air Field as an S.E. fighter pilot. He was assigned to the Third Army Air Force, 337th Fighter Group, 98th Fighter Squadron from 6/1943 -12/1943. According to correspondence with his brother Bill trained at Lafayette, LA flying PT 19A’s. Eventually he trained on the P-40 N’s, a late model of the P-40’s. Bill was impressed with the P-40’s. In the letter dated 9/19/43 Bill simply identified himself as being in C-B-I which stand for China-India-Burma. Shortly there after on 9/25/43 Bill wrote again from India. In this letter Bill explained that he is practicing on only one plane. That plane was not mentioned. I assume that Bill was flying P-40’s. Bill was assigned to The Flying Tigers, 14th Army Air Force, 23rd Fighter Group, 76th Fighter Squadron some where between November 15 and December 12, 1943. He was with this unit from 12/12/1943 until 2/12/1944. He was very proud of being a Flying Tiger. This was confirmed in a letter dated 11/15/1943. William arrived on a B-25 from Kweilin. It was believed that Bill was part of a group of pilots who flew P-51A-s over the Hump from India into China. At Christmas 1943 the 76th moved from Kweilin to Suichuan. When he was with the 76th Fighter Squadron Bill flew a North American P-51A Mustang. The Serial Number of his plane was 43-6292. Bill’s first and only ‘kill’ was December 30, 1943. At the time he was flying a P-40. His Commanding Officer was Lt. John Stewart (died 2004).
On December 17 Bill would send his last letter to his brother. He made
vague reference to no longer flying the P-40 Warhawk and now flying the
P-51 Mustang. |
| Date Discharged or retired: | |
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Awards, Medals and Commendations |
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| Wife: | |
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| Personal Comments: |
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Bill in his P-51, picture taken by Thomas Raleigh. |
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Bill with Mary Ann, picture taken by John Butler. |
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Photographer unknown, Lafayette Field, Louisiana, January 1943 Third row, middle |
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P 19 A, Training planes Photographer Bill Butler, Lafayette Field, Louisiana, January 1943 |
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Obstacle Course Photographer Bill Butler, Lafayette Field, Louisiana, January 1943
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Back stoop Photographer Bill Butler, Lafayette Field, Louisiana, January 1943 |
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Photo by Louis Faust |
