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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHilton Butler, Brazos Valley Hero ya .xy Ys h o k. V 9' a One in a series of tributes to members of "The Greatest Generation" who served our country during World War II F Hilton Butler r" By Bill Youngkin to Turk Island but were headed to the Philippines, where we Special to The Eagle would all die. When we entered Leyte Gulf in the Philippines, l remember thinking that Tokyo Rose knew more about our ship First of Two Parts and what we were doing than did the sailors on our ship. "The invasion of the Philippines was our first combat Hilton Butler of Bryan has permanent reminders of World action. Our method of attack was for the five gunboats we had War II - loss of hearing in both ears, balance problems and little in the fleet to line up and go into the beach ahead of the other bits of shrapnel that show up in his x-rays from time to time, landing craft. As we went in, wefired our rockets into the beach But he would still remember World War II without his physical at different intervals. We then ran up on the beach, firing the reminders. last of our rockets with the troops coming in right behind us. Life for Butler began in Gause, Texas, on May 31, 1924. As "We were taking a lot of mortar fire after we ran onto recalled by Butler, "When the depression hit, my parents moved the beach, with three mortars hitting our gunboat. I was on us to Houston in 1936.1 attended Stephen F. Austin High until my last year, when I returned to Gause. My grandfather died, the .50 caliber gun on the fantail, and the mortars hit in the so I returned to help and graduated from Hearne High School middle, taking out six of our crew. OE4 in May 1942. "About one hour later, while we were still on the beach, , - "The war was on, so I volunteered for the navy and was we were strafed by Japanese fighter planes.To me that was the sworn in in Houston. They put us on a train we didn't know worst because you had nowhere to go or no place to hide. All where to - ending up in Corpus Christi at the Naval Air Station. you could do was stand there and shoot back. We were in a marine boot camp and when it was over, they "After the beach was secured, about two days later, kept me there for about a year gassing up planes and getting MacArthur waded ashore and made his famous speech. He did them ready for the students to fly. it three times for all the journalists to have a photo opportunity. "That was pretty boring, so when I saw a notice about a After his landing, we were sent on a search and destroy mission need for amphibious assault sailors, I volunteered. I was sent to to locate suicide boats that might be hidden along the beach. Pier 92 in New York City, which was next to the pier where the French liner, the Normandy, had been sabotaged. It was huge "To do this, we were on foot on the beach. We found and was lying broadside. One day an officer started calling out four of the suicide boats that were fully loaded and ready to names, to include mine. We were loaded into a truck and drove go. That was when a Japanese sniper started shooting at us. through the tunnel to New Jersey to the shipyards, where we Fortunately, he missed and some army guys came along and were assigned as crew to an LCI that was being commissioned. located and knocked out the sniper, who was in the top of a "We took it down the coast to Norfolk, Virginia, where it tree. We destroyed all the suicide boats and returned to our was converted from a landing craft to a gunboat. We were told gunboat. we were going to be a secret weapon in naval warfare. Where "Sometime thereafter, we were told we needed to get the ramp was located that was lowered to allow the troops to out of Leyte Gulf, as the Japanese fleet was coming. Admiral hit the beach, that ramp was removed. In its place was a panel Halsey was off looking for the laps with our main naval force, of rocket launchers. It would hold, fully loaded, 500 rockets. leaving only a few old battleships, a few aircraft carriers and a Each of those rockets was equivalent to a five-inch shell. We few destroyers under Admiral Kincaid. They went out to meet carried some firepower. the Japanese and defeated them in what was probably the "We headed through the Panama Canal to California greatest naval battle in history, the Battle of Leyte Gulf. and then Pearl. Pearl was still really torn up. The Arizona's "With the Japanese fleet in retreat, we were sent to New superstructure was still standinu in the water, the Oklahoma 't Guinea to assist the Australian navy in taking four small islands was lying broadside and the Nevada or West Virginia, I can't off remember which, had been beached so as to not block traffic the coast of New Guinea into and out of the harbor. Next week: the rest of Hilton Butler's service to his country. "We underwent extensive training, to include some Hilton Butler's name is found on the Brazos Valley Veterans L. underwater demolition training. I was an excellent swimmer Memorial. Ifyou want to have a name added to the Veterans and really enjoyed that training. We eventually formed a convoy Memorial, for more information, to make a contribution, or I to go attack a Japanese naval base located in the Turk Islands - if you know a World War 11 veteran whose story needs to be or so we thought. One nightTokyo Rose came over the radio and told, contact the BVVM at www.bvvm.org or Bill Youngkin at talked about our'secref gunboat. She said we weren't going (979)260-7030. By BillYoungkin "The invasion of Okinawa began on April 1, 1945, Easter I Special to The Eagle Sunday and April Fool's Day. We had a war correspondent on our boat on the way into the beach, but the landing was relatively Second of Two Parts easy. The hard time for the soldiers started after they left the beach. Hilton Butler of Bryan signed up to serve in the U.S. Navy but "While the soldiers were having their problems, we were served for a short period during World War II under the control of having our own with the Japanese kamikaze planes. They actually the Australian Navy. came in waves with our aircraft hitting them as far out as they Butler served abroad a beach landing craft modified to hold could, but many got through. The kamikazes sank so many ships 500 rockets. The"gunboats"as they were called, would be the first that the area became known as Iron Bottom Bay. wave to hit the beach, firing their rockets as they approached. "One of the kamikazes that got through came after our They were followed by the troops, who then stormed the beach. gunboat. They usually attempted to hit the larger ships, but this 'Y According to Butler, "The use of our gunboats in the one got after us. I was manning one of our .50 calibers on the Philippine invasion proved to be a successful way to storm a beach fantail, along with my buddy from Texas on the other .50 caliber. in an amphibious assault. Because of our success, we were sent We were firing away at him and it looked like we were getting to New Guinea, where we were loaned to the Australian Navy to direct hits in the nose of his plane with every shell, but he just assist in the amphibious landings they carried out. We were under kept coming. the control of the Australian cruiser the Canterbury. The Aussies, with our help, took all four of those islands in three weeks'time. It "It looked like he was going to hit our boat right where we helped that they were small islands. were when his plane blew up,just before impact. If blew me away from my gun station and down the deck. I was bleeding from my "We were sent back to the Philippines to help take Luzon. We back and shoulder because I had apparently turned slightly lust arrived at our place off the coast about midnight. The assault on before the impact I thought was going to happen. the beach was to take place the next morning at daylight. It was very dark that night and hard to see as we assembled into our "The medic was patching me up when I realized my buddy attack position. Just about daylight we headed in when we heard and only otherTexan on board was missing. We finally located him overthe radioto hold fire. The Japanese had decided to not defend bobbing in the water. We went to pick him up and I was thinking the beach and had pulled back into the hills. On the beach were all that he was dead. We came alongside and I grabbed him by his the Filipinos, to include women and children, to greet us, It would belt and pulled him in. But he wasn't dead. Somehow he, too had be the easiest landing we would ever have during the war. avoided being killed. I guess we were both very, very lucky. "When we heard about Iwo Jima, we wondered why we "After Okinawa, we were ordered to Hawaii for repairs to weren't being used there also. We found out we were to be used have new engines installed and to train for the invasion of Japan for something much larger and bloodier, Okinawa. Our gunboat We were to go in on le Shima and we were training for that when reached Okinawa about 30 days prior to the invasion. Ourfirstjob we heard about the bomb and the war's end. I had enough points was to help deliver underwater demolition crews and pick them to be one of the first to come home. up from the hazards they were destroying. What we couldn't blow "I was discharged at Camp Wallace, outside of Houston I out of the water, we made a chart of its location for the other ships hitchhiked to Houston, where I met a beautiful girl from Bryan and troops that would be assaulting the beaches. named Helen Berger, who would remain my bride until her death. "Some of the Japanese would attempt to escape in boats We were in the real estate business on Galveston Island, to include to the neighboring islands, but some would be in suicide boats some land development, until we retired and came back to be loaded with explosives that would try to sink the ships that we near our families. had offshore. Our job was to patrol between the shore and our ships to prevent those suicide bombers from attacking our ships. When asked about his experience in the war and what that time of service meant to him, Butler responded,"It was a job that "One night one of our destroyers hit a mine or was hit by had to be done regardless of the price you had to pay. If I were one of the suicide boats and sank. When it sank, we attempted called to serve again, I would try to do my very best, again" to rescue the men that were in the water. One of the guys I pulled aboard was dead. I laid him on the deck and wondered about Hilton Butle6nameis foundon theBrazos Valley Veterans who he was, where he was from, etc., so I looked in his billfold Memorial. If you want to have a name added to the Veterans and found that his last name was Davis and he was from Sunset, Memorial, for more information, to make a contribution, or if Texas, out in WestTexas. I thought if I ever went near there I would you know a World War 11 veteran whose story needs to be told, stop and look his people up, but I never have and I feel bad about contact the BVVM at www.bvvm.org or Bill Youngkin at (979) > that. 160-7030.