John Edward Butler

First Lieutenant John Edward Butler Jr. enlisted into the US Army Air Forces on April 6, 1942, while still a student at UW-Madison. He was involved in ROTC while in school. He started his training at San Antonio, Texas, on Aug. 13, 1942. For his Primary Flight Training, he was stationed at Cimarron Field, Oklahoma. His Basic Flight Training took him to Garden City, Kansas, in early 1943. After a total of 36 weeks of training, Butler was awarded his Pilot's Wings and commissioned to the rank of lieutenant in May 1943 at Victoria, Texas. Shortly thereafter, he married Ardell Thurston in Atlanta, Georgia. Lieutenant Butler was sent to the China-Burma-India Theater where he was a pilot on C-47 cargo planes. On July 24, Butler took off from Dinjan Airfield in India on a cargo mission bound for Myitykina Airfield in Myanmar. His C-47A never made it. A search effort was made, but they could not find the plane or its crew. Following WWII, the plane was discovered, and his remains were interred at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in Lemay, Missouri. He is buried with his comrades that died alongside him. His son, John Jr., was born the day after he was reported missing in action.