Young County serviceman makes historic impact

Service to one’s country comes with many responsibilities and with them is the risk of never returning home. It is for these sacrifices that we honor the many who fall in service during Memorial Day, such as Young County’s own Thomas Clinton Butler, Jr.

Butler was born Dec. 23, 1921 on his family farm in Loving to parents Thomas Clinton Butler, Sr. and Della Mae Butler. He was the oldest of five children.

His father worked as a farmer and during World War II as the head of the Young County Draft Board. His mother worked as a school teacher at Shawnee Elementary School in Graham.

Service ran in his blood with Butler’s great-great-grandfather taking part in the Battle of San Jacinto in April 1836 as part of the Texas Revolution.

He graduated from Graham High School in 1939 where he was a football star. He studied at John Tarleton Agricultural College, now known as Tarleton State University, in Stephenville. In January 1941, he felt the call and enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in Fort Worth.

On Aug. 20, 1941, Butler married Doris Christine Newman in Breckenridge and later his training brought the couple to New Orleans. He qualified for flight training and headed off for training at Moses Lake, Wash. and Kearney Air Force Base, Neb. During his training at Chanute Field, Ill., he received his wings and was commissioned as a second lieutenant.

He crossed the Atlantic Ocean on the Queen Mary to Glasgow, Scotland before traveling to England by train. He and his crewmates were assigned Dec. 1, 1943 to the 322nd Squadron of the 91st Bomber Group at Bassingbourn, England.

The 91st Bombardment Group, known as the Ragged Irregulars and the home of The Memphis Belle, was constituted Jan. 28, 1942 and activated April 15, 1942. Butler trained with the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress.

He moved to England in fall 1942 and operated under the 8th Air Force which was used for strategic bombardment.

He entered combat in November 1942 and concentrated his attacks on submarine pens, ship-building yards, harbors and docks until mid-1943. Additionally, he also commenced airstrikes on airdromes, factories and communications.

On Jan. 27, 1943, Butler along with 91 B-17 and B-24 bombers from the 8th Air Force, launched America’s first World War II strike against Germany when 137.5 tons of munitions were dropped onto the port of Wilhelmshaven, according to the 8th Air Force History Office.

It was Jan. 11, 1944, when the organization of the 8th Air Force went into central Germany to attack vital aircraft factories. The 91st group successfully bombed its targets in spite of poor weather, inadequate fighter cover and enemy attack, but Butler never made it home.

Butler was assigned to an aircraft called “Chief Sly’s Son,” a B-17 which carried out missions in December 1943 and in January 1944. The crew was involved with a raid Jan. 11, 1944 on Oschersleben, Germany where they took enemy fire. 

Butler served as the co-pilot and after all of his crew had bailed out of the aircraft it exploded, killing Butler at the age of 22.

His body was later recovered and he was buried in Belgium. The rest of his crew were captured and finished the war in prisoner of war camps.

Butler and all those who were involved in the first offensive played an important part of America’s history in WWII. It is through his sacrifice and the sacrifices of many that the United States continues to thrive as it does today and why it annually recognizes those who have fallen.

Editor’s Note: The information in the story was provided by Richard Bills, the nephew of Thomas Clinton Butler, Jr.