Phillip N. Butler Explained

Phillip N. Butler
Nickname:Phil
Birth Date:11 August 1938
Birth Place:Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
Allegiance:United States
Branch:United States Navy
Serviceyears:1961–1981
Rank:Commander
Battles:Vietnam War
Awards:Silver Star (2)
Legion of Merit (2)
Bronze Star Medal (2)
Purple Heart (2)
Laterwork:President of Veterans for Peace

Phillip Neal "Phil" Butler (born August 11, 1938) is a retired United States Naval officer and pilot. He was the eighth-longest-held U.S. prisoner of war (POW) held in North Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Butler, who was forced to eject after a mid-air explosion on April 20, 1965,[1] was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam until his release as part of Operation Homecoming in 1973.[2] Butler was one of the five POWs (with Carlyle "Smitty" Harris, Hayden Lockhart, Robert Peel, and Robert H. Shumaker) credited with establishing the tap code.[3] The code enabled the prisoners to communicate with each other.

After his release, Butler earned a PhD in sociology and used his communication skills to provide leadership training in military and civilian life. Butler provided community service as President of Veterans for Peace. In October 2019 Butler was inducted into the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame.[4]

Early life

Phillip Neal Butler was born on August 11, 1938, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He attended Lanier Elementary School, Wilson Jr. High School and Will Rogers High School, from which he graduated[5] in Tulsa, Oklahoma.[6] He logged enough flying hours to receive a commercial pilots license two months after his high school graduation.[7] Butler attended the University of Oklahoma with a Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) scholarship and then accepted an appointment to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis.

Military career

Navy training and early career

Phillip Butler graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1961 from the United States Naval Academy. Butler received his officer's commission and married Karen Olson the day after graduation. On assignment in Texas, Butler flew the single-seated fighter airplane, Grumman F-11 Tiger, during the Cuban Missile Crisis.[8] Butler was assigned to Naval Air Station Lemoore in California.[9]

Capture

See main article: U.S. prisoners of war during the Vietnam War. During his second West Pacific cruise, on the night of April 20, 1965, Butler launched from the in his A-4C Skyhawk. His mission was to fly from the Gulf of Tonkin to Highway 1, the major transportation route that the North Vietnamese used to carry military supplies to their troops in the south.[10] The bombing run was at night because that was when the North Vietnamese moved material. According to Butler's report his aircraft exploded due to a malfunction of the electrically-fused Mark-81 VT experimental fuses on the 250-lb bombs.

After ejecting, he covered over in four days with nothing to eat or drink other than what he could find on the jungle floor. On the fourth day, the North Vietnamese, using dogs, were able to track him down and capture him. Butler went down near the North Vietnamese city of Vinh.

Butler was moved around to ten different prisons in North Vietnam over the next seven years and ten months.[11] [12]

Butler was first reported missing[13] and then mistakenly reported killed in action. The erroneous news of his death was published in his home town of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

In 1965 Butler was placed in the same cell with Carlyle "Smitty" Harris, Lieutenant Robert Peel and Robert H. Shumaker.[10] Harris taught the others a special code that he had learned at a survival training.[14] This tap code enabled the prisoners to communicate with quiet taps on the walls of the cells.[15]

After the death of Ho Chi Minh in September 1969 the treatment of the US POWs improved.[16] [17]

After release

After recovery from his injuries and a difficult divorce Butler attended graduate school while in the Navy. Butler earned a Ph.D. in Sociology at UC San Diego and worked as a Navy Organizational Effectiveness consultant and a professor of management at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. Butler retired from the Navy as a Commander in 1981.

Medals

Awards and honors

Civilian life

Business

Butler had a consulting and management company,[20] [21] Camelot Enterprises 1981–2000,[22] [23] specializing in executive team building, interpersonal skills, planning, personal coaching and mentoring.

Veterans for Peace

Butler served as president of Veterans for Peace (1997–2000). Butler opposed the candidacy of fellow former POW John McCain in the 2008 US presidential campaign, supporting Barack Obama. He said that "John McCain is not somebody I would like to see with his finger near the red button".[24]

Community service

Writings by Phillip Butler

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Book: Hubbell, John G.. P.O.W. : a definitive history of the American prisoner-of-war experience in Vietnam, 1964–1973. 1976. Reader's Digest Press. Jones, Andrew, 1921–, Tomlinson, Kenneth Y.. 0883490919. New York. 1991209. registration.
  2. Book: Honor Bound: Prisoners of War in Southeast Asia, 1961–1973. Rochester. Stuart. Kiley. Frederick T. US Naval Institute Press.. 2013. 9781557506948. Annapolis, Maryland.
  3. Book: Rochester, Stuart. Honor bound : American prisoners of war in Southeast Asia, 1961–1973. Naval Institute Press. Kiley, Frederick T.. 1999. 1557506949. Annapolis, MD. 101–120. 39706922.
  4. News: Ex-POW from Tulsa among military Hall of Fame inductees. Stanley. Tim. September 1, 2019. Tulsa World. September 23, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190914133249/https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/decorated-ex-pow-from-tulsa-among-oklahoma-military-hall-of/article_d92dd889-180b-5f6a-8619-68e8a9754bb6.html. September 14, 2019. live.
  5. News: Cheers Welcome Navy POW home. Wood. Tom. March 17, 1973. Tulsa World.
  6. Tulsa Pilot is Killed by Reds in Viet Nam. Tulsa Tribune April 21, 1965.
  7. "Tulsa Pilot Missing in Viet Nam combat" headline Tulsa Daily World April 22, 1965
  8. News: One man's war and peace. Ryce. Walter. Dec 2, 2010. Monterey County Weekly. May 12, 2019. 688 Williams Ave,,Seaside CA 93955. https://web.archive.org/web/20190512150540/http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/news/cover/phillip-butler-fought-his-way-through-a-violent-childhood-and/article_9e667741-d963-5573-9733-9da3aeb40979.html. May 12, 2019. live.
  9. "California Newspapers Unite to Nip New Russian Propaganda in the Bud" headline in Lemoore Advance newspaper June 17, 1965 no 24 photo of Phil Butler
  10. Book: Rochester, Stuart I., 1945–. The battle behind bars : Navy and Marine POWs in the Vietnam War. 2010. Naval History & Heritage Command, Dept. of the Navy. Naval History & Heritage Command (U.S.). 9780945274612. Washington, DC. 458583708. registration.
  11. News: Tulsa Native not Forgotten: Naval aviator recounts being one of history's longest prisoners of war.. Stanley. Tim. September 21, 2018. Tulsa World. 5 May 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180921091040/https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/pow-mia-day-tulsa-native-one-of-america-s-longest/article_87f86801-0846-5ec3-940c-3c645a6a4b91.html. 21 September 2018. live.
  12. Stockstill. Lewis R. October 1969. A Special Report on POW's: The forgotten Americans of the Vietnam War. Air Force and Space Digest: The Magazine of Aerospace Power..
  13. Web site: US National Archives and Records. Butler. Phillip N. March 22, 1979. US National Archives and Records Administration. https://catalog.archives.gov. live. September 20, 2011. May 20, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20110920202419/http://www.archives.gov/.
  14. Book: Rochester, Stuart I., 1945–. Honor bound : American prisoners of war in Southeast Asia, 1961–1973. 1999. Naval Institute Press. Kiley, Frederick T.. 1557506949. Annapolis, MD. 39706922.
  15. Book: Townley, Alvin.. Defiant : the POWs who endured Vietnam's most infamous prison, the women who fought for them, and the one who never returned. 9781250006530. First edition : February 2014. New York. 862575088. 2014-02-04.
  16. Book: Trinh, Nguyen Quy. Collected Party Documents vol 30 1969: Treatment of American POW's in North Vietnam Politburo Resolution No 194-NQ-TW 20 November 1969. Hanoi National Political Publishing House. 2004. Hanoi, Vietnam. 303–305. 11 October 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190622180714/https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/113936. 22 June 2019. live.
  17. Book: Rochester, Stuart I., 1945–. Honor bound : American prisoners of war in Southeast Asia, 1961–1973. 1999. Naval Institute Press. Kiley, Frederick T.. 1557506949. Annapolis, MD. 39706922.
  18. Resolution honoring Phillip Butler as a Monterey County Military and Veterans Services Advisory Commission's "Veteran of the Year" for 2018. file CR 18–150, Monterey County California Board of Supervisors resolution October 23, 2018 https://monterey.legistar.com
  19. Web site: Monterey combat veteran honored for peace work. Taylor. Dennis. 2019-12-10. Monterey Herald. en-US. 2020-02-04.
  20. News: Former POW speaks of Optimism, humor at conference. Moeser. Sharon H.. February 10, 1991. Antelope Valley Press.
  21. News: POW Return with Honor. Westlake. Evelyn.. November 1988. Monterey Life Magazine. 37–40.
  22. News: Vietnam Veteran is now a consultant: Ex POW's work involves advising others in management principles. Streeter. April. September 16, 1988. The Salinas Californian. 3A.
  23. News: One Way to Learn How to be Happy. Demmon. Calvin. August 15, 1986. The Herald.
  24. Book: Allen, Michael J. Until the Last Man Comes Home: POW's, MIAs and the unending Vietnam War. University of North Carolina Press. 2009. 9780807832615. Chapel Hill, North Carolina USA. 301–302.
  25. Web site: On Torture, From Someone Who Knows. American Civil Liberties Union. 26 June 2009 . en. 2019-10-11.
  26. Web site: Ex Vietnam POW Phil Bulter on 3 Lives of a Warrior. Collins. Peter B. 19 October 2010. www.peterbcollins.com. live. 4 October 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191011233854/https://www.peterbcollins.com/2010/10/19/ex-viet-pow-phil-butler-on-3-lives-of-a-warrior-gary-chew-reviews-nowhere-boy/. 11 October 2019.
  27. News: A Vietnam War POW takes America to task over its treatment of a Taliban POW.. Butler. Phil. 3 July 2014. Monterey County Weekly. 1 October 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191001155329/https://www.montereycountyweekly.com/news/cover/a-vietnam-war-pow-takes-america-to-task-over-its/article_524e0dda-0235-11e4-b70f-0017a43b2370.html. 1 October 2019. live.
  28. News: A Gathering Storm. Butler. Phillip. January 5, 2017. Peace in Our Times. June 22, 2019. Veterans for Peace, St Louis, MO.

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