Fire of Patriotism: Frank M. Butler

July 5, 2015 - Frank Butler was born in Tenaha, Texas to Lewis H. (1877–1966) and Anna Emily Lawler (1883-1972) Butler on January 14th, 1912. He had a younger sister named Dorothy and a grandmother, Nanny Lawler who lived with them during his youth. He attended Tenaha High School graduating with the class of 1931. After high school his occupation is unknown until April, 1939 when an article appeared in the Champion newspaper that Frank would be the operator and manager of the Public Theatre in Tenaha after September of that year.

Frank M. Butler
Staff Sergeant, United States Army, World War II
7th Armored Division
German Prisoner of War

On November 25, 1940 he became a member of the US Army National Guard, taking the oath of enlistment in Denison, Texas and trained in Brownswood and Camp Bowie, Texas. His initial enlistment was for one year so he may have served that commitment and returned to civilian life before reenlisting in 1942.

The next year was spent in Miami, Florida where the US Army Air Forces Technical Training Command was headquartered and the US Army Redistribution Station for infantrymen returning from battle was located. The Women’s Army Corps Communications Detachment was also stationed there. I am not sure what Sergeant Butler’s job was there but he ended up in the 7th Armored Division as an infantryman.

Buried in the Tenaha City Cemetery, Tenaha, TexasThe 7th Armored along with Staff Sergeant Frank Butler of Tenaha, Texas arrived in the United Kingdom in June, 1944 and landed on Omaha and Utah Beaches a little over a month after D-Day on August 13 and 14, 1944. Butler and his 7th Division participated in the Northern France and Rhineland Campaigns before entering the Ardennes Campaign commonly known as the “Battle of the Bulge” on December 16th, 1944.

For the next week the 7th along with other units absorbed much of the weight of the German drive and threw their time table into disarray. The 7th Armored Division was ordered to withdraw on December 23rd. Unfortunately the day before and three days before Christmas, December 22nd, 1944 Sergeant Butler became a German prisoner of war. He was also wounded in action during this fierce fighting in some of the coldest weather imaginable.

7TH Armored Division Patch, Combat Infantryman Badge, Staff Sergeant Stripes Purple Heart, Prisoner of War Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, Honorable Discharge Lapel Pin, American Campaign Medal, European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 3 bronze service stars, World War II Victory MedalParents Lewis and Anna first received word that their son was missing in action from the War Department. After five months they received a letter from Frank on May 19th, 1945 confirming that he was alive and had been liberated from a German POW camp on April 29th. He said that he hoped to be home sometime in July and returned earlier than expected on Sunday, June 17th, 1945. Don’t you know that the Butler clan had a special Sunday dinner that day?

After discharge he returned to civilian life and in all probability it was without fanfare. Like others from that time, they saw their duty and they did it. I don’t believe Frank ever married and he passed away on September 2, 1983 at the age of 71. Records from Mangum Funeral Home show his occupation as retired from Shell Oil Company. He is buried in the Tenaha City Cemetery, Tenaha, Texas with his parents. On Friday, September 18, 2015, Frank Butler and 25 other known former POWs from Shelby County, Texas will be remembered on POW/MIA Remembrance Day by VFW Post 8904 and the Ladies Auxiliary. As always you the public will be invited. (Sources: Champion Newspaper, 12/5/1940, 7/10/1941, 2/25/1943, 2/24/1944, 5/24/1945, 6/21/1945; 7th Armored Division.org, 2015; Wikipedia.org, 2015; Shelby County History.net, 2015; Findagrave.com, 2015, and book, Men and Women in World War II from