Rating
Title	An Interview with Cecil Jack Butler
Creator	Texas A&M University-Commerce
Subject	World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Hürtgen Forest, Battle of, Germany, 1944
Description	Cecil Butler was born on May 27, 1925 With his sister and two brothers, Butler grew up on a farm on the outskirts of Wolfe City, Texas. When Butler was three years old, his father died in a car accident, making his mother the sole provider of the family. Not long after the accident, Mrs. Butler moved her family to Gober, Texas. In order to maintain their new farm, Cecil’s mother borrowed money and enlisted her children’s assistance, but despite these efforts, the family moved back to Wolfe City in 1933 and worked as hired help for other farmers. The children often missed school to help at home, and eventually, Butler dropped out of school in the eighth grade to work full-time maintaining his brother’s land. In October 1943, Butler received a draft notice and reported to Dallas, Texas, where he was inducted into the United States Army. He then attended boot camp at Fort Wolters in Mineral Wells, Texas for six weeks after which he traveled to Fort Meade, Maryland. Having completed basic training, Butler received orders to board the S.S. Columbia for Scotland, but when he arrived in Glasgow, Butler developed a case of the mumps for which he received medical treatment for twenty-one days. Soon after he recovered, his company left for France, arriving on Omaha Beach six days after D-Day. As they traveled closer to Germany, Butler and his company entered into several battles with the retreating Germans. In the Battle of Saint Lo, Butler was injured by shrapnel and returned to a hospital in England for treatment. After a month spent recuperating, Butler rejoined his company and, along with 580 other soldiers, charged into the Hürtgen Forest. For three days, the men were cut off from all supplies including food and ammunition. They survived by eating snow and any other resources the forest had to offer as they fended off the enemy with the little ammunition that they had. When his company finally withdrew from the forest, only eighteen soldiers remained; seventeen of which, had to be hospitalized due to frostbite and bullet wounds, including Butler himself Butler attempted to return to the frontlines, but after one night in the cold, his feet began to swell again. His superiors reassigned him to office work outside of Marcé, France, where he remained for the rest of the war. When the war ended, Butler had earned the right to be among the first to return home, but the military misplaced his file, forcing him to remain in France for three more months. Finally, on December 16, 1945, he returned home to his family in Wolfe City. On his first social outing the Saturday following his return, Butler began dating his future wife and married her three months later. After his experiences in the war, Butler had a hard time readjusting to civilian life. He suffered from shell shock that caused his body to break out in blisters and his stomach to ache, so he sought medical assistance. Despite the assistance of several medical professionals, the condition did not improve, and finally, his wife suggested that he visit a doctor in Commerce, Texas. The doctor told said that Butler’s his illness was due to nerves and mental distress and treated him for free. Cecil Butler worked as a farmer until a doctor recommended he quit, so he began working as a carpenter, and did so for 40 years. Summary contributed by: Brianna Crews
Date	2007-06-12
Publisher	N/A
Publisher of Collection	Texas A&M University-Commerce
Contributors	Cecil Butler
Interviewer	Glenn Gainer
Type	Moving Image
File Format	f4v
Duration	0:56:09
OH #	754
Language	eng
Rights	All rights to materials within this collection are held by respective holding institutions or individuals with the exception of public domain items. The materials contained within this collection are made available online for educational and/or personal research purposes only.
Time Log-Transcript	Cecil Butler Log Veteran name – Cecil Butler Service – Army Interviewer Name – Glenn Gainer Date of Interview – 12-JUNE-07 Location of Interview – Wolfe City, Texas Date of Birth – 27-MAY-1925 Place of Birth – four miles east of Wolfe City, Texas Length of Interview – 61 mins Time Mark Notes 6.40 Hearing about the war 7.40 Pearl Harbor 9.0 Reporting to Weatherford military base 10.10 Left New York by boat to go to war 13.10 D Day 19.50 Lost records – so could not get out of war to come home 23.20 Life lost (out of 580, 18 came back). 25.35 Home, back in Wolfe City
CONTENTdm file name	4077.f4v

An Interview with Cecil Jack Butler

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