| Title |
Kenneth Butler, February 23. 2004, Salt Lake City, Utah: an interview by Frances Merrill |
| Alternative Title |
Kenneth Butler, Saving the legacy: an oral history of Utah's World War II veterans, ACCN 2070, American West Center, University of Utah |
| Creator |
Butler, Kenneth, 1923-2010 |
| Contributor |
Merrill, Frances; University of Utah. American West Center |
| Publisher |
Digitized by J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah |
| Date |
2004-02-23 |
| Date Digital |
2015-12-16 |
| Access Rights |
I acknowledge and agree that all information I obtain as a result of accessing any oral history provided by the University of Utah's Marriott Library shall be used only for historical or scholarly or academic research purposes, and not for commercial purposes. I understand that any other use of the materials is not authorized by the University of Utah and may exceed the scope of permission granted to the University of Utah by the interviewer or interviewee. I may request permission for other uses, in writing to Special Collections at the Marriott Library, which the University of Utah may choose grant, in its sole discretion. I agree to defend, indemnify and hold the University of Utah and its Marriott Library harmless for and against any actions or claims that relate to my improper use of materials provided by the University of Utah. |
| Spatial Coverage |
China |
| Subject |
Butler, Kenneth, 1923-2010--Interviews; Veterans--United States--Biography; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; World War, 1939-1945--Aerial operations, American; World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Asia--Personal narratives, American; Radio, Military; Radio operators--Biography |
| Description |
Transcript (20 pages) of an interview by Frances Merrill with Kenneth Butler on February 23, 2004. Part of the "Saving the Legacy" Oral History Project |
| Collection Number and Name |
Accn2070, Saving the Legacy oral history project, 2001-2010 |
| Abstract |
Butler (b. 1923) was drafted in 1942. He had worked at Hill Air Force Base repairing radio equipment, so he was assigned to the Air Force and sent to California, then to school in Madison, Wisconsin. He served in the China-Burma-India theater of operations working in the control tower. Interviewed by Frances Merrill. 20 pages. |
| Type |
Text |
| Genre |
oral histories (literary works) |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Extent |
20 pages |
| Language |
eng |
| Rights |
 |
| Scanning Technician |
Mazi Rakhsha |
| Conversion Specifications |
Original scanned with Kirtas 2400 and saved as 400 ppi uncompressed TIFF. PDF generated by Adobe Acrobat Pro X for CONTENTdm display |
| ARK |
ark:/87278/s6cn961t |
| Topic |
Personal narratives--American; Veterans; World War (1939-1945); Military operations, Aerial--American; Radio, Military; Radio operators |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1029703 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6cn961t |
| Title |
Page 13 |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1029694 |
| OCR Text |
Show KENNETH BUTLER February 23 2004 FHM: Okay. And go ahead and explain what you did while you were there. KB: I worked in the control tower and at the airbase. The altitude was 7 500 feet. And at that altitude B-25's that are loaded have a hard time getting off the ground. And so I would count the planes. Someone else would count the planes as they took off and went in front of the tower. They would go clear to the end of the runway. The runway had a drop off, and it went down into a valley, and they would still be on the ground when they left the runway. And they'd go down into the valley and would be out of sight from the control tower. So I would count the planes as they were climbing the hill on the other side, and then would make sure that none of them crashed down in the valley. So we were lucky we didn't loose any of the planes taking off. FHM: Do you recall any particularly humorous or funny events, unusual events that happened while you were there? Were there any pranks that went on amongst the men? KB: You will probably want to take this out. At the homing station, it had an outhouse that was about 50 feet from our house. And between the outhouse and where we were, was a 55-gallon drum that we would put C-ration cans on and then target practice. When they missed, they went through the outhouse. And so when the monsoons came, and you used the outhouse, it leaked quite bad, so you'd have to take an umbrella with us. One day I was in the outhouse, and a Chinese path went right in front of the outhouse, and I was in there. And some Chinese walked by with a water buffalo. When the water buffalo got to the outhouse it had to itch, and so it leaned against the outhouse to scratch, and I was inside, and the outhouse was rocking. I was afraid it was going to tip over. So I was just hanging on, and I was too embarrassed to holler at the Chinese. So, finally, they moved on. 12 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6cn961t/1029694 |
