WWII_Raymond_Arthur_Butler

Raymond Arthur Butler

Seaman 1st Class, USS ANTIETAM (CV-36)

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Raymond Arthur Butler

     Raymond was born the 17th of November, 1925 in Marlborough, Massachusetts, the second of seven children born to James and Mildred Butler and lived with his parents at 5 Hunter Avenue in Marlborough.  While working at the Curtis Shoe Company, he enlisted into the Navy the 25th of August 1943.  He received his basic training at Naval Training Station Newport, Rhode Island.  He was promoted to Seaman 2nd Class the 4th of October and assigned to the USS WASP (CV-18) the 24th of November 1943.  The WASP returned to Boston following a shakedown cruise for a shipyard period and Raymond was transferred to the USS CHARGER (CVE-30) the 15th of March 1944.  Raymond worked on the flight deck as an arresting gear talker and plane handler.  The CHARGER operated from Norfolk, Virginia on escort duty in the Caribbean Sea.  Raymond was again transferred to the USS SHANGRILA (CV-38) the 20th of November 1944 and participated in the ships shakedown cruise with a trip to Trinidad.  Raymond was again transferred to the USS ANTIETAM (CV-36) the 28th of January 1945 as part of the commissioning crew.  The ship operated from Norfolk on her shakedown cruise and headed to the Pacific theater shortly after Raymonds promotion to Seaman 1st Class in May of 1945. 

     Arriving in Hawaii shortly before the end of the war, the ANTIETAM provided air cover for troops during the occupations of Manchuria, Korea and mainland China. Raymond was transferred back to the United States the 10th of October, 1946 for his discharge from the Navy at Naval Air Station Alameda, California.  Raymond was discharged and flown back to Massachusetts the 17th of October, 1946 for 55 days of terminal leave.  The civilian aircraft that Raymond was a passenger on crashed during a snow storm that same day in Laramie, Wyoming killing all aboard.  Raymond is buried at the Maplewood Cemetery in Marlborough, Massachusetts. 

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