James Butler
James Butler
My grandfather, James Butler, currently lives in Indianapolis , Indiana . He grew up in a family with a heavy European background, and was raised in Illinois . In the early 1940's he graduated high school early and decided to go to college. He attended Notre Dame college from 1939-1943, receiving a major in metallurgy. During his college years, he joined the Navy and put in two years of duty. He was a minesweeper and worked on oil rigs in the Pacific theatre post World War II.
In this interview, "K" stands for Jim Kauffman and "B" stands for James Butler.
K: Tell me about your experience in World War II.
B: I joined the Navy in January of 1943, and got out in the fall of 1945. I was in the Navy-12 program at the university of Notre Dame where we actually got our education and took naval training so that upon completion we got our degree plus a commission in the Navy.
K: what did you do after college?
B: when I got my degree and commission I was flown over to Japan to pick up a mine sweep, which began at Sasebo on the lower island and then my ship was is Kobe harbor. This is where I joined my mine sweep. You could still see the war's effects nearly a year after the war because of ocean mines, destroyed cities, and the United States ' post-war presence
K: what did you do on a mine sweep?
B: There were 6 mine sweeps involved in what they called a nest, and what the Japanese did was lay mines protecting their harbors, but didn't have maps or charts. So the U.S. had to sweep these mines so that ships could come in and out. While I was there we swept Kobe harbor and other harbors. The ship I was on was actually more like a boat. It was 346 foot wooden vessel, which had twin screws. This made it very maneuverable.
K: What did you do after the mine sweeps?
B: After that we were transferred down to the Philippines where I was decommissioned. I moved from the mine sweep to a yard oilier, which we would transfer oil to other ships, being their source of energy. When I boarded I had more points than anyone else, so I was on the oilier for about 6 months and then my points were up.
K: What are these points that you are referring to?
B: Well what happened.In the service, once u obtained so many points, it qualified you for discharge. S I was given the privilege of coming back to the states. I flew to Great Lakes naval training station, where I was decommissioned and free to become a civilian.
K: And that was in 1945?
B: That was in 1945.
K: How did you disarm the mines you found?
B: Well what we did was-we had magnetic sweep equipment that would be long-cabled with knives on them and we would cut the magnetic mines from their mooring and pop them up to the surface. And then we would open them up with twin-forties and explode them. Once in while we would have a mine that explodes very close to the fantail of the ship, but we encountered quite a few magnetic mines.
K: What other types of mines were there?
B: Well there were three types of mines. There were pressure mines, acoustic mines, and we were strictly in the magnetic field. So the boat we were on was wooden because it didn't attract the magnetic mines we were searching for. The only thing that was magnetic on the ship was our engine.
K: Did you encounter any remnants of the war?
B: Well when I first left for Japan we not only saw Hiroshima and Nagasaki , but we also saw all the other big cities. We couldn't tell the difference between the b-29 bombs and the atom bomb. That was the amazing thing to us.
K: How did serving change you as a person?
B: Well you valued the U.S. because of freedom and the chance to do things and the atmosophere after was was that nobody was owed anything because they were in the service. It was like everyone was proud, and you got to meet people who had gone through similar situations. Everybody had a work ethic afterwards that was just amazing. It absolutely brought the country together.
K: why did you choose the Navy over other military services?
B: I was raised in Waukegan , Illinois , which was right next to the great lakes naval training base. So I was familiar with the navy and felt the opportunities for being in the navy were better than those of the army.