This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Tommy Burgdorf (Birddog), FC2
to remember
Butler, William Mann, LCDR.
If you knew or served with this Sailor and have additional information or photos to support this Page, please leave a message for the Page Administrator(s) HERE.
Casualty Info
Home Town Downey, CA
Casualty Date Feb 04, 1945
Cause MIA-Finding of Death
Reason Lost At Sea-Unrecovered
Location Pacific Ocean
Location of Interment Manila American Cemetery - Taguig City, Philippines
Wall/Plot Coordinates Tablets of the Missing (cenotaph)
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
On 3 February BARBEL sent a message to GABILAN, USS TUNA (SS-203), and USS BLACKFIN (SS-322) stating that she had been bombed by enemy aircraft three times that day and would transmit again the following night with more information. But no transmission came. On 6 February, TUNA indicated that she had been unable to raise BARBEL for 48 hours and requested a rendezvous with her sister sub on the following day. BARBEL didn’t show. The navy declared her overdue and presumed lost on 16 February, the day on which she was scheduled to leave her patrol area.
Japanese records examined after the war state that on 4 February a plane dropped two bombs on a surfaced sub, scoring one hit near the bridge. The crew of the aircraft watched the sub, on fire, plunge beneath the waves. It did not return to the surface. It is almost certain that the sub was BARBEL.
Eighty-one men were lost with their boat, the recipient of three battle stars for her World War II service.
Image
American Defense Service Medal - 1939
Name of Award American Defense Service Medal
Devices
Star in Lieu of the following Clasps
Fleet Clasp for US Navy, US Marine Corps and US Coast Guard for service on the high seas while regularly attached to any vessels of the Atlantic, Pacific, or Asiatic fleets as well as vessels of the Naval Transport Service and vessels operating directly under the Chief of Naval Operations
Base Clasp for US Navy and US Marine Corps for service outside the continental limits of the United States (service in either Alaska or Hawaii qualified
Sea Clasp for US Coast Guard for all other vessels and aircraft, not qualifying for the Fleet Clasp, which regularly conducted patrols at sea
Foreign Service Class for US Army for military service outside the continental limits of the United States, including service in Alaska.
Year Awarded 1939
Last Updated: Feb 4, 2022
This ribbon will display Multiple Award devices automatically based on the total number of awards listed