Phillip Neal "Phil" Butler (born August 11, 1938) is a retired

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

officer and pilot. He was the eighth-longest-held U.S. prisoner of war (POW) held in

North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...

during the Vietnam War. Butler, who was forced to eject after a mid-air explosion on April 20, 1965, was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam until his release as part of

Operation Homecoming Operation Homecoming was the return of 591 American prisoners of war (POWs) held by North Vietnam following the Paris Peace Accords that ended U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Operation On January 27, 1973, Henry Kissinger (then assistant ...

in 1973. Butler was one of the five POWs (with Carlyle "Smitty" Harris, Hayden Lockhart, Robert Peel, and Robert H. Shumaker) credited with establishing the

tap code The tap code, sometimes called the knock code, is a way to encode text messages on a letter-by-letter basis in a very simple way. The message is transmitted using a series of tap sounds, hence its name. The tap code has been commonly used by pri ...

. The code enabled the prisoners to communicate with each other. After his release, Butler earned a PhD in sociology and used his communication skills to provide leadership training in military and civilian life. Butler provided community service as President of

Veterans for Peace Veterans for Peace is an organization founded in 1985. Initially made up of US military veterans of World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the War in Afghanistan (2001–present), War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War, and as ...

. In October 2019 Butler was inducted into th
Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame

Early life

Phillip Neal Butler was born on August 11, 1938, in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

. He attended Lanier Elementary School, Wilson Jr. High School and

Will Rogers High School Will Rogers Middle and High School, located at 3909 E. 5th Place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was built by Tulsa Public Schools in 1939 using WPA workers and designed by Joseph R. Koberling, Jr. and Leon B. Senter. It was named for the humorist Will Roger ...

, from which he graduated in Tulsa, Oklahoma.Tulsa Pilot is Killed by Reds in Viet Nam. Tulsa Tribune April 21, 1965. He logged enough flying hours to receive a commercial pilots license two months after his high school graduation."Tulsa Pilot Missing in Viet Nam combat" headline Tulsa Daily World April 22, 1965 Butler attended the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

with a

Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps The Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) program is a college-based, commissioned officer training program of the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. Origins A pilot Naval Reserve unit was established in September 192 ...

(NROTC) scholarship and then accepted an appointment to the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

Military career

Navy training and early career

Phillip Butler graduated with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in 1961 from the United States Naval Academy. Butler received his officer's commission and married Karen Olson the day after graduation. On assignment in Texas, Butler flew the single-seated fighter airplane,

Grumman F-11 Tiger The Grumman F11F/F-11 Tiger is a supersonic, single-seat carrier-based United States Navy fighter aircraft in operation during the 1950s and 1960s. Originally designated the F11F Tiger in April 1955 under the pre-1962 Navy designation system, i ...

, during the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...

. Butler was assigned to

Naval Air Station Lemoore Naval Air Station Lemoore or NAS Lemoore is a United States Navy base, located in Kings County and Fresno County, California, United States. Lemoore Station, a census-designated place, is located inside the base's borders. NAS Lemoore is the Na ...

in California.

Capture

During his second West Pacific cruise, on the night of April 20, 1965, Butler launched from the in his

A-4C Skyhawk The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk is a single-seat subsonic carrier-capable light attack aircraft developed for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps in the early 1950s. The delta-winged, single turbojet engined Skyhawk was designed a ...

. His mission was to fly from the

Gulf of Tonkin The Gulf of Tonkin is a gulf at the northwestern portion of the South China Sea, located off the coasts of Tonkin (northern Vietnam) and South China. It has a total surface area of . It is defined in the west and northwest by the northern ...

Highway 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbered ...

, the major transportation route that the North Vietnamese used to carry military supplies to their troops in the south. The bombing run was at night because that was when the North Vietnamese moved material. According to Butler's report his aircraft exploded due to a malfunction of the electrically-fused Mark-81 VT experimental fuses on the 250-lb bombs. After ejecting, he covered over in four days with nothing to eat or drink other than what he could find on the jungle floor. On the fourth day, the North Vietnamese, using dogs, were able to track him down and capture him. Butler went down near the North Vietnamese city of

Vinh Vinh () is the biggest city and economic and cultural center of north-central Vietnam. Vinh is the capital of Nghệ An Province, and is a key point in the East–West economic corridor linking Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. The city is ...

Vinh City Military Museum Region IV Picture 1

Butler was moved around to ten different prisons in North Vietnam over the next seven years and ten months. Butler was first reported missing and then mistakenly reported killed in action. The erroneous news of his death was published in his home town of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Welcome Home Phil to Tulsa March 1973 Picture 2

Welcome Home Phil to Tulsa March 1973 Picture 2

Welcome Home Phil to Tulsa March 1973 Picture 4

In 1965 Butler was placed in the same cell with Carlyle "Smitty" Harris, Lieutenant Robert Peel and Robert H. Shumaker. Harris taught the others a special code that he had learned at a survival training. This

enabled the prisoners to communicate with quiet taps on the walls of the cells. After the death of

Ho Chi Minh (: ; born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), commonly known as ('Uncle Hồ'), also known as ('President Hồ'), (' Old father of the people') and by other aliases, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman. He served as Prime ...

in September 1969 the treatment of the US POWs improved.

After release

After recovery from his injuries and a difficult divorce Butler attended graduate school while in the Navy. Butler earned a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

Sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

UC San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

and worked as a Navy Organizational Effectiveness consultant and a professor of

management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

at the U.S.

Naval Postgraduate School The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is a public graduate school operated by the United States Navy and located in Monterey, California. It offers master’s and doctoral degrees in more than 70 fields of study to the U.S. Armed Forces, DOD ci ...

Monterey, CA Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under b ...

. Butler retired from the Navy as a Commander in 1981.

Medals

* Butler was awarded 2

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an e ...

s (Silver Star Medal with Gold Star indicating two awards), In part it read ..." for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while interned as a Prisoner of War In North Vietnam. During the period May to July 1967 Commander Butler's captors, completely ignoring international agreements, subjected him to extreme mental and physical cruelties in an attempt to obtain military information or false confessions for propaganda purposes...by his determination, courage, resourcefulness and devotion to duty Commander Butler reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest tradition of the Naval Service and the US Armed Forces." * Butler was awarded a

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

with Combat Distinguishing Device and a Gold Star indicating two awards * Purple Heart with Gold Star indicating 2 awards * Two

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

awards "..for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services...while interned as a POW in North Vietnam..he performed duties involving highly classified material in an exemplary and professional manner. Through his zealousness and ingenuity, he generated new ideas and improvised techniques greatly enhancing covert operations. *

Navy Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fifth ...

with Combat Distinguishing Device, *

Prisoner of War Medal The Prisoner of War Medal is a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was authorized by Congress and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on 8 November 1985. The United States Code citation for the POW Medal statute is . The ...

Awards and honors

* Inducted into the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame 2019 * Awarded Veteran of the Year by the Monterey County Board of Supervisors October 23, 2018 * Baha'i Human Rights Award 2019 presented at the United Nations human rights day celebration

Civilian life

Business

Butler had a consulting and management company, Camelot Enterprises 1981–2000, specializing in executive team building, interpersonal skills, planning, personal coaching and mentoring.

Veterans for Peace

Butler served as president of

(1997–2000). Butler opposed the candidacy of fellow former POW

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

in the 2008 US presidential campaign, supporting

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

. He said that "John McCain is not somebody I would like to see with his finger near the red button".

Community service

chapter 46 of Monterey County * Coalition of Homeless Services Providers * Peace Coalition of Monterey County *

Point Lobos State Reserve Point or points may refer to: Places * Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States * Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland * Point ...

, docent for 29 years *

Big Sur Land Trust The Big Sur Land Trust is a private 501(c)(3) non-profit located in Monterey, California, that has played an instrumental role in preserving land in California's Big Sur and Central Coast regions. The trust was the first to conceive of and use ...

Board member * Board member and president Monterey County AIDS Project * Board member The World Affairs Council of Monterey * Board member and chair of National

(president 1997–2000) * Community Advisory Committee, California Department of Corrections, Soledad Prison / Training Facility * President and Founder of the Management Institute of Monterey * Ombudsman for Long Term Care * Commissioner and Chair of the Community Action Council of Monterey county

Writings by Phillip Butler

* From Nationalist to Humanist. The Humanist Magazine March/April 1986 Vol 46, pp 23–32 *

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

awareness ; December 13, 1992. ''The Monterey County Herald'' guest editorial p 3A * Why I volunteer June 1, 1996, Monterey Bay community Links * No Tanks in Monterey 4 July Parade: War machines in city streets sends a wrong message June 27, 1999) ''Monterey County Herald'' * On Torture from someone who knows.

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

(ACLU) blog June 28, 2009 * Three Lives of a Warrior 2010 Camelot Press * Ex-Viet POW Phil Butler on "3 Lives of a Warrior" Peter B Collins show October 19, 2010, PBC broadcast. * A Vietnam War POW takes America to task over its treatment of a Taliban POW. July 3, 2014. ''Monterey County Weekly''. * Prisoner Swap re Sgt.

Bowe Bergdahl Beaudry Robert "Bowe" Bergdahl (born March 28, 1986) is a United States Army soldier who was held captive from 2009 to 2014 by the Taliban-aligned Haqqani network in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Bergdahl was captured after deserting his post on Ju ...

20 July 2014 ''Monterey County Weekly'' * A Gathering Storm ''Veterans for Peace newsletter'' January 5, 2017

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * Foster, Gary Wayne (2022) ''The Hanoi March: American POWs in North Vietnam's Crucible'' ISBN 9781954163355, 1954163355.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Phillip N. Vietnam War prisoners of war United States Naval Aviators United States Navy officers Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Navy personnel of the Vietnam War American torture victims Living people United States Naval Academy alumni 1938 births Recipients of the Silver Star Will Rogers High School alumni