- Date Of Birth: August 27, 1916
- Date Of Death: December 11, 2008
- State: Maryland
Cdr. Harold Kenneth Butcher, USN Ret. died Dec. 11, 2008 in Hagerstown. He was 92
Born Aug. 27, 1916 in West Riverside, CA, he was the youngest child of William and Edna Mae Butcher. He graduated from Glendale High School in 1934 and enlisted in the Navy in 1935. In 1941, he wed Mary Charlotte Neilson of Lansdowne, Maryland and soon after reported for flight training in Pensacola, FL. He earned his wings in October,
1941 and in May of 1943 he was commissioned an officer.
Cdr. Butcher saw much action in the Pacific during World War II, flying F-6F Hellcats participating in the landing at Iwo Jima and the preparations for the invasion of the Japanese mainland. After the war, Cdr. Butcher attended the George Washington University in Washington, DC but his academic career was cut short when he was ordered to return to squadron duty at the outbreak of the Korean War. He served in a variety of flying and non-flying tours after korea including Navigator on the USS Leyte Gulf, Air Operations Officer at McMurdo Sound in Antarctica and at the Bureau of Aeronautics in Washington, DC. Cdr. Butcher retired from the military in 1965.
He and his wife enjoyed 60 years together before Mary died in January of 2002.
