BUTLER, DEWEY RENEE

Name: Dewey Renee Butler
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Troop C; 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry; 1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth: 15 August 1949 (Goldsboro NC)
Home City of Record: Washington DC
Date of Loss: 14 July 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 111559N 1064500E (XT910459)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1B
Refno: 1466

Other Personnel In Incident: Ernest Burns (on OH6A); Ray G. Davis, Thomas M.
Felton (on UH1B); all killed, remains recovered.

Source: Compiled from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S.
Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families,
published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK in 1998.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On a rainy July 14, 1969, a UH1B helicopter from Troop C, 1st
Squadron, 9th Cavalry was sent on a night combat support mission in Binh
Duong Province, South Vietnam about 10 miles northeast of Ben Cat. Its crew
included Maj. Thomas M. Felton, pilot, PFC Dewey R. Butler, door gunner;
Sgt. Ray G. Davis and another unnamed crewman (these two served as aircraft
commander and crew chief). The UH1B was operating with a "Pink Team" when it
collided in mid-air with the team's OH6A Loach helicopter, flown by Ernest
Burns.

The UH1B exploded and caught fire, and continued in a northwesterly heading
until it hit trees and exploded. It then crashed and burned. All four
crewmembers of the UH1B were killed, but the three crewmembers of the OH6A
survived and were evacuated from the area.

The color system of identifying the various units was peculiar to cavalry
units. The white section, or "Whites" were the scouts. The Loach lost on
July 14, was a "White". The "Reds" were the gun platoon, and were normally
Cobra gunships. The blue section was the Aero Rifle Platoon. The common
acronym used to describe infantry within the cavalry unit is "Blues", just
as other units described infantry as "grunts". The team of two Loach and
Cobra helicopters came to be known as a "Pink" team. When the pink team
found an enemy unit that they wanted to pursue, they would call the "Blues".
The "Whites" would provide assistance in inserting and extracting "Blues",
while the "Reds" provided cover. Butler's aircraft was undoubtedly a "Blue",
and probably completing an insertion of troops.

When search teams located the wreckage of the planes, they recovered the
bodies of Burns, Davis and Felton. Butler's remains had been mutilated,
leaving only portions of his body, but identification was still possible.
The Captain on the search and rescue team recognized Butler's negroid
features immediately. It was felt that the mutilation was not done by the
enemy because, although an old AK47 clip was found, no recent sign of enemy
presence was found. Butler's remains were brought back to camp, but
disappeared before an official positive identification could be made. As pig
tracks were found leading away from the area, it was belived that the
remains may have been carried away by animals and could not be recovered.

Dewey Butler's name is on the roll of missing because his family has
received no body to bury. Others on the lists of unaccounted for cannot be
so easily explained. Experts now believe that hundreds of the nearly 2400
missing are still alive, held captive. Dewey Butler may be dead, but he
would surely be willing to fly one more mission to help his comrades to
freedom were he alive. Why can't we bring these men home?

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