[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Page 19197]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO DONALD T. BUTLER

 Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I recently had the opportunity to 
meet a wonderful American, Donald Butler, who served his country ably 
in Vietnam. His story is typical of so many Americans who have placed 
their lives and health at risk for their country.
  Donald Butler was drafted 6 months after graduating from Straughn 
High School in Covington County, AL. After completing basic training 
and advanced infantry training, he left for Vietnam on April 17, 1966.
  Having trained as an infantryman, he was slated to go with the Big 
Red One, the first division called to fight in Vietnam, but at the last 
minute became a replacement for the 25th Infantry Division and later 
went with the 27th Infantry, Tropic Lightening, Charlie Company in 
CuChi, Vietnam.
  CuChi, Vietnam, as the world later learned, was home to the CuChi 
tunnel complex--130 miles of underground passageways started during the 
war against the French and expanded when the Americans arrived. Built 
by night over many years, the tunnels allowed the Vietcong to become 
invisible to the enemy, conceal snipers and move weapons silently. The 
G.I.'s that fought in the tunnels were a special breed, known by their 
peers as ``Tunnel Rats.'' They were fearless warriors. Donald Butler 
was one of them.
  At a slight 100 pounds, Donald was able to do what many of his fellow 
soldiers could not, squeeze through the tight trap doors and crawl 
along the narrow passages of the clay tunnels with relative ease. Make 
no mistake, while his size aided him in his mission, it was his even 
temperament and inquisitive mind that made him a true ``Tunnel Rat''. 
It was not uncommon for him to crawl through narrow, pitch black 
tunnels for hours looking for the enemy.
  Over a period of 9 months, Donald went out on 37 operations, most of 
which were search and destroy missions. He saw his fellow soldiers lose 
their limbs and, in many instances, their lives. He lived through air 
strikes and mortar attacks and somehow managed to return from the front 
lines of Vietnam without ever sustaining a direct hit. For that, many 
would say he was lucky.
  Like so many of our veterans, Donald Butler returned from the war to 
face an uncertain future. ``When I got off the plane in Montgomery on 
April 18, 1967, I thought I was going to get shot because we had heard 
of the protests back in the U.S.'' he later recalled. To this day he 
suffers from post traumatic stress and severe hearing loss. He is an 
undecorated hero who should be applauded and thanked for his service 
and I rise to do that today.

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