Local WWII vet to receive Purple Heart

An Adrian native with a Mendon connection will be the recipient of a Purple Heart medal and other honors to be presented this week by Congressman Fred Upton.
World War II veteran and Portage resident John Butler, 89, will be at the center of the event at 3 p.m. Tuesday in the Community Room of the Centre Meadows Apartments in Portage.
Butler was 16-years-old when he joined the U.S. Navy in 1944. While serving on the USS Kidd as a radar operator, the destroyer was attacked by a Japanese kamikaze pilot in April 1945, and Butler was injured during the battle.
Butler was honorably discharged as a Seaman First Class in August 1945. He returned to Michigan to begin his career, and eventually retired in 1986 as assistant vice president and manager of the Mendon branch of Old Kent Bank and Trust Co.