Sgt. Michael Butler fighting Army

Soldier found himself fighting Army
Jackson Clarion Ledger - Jackson, MS,USA
Michael Butler faced court-martial for refusing to go on "suicide mission"
Jimmie E. Gates
• jgates@clarionledger.com
• March 21, 2008


Then-Sgt. Michael Butler of Jackson took a stand in October 2004 - against a military order.

Butler and 22 other members of an Army Reserve unit refused to go on a fuel transport mission in Iraq carrying nine 5,000-gallon tanks of fuel in vehicles with only cloth tops. Their actions set off an international stir about the equipment U.S. military personnel had to use.

Butler was jailed and faced a court-martial after the incident. He eventually was reassigned and served in five different units before returning to Jackson.

"They gave us no choice," Butler said last week, explaining the action the soldiers on took Oct. 13, 2004, in his first interview about the experience.

"As a military man, I would never just not obey an order," he said. But, "It would have been a suicide mission."

Butler's story was first told in The Clarion-Ledger, after his wife contacted the newspaper. Since his return, he says he has been denied medical benefits and wishes he had never seen Iraq.

Butler said last week that the convoy didn't have air and ground support and their superiors didn't want to listen to their concerns.

Amid the international debate that followed over poorly equipped Humvees in combat zones, the military admitted the unit's vehicles were not properly armored.

Butler hopes the action he and the other reservists took made it better for soldiers who came behind them in Iraq.

"It's just like it happened yesterday," Butler said of memories of his tour of duty in Iraq.

Butler is now retired from the military after a 25-year career, but he saaid his battles continue.

Butler said he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, has memory loss and other ailments. He said he has been denied benefits for medical claims by the Veterans Benefits Administration office in Jackson with the exception of one claim: He was approved for 10 percent disability benefits for a shoulder injury.

Butler's medical claims include stress, anxiety, hypertension, memory loss, lower back pain, a leg injury, high cholesterol and the shoulder injury.

In one instance, Butler said he received a claim rejection letter where the examiner mentioned he was dressed too nicely.
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