Rochester Fire Chief Tom Butler is shown inside the Rochester Fire Station. He previously served others through his 24 years in the military. InkFreeNews photo by Leah Sander.

By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

ROCHESTER — Tom Butler says he “felt … a calling and a certain purpose” to be in the military.

Butler, who’s served as the Rochester Fire Department’s chief since 2008, was a military medic for 24 years, with stints in both the Army and Indiana Army National Guard. He spent two tours in the Middle East.

He decided he wanted to enter military service after graduating from Rochester High School in 1983.

“I had a long conversation with my father,” said Butler. “My father was in the Air Force just for his obligated term, and he told me he thought I was making the right decision by choosing a branch of service, but he wasn’t going to give me a lot of guidance.”

“So I had an uncle that was in the Army during Vietnam … I wanted to be a medic. There was no question … So the Army made the most sense with me being a combat medic,” Butler continued.

Butler’s basic training was at Fort Dix in New Jersey. Following that, he trained as a combat medic at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas.

Butler was then sent to Germany with the 583rd ambulance company, spending 18 months there “support(ing) all the training sites in Germany and … field artillery and the infantry.”

He went to Fort Devens in Massachusetts, next, serving as a line medic for West Point freshmen in basic training. Butler then spent time in Honduras and South Korea before heading back to Fort Devens and working with West Point again.

He met his wife Samantha then, who served in the Army with medical supply. Today, they’ve been married 33 years and have two children, Alison and Daniel.

The Butlers were deployed together as newlyweds in Desert Storm to the Middle East.

“We were together the whole time until the ground war started,” said Butler. “She stayed back with the combat support hospital. I went forward with what was called a fast team. We actually would roll up, set up tents and perform surgeries right behind the front line.”

Butler noted one time that included open heart surgery on an enemy soldier who had two holes in his heart.

After his six and a half months there, Butler returned to Fort Devens.

“I got transferred then to  … Cutler Army Hospital. where I worked in the emergency room,” he said. “While I was stationed there, I was selected to serve President (George) Bush … at Kennebunkport, (Maine).”

“So anytime the president went to Kennebunkport, Fort Devens would deploy an ambulance with a medical coverage, so I got to go up and serve the president of the United States,” Butler continued. “I did four missions up at Kennebunkport … So we’d be up there a couple days before the president. We’d arrive. I did get to meet Mrs.(Barbara) Bush and the president, so that was kind of neat.”

Butler then got out of the Army, returning home to Indiana and joining the Indiana Army National Guard.

Butler was deployed to Iraq in 2005 with the Guard.

“We had the Camp Liberty, which was the air base. We had an aid station and ambulance complement,” he said. “I was also responsible for the U.S. embassy in the Green Zone in Baghdad. I had an aid station within the embassy and we took care of the dignitaries or any emergencies that would occur there.”

Butler noted he “lost (a) soldier” while overseas then, Staff Sgt. Richard Blakley.

“(He) actually was shot twice,” said Butler. “He was shot just before Easter and then actually Gov. (Mitch) Daniels came over and gave him his Purple Heart, and then shortly after that on June 6, 2006, Sgt. Blakley unfortunately was fatally shot while on patrol.”

After his one-year deployment, Butler returned to Indiana, retiring from the Guard in 2007. His military awards include a Bronze Star, expert field medical badge and combat medical badge.

Butler returned to his work with the RFD, having first started as a volunteer fireman around 1994 and been hired full time in 1997.

He said the fire department helped to “fill that void” of serving others that he experienced after leaving the military.

Butler said he definitely would serve in the military again if he could.

“If I had to do it over again, I would. I don’t have any regrets about any of my time serving,” he said.

Butler, right, stands during his deployment with the Indiana Army National Guard to Iraq in 2006 with Staff Sgt. Richard Blakley, who received a Purple Heart and was killed later that year. Photo provided by Tom Butler.