100-year-old World War II veteran alive longer than Veterans Day's been a federal holiday

MARLBOROUGH — Longtime Framingham resident Arthur Butler, 100, has been a veteran for so long that he predates Veterans Day.

“I don’t know how I got to be 100,” Butler joked during an interview Tuesday morning in the lobby of Marlborough’s New Horizons, the assisted living facility where the World War II veteran is now settled.

Nov. 11 was celebrated as “Armistice Day” beginning in 1919, the one-year anniversary of the end of World War I. It officially became a holiday in 1938, when Butler was finishing up high school.

In 1954, then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower changed the name to Veterans Day. The holiday was briefly celebrated in October for a few years in the 1970s, before returning to Nov. 11.

The United States is not the only country to honor veterans around this auspicious date in November — the anniversary of the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month that marked the end of World War I. Britain marks the occasion with Remembrance Day, and many wear red poppies to honor those who have fallen to conflict.

Butler, who rose to the rank of corporal, served in the 1st Battalion, 184th regiment 7th infantry division in the U.S. Army. He was born in New Jersey and grew up in Framingham.

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“I went to the public schools,” Butler recalled. “After graduating high school, I went to Northeastern University… from Northeastern, I went into the Army.”

Butler then spent time far from home.

“I spent several months in east Texas for basic training,” he said, and from there was stationed in California and then overseas. In 1945, Butler was injured in combat in Okinawa, Japan.

“I was wounded by a Japanese hand grenade,” he said.

After recovering, and after the end of the war, he was stationed in Seoul, the capital of Korea. For his time serving in the military, he was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star. He keeps all of his medals and patches in a box in his Marlborough residence — among them are the U.S. Army Combat Infantryman Badge and a combat patch from the 7th infantry division.

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Butler said he was discharged at Fort Devens in Ayer. Stateside, he worked at banks in Cambridge and then in Waltham.

“I spent… 40 years altogether working in the banks, and retired in February 1986,” he said.

Butler, a bachelor who also lived in Southborough before moving to New Horizons, celebrated a century of life earlier this year, marked with a car parade.

Lillian Eden can be reached at 617-459-6409 or leden@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @LillianWEden.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: 100-year-old Framingham veteran is older than Veterans Day