a Soldier's explorations

George Butler was the Camp Physician for the 40th Infantry Division of the United States Army. He was stationed at Camp Matsushima in Ishinomaki, Japan for nine months in between March and December of 1951. During that time he explored the region taking several thousand photographs. This website has been created to share these images and gain more information about their content. Much of this region was devastated by the Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami on March 11, 2011. This is a record of his observations sixty years before that event.

The original photographs are now archived at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology at Harvard University.

Photographs by George A. Butler, 1951. © President and Fellows of Harvard College, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. Use or reproduction of these images by permission only.
Contact: pmpermissions@fas.harvard.edu
Website: https://www.peabody.harvard.edu/

George Butler was born in San Francisco, California in 1911. He was trained as a physician during World War II. During the Korean War, he was recalled to service with the 578th Combat Engineering Division and sent to Camp
Matsushima, Japan to train for service in Korea. During that time he visited many of the villages in the region. The photographs he took during those times were restored in 2016 by his son, Alan Butler.

This site was created to share photos and gather information. Each photograph in the Photos index Page will link to a blog page, where you my view and comment on photos.

This website is managed by Alan Butler. You may contact me at alanbutler@sonic.net