End of Japan
Collection — Box: 1
Identifier: Mss-0374
The End of Japan describes William Burton’s experiences training with the 3rd Armored Division at Camp Polk, Louisiana and in the California desert and later with the 20th Armored Division at Camp Perry, Ohio and in Tennessee. The memoir then covers his education at the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; his assignment to the 2nd Army; and then his transfer to the 8th Army Ordnance Section and his service in Hollandia, New Guinea, Leyte Island in the Philippines, and in Yokohama, Japan during the first three and a half month of the U.S. occupation of that country. The memoir also includes a talk by a German citizen interned during the war about the bombing of Yokohama and Japanese citizens’ view of the war and a sample of guerilla reports from the Philippines.
This collection is open to the public without restriction.
William J. Burton was born January 20, 1914 in Columbus, GA, the son of W. W. Burton of Clemson University and Mollie McCrary Burton. He graduated from Clemson College in 1934 with B.S. in Electrical Engineering. He joined the Duke Power Company as part of the Distribution Engineering Department in Spartanburg, SC and became a Lighting Engineer in Greensboro, NC in 1936.
Holding a first lieutenant commission in the Army Reserves he was called to duty in 1942 and reported to the Ordnance Maintenance Battalion, 3rd Armored Division. From 1942-1943 Burton was the commander of the Headquarters Company, 138th Ordnance Battalion, 20th Armored Division where he was promoted to captain. From January-March 1944 Burton attended the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth and then was assigned as the Assistant Operations Officer, Ordnance Section, 2nd Army. In June 1944 he was transferred to the Ordnance Section, 8th Army, promoted to major, and served in Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea; Leyte, Philippines; and Yokohama, Japan until he was discharged in December 1945. He was promoted in 1946 to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserves.
After the war Burton married Grace Holland and returned to Duke Power. He became the manager of Duke's Greensboro District in 1958. In 1962 he was moved to Duke's General Office in Charlotte, NC as Manager of Public Relations and by the time he retired in 1979 he was the Vice President for Corporate Communications. Burton died in Charlotte on September 7, 2003.
.05 Cubic Feet (1 folder)
English
The End of Japan is a memoir by William Burton who served in the maintenance units of the 3rd and 20th Armored Divisions and the ordnance section of headquarters for the 2nd and 8th Armies. The collection is important in that it provides information on early World War II training of U.S. armored units, a view from the headquarters of the 8th Army of the campaigns in New Guinea and Leyte Island in the Philippines, and the occupation of Japan just after the end of the war.
Content Warning: This collection contains language, audio and/or visual depictions that are outdated, biased, or offensive.
Donated by Robert E. Horton.
This collection contains language, audio and/or visual depictions that are outdated, biased, or offensive.
The collection was processed and a finding aid created by James Cross in 2021.
Part of the Clemson University Libraries Special Collections and Archives Repository