Background
Button was born December 3, 1895 in Saint Louis, Missouri and after joining the Marine Corps was sent to fight in Haiti.
nationalist leader second lieutenant
Button was born December 3, 1895 in Saint Louis, Missouri and after joining the Marine Corps was sent to fight in Haiti.
He was in command of a group of Gendarmerie near Grande Riviere, Republic of Haiti, on October 31-November 1, 1919 when they engaged a group of Haitians opposed to the United States. occupation. By the end of fighting Charlemagne Péralte, alleged in Button"s citation to be "the supreme bandit chief in the Republic of Haiti", had been killed and about 1200 of his followers had been killed, captured or dispersed. The medal was approved by the Secretary of the Navy on June 10, 1920, and presented by the Major General Commandant of the Marine Corps, John A. Lejeune, at a ceremony in Washington, District of Columbia, July 1, 1920.
After the ceremony he took a short furlough to his hometown of Saint Louis before returning to Haiti.
He died of pernicious malaria April 15, 1921 at the Department Hospital, Cap-Haïtien, Haiti, at the age of 25. At the request of his father his remains were returned to the United States and he is buried at Valhalla Cemetery, Saint Louis, Missouri.
His grave can be found in section 5S, lot 66, grave 1. The Marines he served with in the Gendarmerie d"Haiti donated money to place a bronze memorial tablet on his grave, and stated that any additional funds would be used to place flowers on his grave each Memorial Day.
Medal of Honor citation USNS Button.