My Grandpa Ken

This article was in the Millard County Chronicle today to honor my Grandpa, he was also honored by the University of Utah as the Veteran of the Year.

Ken Porter, 84, of Sutherland, enlisted in the Army Air Corps which eventually became the U.S. Air Force from 1943 to 1945.

“Too many people do not appreciate what the veterans have done, nor do they realize what a blessing it is to live in this country,” said Porter. “I have the utmost respect for these guys and those who spent time in the prison camps.”

Porter attended school in Sutherland until the eighth grade and then went to Delta High School. At the age 17, he convinced his parents to let him join the Army Air Corps as a cadet in the fall of 1943.

Told he was too nervous to be a pilot by the Army psychologist, Porter was sent to gunnery school in Kingman, AZ. After training in Kingman, he went to pre-combat crew flight training in Gulfport, MS. From there he and his crew went to Foggia, Italy, join the 5th Air Force’s 463 Bomb Group, 772nd Bomb Squadron.

“In as much as we had fighter escorts for most of our missions, our main concern was for the flak (flak from the German Fliegerabwehrkanone, aircraft defense cannon) that became more accurate as time passed. We didn’t fly many missions in which we didn’t pick up flak holes. Numerous times we came home with one or two engines completely knocked out by flak. Porter wrote the following account for the Delta South Elementary’s Defenders of Freedom book:

“Our worst mission was one that should have been easy. We had just dropped our bombs when a string of four 88’s went off, peppering us from nose to tail. The first one flew off the nose cone, knocked out both windshields and all the windows. The pilot, co-pilot, navigator and bombardier were all wounded. The 88ís also knocked out the number two and four engines, cut five of the nine spark plugs leads on number one engine and wounded the right waist gunner, cutting all the control cables but the one leading to the automatic pilot. Fortunately the engineer was able to flip in the automatic pilot and we recovered.

“After assessing the damage we decided to try and make it home. By throwing out all the guns, ammo and anything else we could, we were able to maintain sufficient altitude.

The engineer happened to have some extra cables and camps with him and he and I determined what cables went where and put them back together, clamping the cables while I pulled them as tightly as possible. In this fashion we managed to render the controls usable though very sloppy. Eventually the 332nd ‘All Black’ fighter group (the Tuskegee Airmen) escorted us to where we eventually made a crash-landing at Foggia’s main air base, the pilot using only the left landing gear as the right gear and the tail wheel had been shot to pieces. While attempting to land, we did many ground loops and eventually stopped about 40 yards from 10 fully loaded British Wellington aircraft, sending the Brits scattering in all directions. Needless to say our plane was a flying junk pile. We counted more than 300 holes in its right side alone.”

“One of the most memorable experiences stands out, but occurred when my crew and I were nearly halfway finished with our tour. Our plane was loaded and ready to fly. We took off and at about 300 feet, the two left engines simply quit. I looked out of the plane and told a waist-gunner, ‘Your mother is going to get her gold star in about ten seconds!’ Then the pilot cut the power and we hit the ground, taking off the end of the left wing. Fortunately, we didn’t hit hard enough to destroy the entire wing so we were able to say we were one of the few crews to crash a fully loaded B-17 without blowing up the plane,” told Porter.

On another mission, the 99th Bomber Group flew over the top of Porter’s group dropping their bombs taking out a plane in front of his.

“One of the bombs missed our horizontal stabilizer by about two feet. It was so close I could have reached out and grabbed it,” he said.

Porter finished his tour of duty with 275 combat flying hours.

“I was one of the few who put in a full tour of missions. The 5th Air Force credited me with 57 missions but I was given double credit for quite a few missions. All of them were flown while I was 19 years old,” said Porter.

After finishing his tour, Porter refused to fly home. Instead, he waited in Naples for a ship to sail home. He finished the war at Luke Air Force Base in Phoenix, AZ. Porter was discharged October 1945 with the rank of Staff Sergeant.

His life has been one of continual service to his community and nation. Porter is on hand when American Legion Post 135 shows up to assist with Memorial Day celebrations, funerals, holiday parades and other occasions requiring, or desiring, a military presence. He will be honored at a special ceremony in Salt Lake City this Veterans Day as an example of the Utah Veterans to whom so many owe so much.

“I’ve tried to be a good citizen, active in church and in politics, and doing what a good person should do,” Porter said.