Enlisted under the name William LaFayette Porter on November 27, 1940, in Charlotte, NC. He was the son of Jess Alvin Porter and Lillie Velma Shell.
U.S. Army Air Forces, 803rd Engineer Battalion, Aviation. Was assigned first to the 809th Engineer (Aviation) Company (Separate) and transferred to Nichols Field Manila. The company was later merged with the 803rd Engineer (Aviation) Battalion and renamed Company C.
Memorialized at Manila American Cemetery in Fort Bonifacio, Manila, Philippines
His mother died when he was 6 and father remarried. He and siblings were shipped around between various relatives because step-mother didn’t want them around. Joined military at age 15 just to have a place to stay and was well over 6 feet tall and looked way older than his age. Earned his silver star in the defense of Clark Field when he and 3 others attached a .50 caliber machine gun to a vehicle and shot down several planes during Japanese attack.
Unsure of actual cause of death but was known to have been wounded when taken to Cabanatuan.
–Submitted by his nephew, Bill Porter
The Knoxville News-Sentinel, 8 August 1945
Pvt. William E. Porter died of disease while a prisoner of the Japanese in the Philippines on July 27, 1942, according to word received today from the War Department by his father, Jesse A. Porter, 123 East Anderson Avenue. He had previously been reported missing in action. Pvt. Porter enlisted in the Army in November, 1940, while he was still a student at Gibbs High School. He was attached to the 809 Army Engineers and had been in the Philippines since before Pearl Harbor. No word had been received from him since November, 1941, his father stated, but he was known to have been on Corregidor.
Photo Courtesy; Mr. Bill Porter
- Rank: Private
- Date of birth: 8 February 1925
- Date of death: 27 July 1942
- County: Knox
- Hometown: Knoxville
- Service Branch: Army/Army Air Forces
- Division/Assignment: 803rd Engineer Battalion, Aviation
- Theater: Pacific
- Conflict: World War II
- Awards: Silver Star
- Burial/Memorial Location: Manila American Cemetery, Fort Bonifacio, Manila, Philippines
- Location In Memorial: Pillar XIV, Top Panel
- Sponsored by: Bill Porter
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