Kenneth Lee Porter

Name:

Kenneth Lee Porter

Country:

United States

Rank:

Lieutenant

Service:

United States Air Service

Units:

147^th Aero

Victories:

Born:

06 December 1896

Place of Birth:

Dowagiac, Michigan, USA

Died:

03 February 1988

Place of Death:

Queens, New York, USA

Cemetery:

Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, USA
Section 67 Site 441

A graduate of the University of Michigan with a degree in engineering, Kenneth Lee Porter joined the United States Air Service on 6 August 1917. Following training in Canada and Texas, he was commissioned and assigned to the 147th Aero Squadron in January 1918. Flying the Nieuport 28, Porter scored his first victory on 2 July 1918, sharing in the destruction of a Pfalz D.III. In August, the 147th Aero was re-equipped with the SPAD XIII and Porter scored four more victories to become an ace on 12 October 1918. Two days before his final victory, Porter replaced Wilbert White as commander of C Flight when the latter was killed in action. After the war, Porter resumed his career in engineering, worked for Boeing during World War II and was a member of the United States fighting pilots Association.

World War I flying ace, 91, dies peacefully at home
Syracuse Herald-Journal - Friday, February 5, 1988

The Ann Arbor Times News, Ann Arbor, Michigan, Friday, 28 May 1920, page 13

The Boston Herald, Boston, Massachusetts, Saturday, 6 February 1988, page 41

Distinguished Service Cross (DSC)

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Kenneth Lee Porter, Second Lieutenant (Air Service), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action near Chateau-Thierry, France, July 2, 1918. Lieutenant Porter, with four other pilots, attacked 12 enemy aircraft (type Pfalz), flying in two groups well within the enemy lines. As soon as the enemy planes were sighted, Lieutenant Porter maneuvered to get between them and the sun and with great difficulty gained the advantage. While three of the other American officers dived on the lower formation Lieutenant Porter and Second Lieutenant John H. Stevens engaged the upper formation in a bold and brilliant combat, two planes of which they crashed to the earth.

General Orders No. 1, W.D., 1919

Croix de Guerre

An excellent pilot. He has always been efficient and brave, firing on enemy convoys from low altitude, attacking balloons, forcing them down. On 2 July 1918, together with two other pilots, he attacked a formation of 12 enemy planes and brought down one of his adversaries.

French Croix de Guerre citation

Victories

	Date	Time	Unit	Aircraft	Opponent	Location
1	02 Jul 1918	1730	147^th	Nieuport	Pfalz D.III ¹	Château Thierry
2	28 Sep 1918	1240	147^th	SPAD XIII	Rumpler C ²	Cierges
3	10 Oct 1918	1215	147^th	SPAD XIII	Hannover CL ³	Verdun
4	10 Oct 1918	1240	147^th	SPAD XIII	Fokker D.VII	Cunel
5	12 Oct 1918	0945	147^th	SPAD XIII	Hannover CL ⁴	Romagne

1	Shared with Lt T C Bronson, Lt C W McDermott, Lt Ralph O'Neill, Lt M O Parry, Lt J H Stevens
2	Shared with Lt O B Myers, Lt L C Simon
3	Shared with Lt O B Myers, Lt Wilbert White
4	Shared with Lt T J Abernathy, Lt Francis Simonds

Books

Wolverines in the Sky: Michigan's Fighter Aces of World War I, World War II and Korea: by Andrew Layton / Paperback / Xulon Press (May 17, 2007)
American Aces of World War 1: by Norman Franks, Harry Dempsey (Illustrator) / Paperback / Osprey Publishing (September 25, 2001)
Over the Front: by Norman L. R. Franks, Frank W. Bailey / Hardcover / Grub Street the Basement (May 1992)

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