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First Name: Kenneth

Last Name: Porter

Birthplace: Dowagiac, MI, USA

Gender: Male

Branch: Air Service, U.S. Army (1918 - 1926)



Middle Name: Lee



Date of Birth: 06 December 1896

Date of Death: 03 February 1988

Rank:

Years Served:
Kenneth Lee Porter

   
Engagements:
•  World War I (1914 - 1918)

Biography:

Kenneth Lee Porter
Second Lieutenant, Air Service, U.S. Army

Kenneth Lee Porter was born on 6 December 1896 in Dowagiac, MI.

Porter was an engineering graduate from Michigan University who joined the U.S. Army Air Service on 14 May 1917 and completed training at the School of Military Aeronautics, University of Illinois, in October of that year. He was one of "The 300" selected for training with the Royal Flying Corps in Canada, and later in Texas. He earned his Reserve Military Aviator rating and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on 16 January 1918.

During the First World War, he was assigned to the 147th Aero Squadron in February 1918, and become a Flight Commander. While on patrol with Ralph O'Neill and four other American pilots, they shot down a Pfalz D.III over Château Thierry on 2 July. After switching his Nieuport 28 for a Spad XIII, Porter scored four more kills from 28 September through 12 October 1918, thereby becoming an "Ace."

After World War I he worked for Burroughs Corporation and the Pesco Pump Co. in New York until World War II. During WWII, he helped develop the hydraulic system for the Martin B-26 bomber. 

After the war, he returned to civilian engineering.

Death and Burial

Second Lieutenant Kenneth Lee Porter died on 3 February 1988. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA.



Honoree ID: 2972   Created by: MHOH

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