PEORIA MAGAZINE April 2023

ONE MORE THING

TRUE TO THE END Carl Porter Jr. fought valiantly for his country, married the love of his life, and made his little corner of the world a better place

BY PHIL LUCIANO

I n Peoria, a quiet hero died a quiet death. Carl H. Porter Jr. – the oldest veteran of the Army’s 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, and a survivor not only of a D-Day jump but his capture by Nazis – died in February at age 101. Though humble, Porter was deeply proud of his service to his country. But aside from family and friends, not many people knew his name. I think more should. On Aug. 30, 1921, Porter was born in Manito, then moved with his family to Pekin, where he later worked with his father at a grain elevator along the Illinois River. After World War II broke out, Porter enlisted in the Army and volunteered to become a paratrooper. He served as a rigger and maintenance specialist, entrusted with the import ant duty of packing and maintaining parachutes. But he also trained to jump as part of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment.

At 2:15 a.m. June 6, 1944, under bright moonlight, Porter peered out of a low flying C-47 transport plane flying low above France. The 508th joined the 82nd Airborne Division in Operation Overlord, jumping into Normandy. Floating downward, Porter watched German tracer bullets crisscross the sky, with multiple rounds searing through his chute. ‘I LOOKED UP AND THERE WERE THREE GERMANS … GUNS POINTED AT MY TUMMY’ — Carl H. Porter Jr. He landed in a tree. He grabbed his rifle. He wasn’t alone. “I looked up and there were three Germans, with their guns pointed at my tummy,” Porter later recalled. “So, I just dropped (my) gun.” At their direction, he raised his hands in surrender. He and 12 other

The June 26, 1944 edition of Time magazine included a story regarding a World War II firefight that ended with the freeing of 13 captured U.S. paratroopers, including Carl Porter

110 APRIL 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE