The Graybeards - Korean War Veterans Association

decided to expedite his return to
Maryland. Just after 1952 began he volunteered
to go to Korea as an infantry
replacement. He figured with his airborne
and ranger training he’d have no trouble
surviving nine months. He was almost
right.
September was Porter’s seventh month
in Korea. In just sixty days he’d be on his
way home. But first his company had to
pull a tour on outpost duty. Beginning on
September 1, Company G went on the
line. Each night a squad of men manned
the various listening posts established in
front of the MLR. On September 6,
Porter’s squad, consisting of just three
other men, made its way down the rocky
hillside to its assigned LP. The men they
were relieving were happy to see them
arrive. For the last several nights the
North Koreans had been probing the
American lines. Their forays meant sleepless
nights and frazzled nerves.
Porter kept his men busy until nightfall
preparing firing positions and setting up
fields of fire. When night came he set up
the watch schedule: two men awake at all
times, two-hour shifts. Porter would be on
the first watch, from 8:00 P.M. to 10:00
P.M.
During Porter’s watch all was quiet. He
woke his relief, Cpl. Raymond Schwab, at
10:00 P.M., then crawled into the sandbagged
bunker for a few hours sleep.
The first mortar shell hit the LP a few
hours later. Porter instantly awoke. He
crawled out of the sleeping bunker and
into the fighting trench. Up and down the
ridge enemy mortar shells burst in a near
continuous roar. Schwab saw the first
wave of attackers. He announced their
presence by firing off a clip from his M-1.
It was 12:15 A.M.
Under extremely heavy pressure from
the attacking NKPA, the four GIs took up
fighting positions in the LP’s two bunkers.
Through the bunker’s firing ports Porter
poured a steady barrage of rifle fire into
the attacking North Koreans. His bunker
mate, Corporal Schwab, estimated
Porter’s deadly accurate fire accounted for
twelve to fifteen of the enemy.
The resolute determination of the four
GIs drove off the attacking North
Koreans. As they regrouped out of range,
their supporting artillery and mortars
Like a madman, the tall lanky soldier jabbed his bayoneted rifle into
one enemy chest after the other. His attack was so furious and so
close-in the enemy troops never had a chance to react. In less than
a minute all six North Koreans lay dead of stab wounds
renewed the bombardment. One shell
landed directly on the bunker containing
Cpl. Paul Matichek and Pfc. Jerry
Bachelor, killing them instantly.
Minutes after their two companions
died, Porter and Schwab saw the North
Koreans coming back. “Let’s get ‘em,”
Porter said.
Together the two young soldiers took
up firing positions outside the bunker.
Their combined rifle fire slowed the
attackers but did not stop them. A pair of
North Koreans snuck up on the intrepid
pair. Unseen, they opened fire. Both
Porter and Schwab recoiled from the
impact of the bullets. Recovering first,
Porter cut down the attackers.
Below their firing position Porter spotted
six North Korean soldiers advancing
toward them in the dark. Determined to
prevent the enemy from getting any closer,
Porter shouted to Schwab, “Cover
me!” as he scrambled out of the trench.
In the flashes of exploding mortar
shells Schwab saw Porter wade into the
enemy. Lunging, thrusting, stabbing,
Porter slashed his way through the six
North Koreans. Like a madman, the tall
lanky soldier jabbed his bayoneted rifle
into one enemy chest after the other. His
attack was so furious and so close-in the
enemy troops never had a chance to react.
In less than a minute all six North Koreans
lay dead of stab wounds.
Gasping heavily from the exertion of
his attack, Porter turned to return to the
trench but never made it. An enemy shell
went off at his feet, killing him instantly.
After Porter’s valiant singlehanded
Graybeards for Sale
charge, the North Koreans broke off their
attack. Corporal Schwab was convinced it
was Porter’s bayonet attack that drove
them off.
At first light a relief force reached
Schwab. All he could do was talk about
the gallant actions of Sergeant Porter.
Based on his testimony, Porter was
posthumously awarded the Medal of
Honor on August 5, 1953.
For the rest of September the
Communist forces maintained the pressure
on the U.N. lines. Night after night
Chinese and North Korean soldiers
clashed with U.N. forces. Serious attacks
were launched against Outpost Kelly in
the U.S. 3d Infantry Division’s zone along
the Imjin River, against White Horse Hill
northwest of Chorwon in the ROK 9th
Infantry Division’s zone, and at Jackson
Heights northeast of White Horse Hill
where the U.S. 7th Infantry Division held
the MLR.
The U.N. forces won some of these
fights, lost others. But, as the Korean War
approached the start of its third winter,
there was still no significant change in the
frontline positions.
(Thank you U.S. Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich,
Jr., St. James School, The Morning
Herald and all that remembered this great
hero of the Korean War. The Maryland
Chapter Korean War Veterans Association
is hoping to get approval to have a section
of Route 43 named Korean War Veterans
Memorial Highway. We need the support
of our Federal and State Officials to get
this long overlooked honor done for the
528 KIAs in Maryland and those veterans
still alive.)
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January/February, 2000 Page 39