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| Pvt. Porter Marple was killed when the Japanese bombed Dutch Harbor. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DutchHarborRaid_map.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dutch_Harbor https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=113324884&ref=acom |
Porter Marple never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom. He might have made it since his older sister lived to be 99.
He was born on November 17, 1917 in Kentucky. His parents Hubert and Maud were also both born in Kentucky. His father worked as a farmer and later as a carpenter. Porter had an older sister and a younger sister. By 1940 Porter had completed one year of high school and was still living at home while working as a carpenter.
He enlisted in the army on November 27, 1941, ten days before the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. He became a private in Company A, 151 Engineer Battalion which was stationed in Dutch Harbor, Alaska.
On June 3, 1942, a sortie of carrier based Japanese bombers and fighters unexpected appeared over Dutch Harbor at 4 am. The attack was to destroy communication and oil storage targets to support the landing of Japanese troops in the Aleutian Islands. Among the targets hit, bombs struck two barracks including the one where Pvt. Marple slept. He was one of 78 Americans killed in the two day attack.
His grave is at Ryder Cemetery in Lebanon, Kentucky. The VFW post in Lebanon is named in his honor.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Join the public Facebook group WW2 Fallen 100
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