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Sailor spent 40 days at sea as anti-aircraft gunner's mate

F. L. Porter of French Village served in the Navy as a Gunner's Mate during the war.  Mr. Porter served all over the Pacific.  This is his remembrance of World War II.

When President Roosevelt declared war on Japan, I had just completed basic Naval Training.  I was put aboard the battleship Pennsylvania and assigned to the Gunnery Division.  Operating the Anti Aircraft Guns was to be my main duty for the duration.

After the battle at Midway I left the Pennsylvania and served on supply ships and later given duty on landing crafts.   Often a Gunner would be needed elsewhere and I would be sent out.  When the duty was completed I had to hitch hike back to my ship.  I traveled many nautical miles on the Pacific in this fashion.

Events of the war have left painful memories that will forever haunt me.  I spent 40 months of actual sea duty and to this day I can't understand how any of us survived.  Not only did we experience horrendous battles but at times it seemed like the sea itself was an adversary far more unconquerable than our human enemies.  Seamen understand the feeling of certain death looming as their frail craft is pitted against the might of a storm at sea.  Huge waves would take the bow under and the ship would quiver and groan with popping sounds as it strained to surface only to be taken under again and again until the elements gave up their efforts to break the vessel apart.

In reflection, I marvel at the valor of all of our service men.  They went about their duties with one common goal.  They knew what they had to do and the attitude was, "Get on with it and get it over!"  Their determination combined with the knowledge that we had to win this war made them a force too formidable to defeat.

Most of the time we were following directives that we didn't understand but as the victories began to multiply, we could see the scheme of things falling into place.  The Generals and Admirals who plotted the strategies were brilliant.  I shall always be a devout Admirer of General McArthur.   He had so much knowledge of the Pacific and I believe had to be the greatest military tactician of all times.

It was such a long war!  Letters, pictures and packages from home sustained me.  I dreamed of the things I wanted to do once the war ended.   My wife and I hadn't even begun our life together when the war began but we planned it all our in our letters.

I have not forgotten to be grateful that I was spared and able to come back.  The Lord has blessed me.  The family I craved was given to me.  The business we always hoped to have became a reality and we have reasonably good health.

I, like every citizen, should be thankful that all of the sacrifices that were made were not in vain because we are still free and America still stands.

THE DAILY JOURNAL, St. Francois Co., Wednesday, April 26, 1995

The following is the text of F. L. Porter's obituary which was published in the DAILY JOURNAL on November 12, 2001:

PROMINENT BUSINESSMAN DIES
By LEROY SIGMAN\DailyJournal Staff Writer

FRENCH VILLAGE - A prominent former Lead Belt businessman, Francis Lloyd Porter, died late Friday afternoon at his home here after and extended illness at the age of 83.

Better known by his initials, F. L., Porter founded and operated Porter Produce. The wholesale produce company was located on East Main Street in Flat River and served as the main source of vegetable products for most area grocery stores and restaurants.

After selling the produce company, which is now known as Proffer Produce, Porter went into the wholesale grocery business. Based in French Village, F. L. Porter Foods continues to serve restaurants and grocery stores over a wide area of Southeast Missouri.

Sharing in the operation of his companies was his wife, Anna Lee Porter, who survives him, and his two daughters. His daughter Patti Leftridge, who is very active in the business, was a common sidekick with her father on deliveries. At one point, he painted F. L. Porter and Daughters Food Company on his delivery truck.

Also active in the business is another daughter, Linda Weiss of Bonne Terre, and granddaughter, Jennifer Weiss of French Village. A son-in-law, Donald Leftridge, is now president of the firm, something those close to Porter said he was very proud about. He considered both his firms family businesses in which everyone became involved.

Two brothers, the late Chalmer Porter, and Billy Ray Porter now of Alto Pass, Ill., were also involved with him in Porter Produce Co. They were recognized as having brought in the first railroad car full of lettuce to the Lead Belt during their early business days.

Visitation for Porter will be at 4:30 p.m. today at Horton-Wampler Funeral Home in Park Hills with a VFW service at 7 p.m. The funeral will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday at the Horton Wampler Funeral Home. Dr. Carl Painter and Chester (Bud) Moyers will officiate.

Born near Malden, Porter recalled his early childhood as one of meager resources. He often spoke of working in the watermelon fields of the Bootheel, his first experience in the world of produce. His friends and family describe him as the epitome of "a self-made man."

Porter served four years with the U.S. Navy during World War II, 40 continuous months of those being spent in the South Pacific. Much of that time he was involved in landing troops, his photographic memory being of great advantage to avoiding reefs and shoals along the coasts of islands.

Porter had what friend Dr. Carl Painter described as "an uncanny knack for training horses." He took that up as a hobby and trained many successful show horses.

While it was a hobby in which he took great pleasure, the animals were also special to Porter as companions. He and his wife owned one of their horses, Jim Dandy, for 38 years.

A member of the Bonne Terre Church of Christ, Porter was very fond of gospel music and formed a local quartet group.

For the past 10 years, Porter suffered from a lingering illness and most recently was served by a hospice group for which his wife expressed tremendous gratitude. She said she could not believe how caring they were, particularly in the final days.

Porter also suffered from Alzheimer's, which Painter and Mrs. Porter said was difficult. Even so, he remembered many about whom he cared dearly about and on occasion would slip off to visit them. A local bank whose staff he loved to visit gave him a ball cap and it got to a point he would insist on wearing it even when he went to bed.

Painter, who also lives at French Village, said Porter was "well liked by many who knew him for his good humor and benevolence."
[DailyJournal/Nov. 12, 2001]

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