Grenville Neil Porter Full Narrative

Grenville Neil Porter was born on February 15, 1915, in Hibbing, St. Louis County, Minnesota. He was the eldest child and had two younger brothers. His family moved first to Elko, Nevada then Tacoma, Washington, where Porter remained for the rest of his childhood. Porter attended Lincoln High School in Tacoma, where he played football and basketball. He was also a member of the Archery Club, the senior prom committee, the Knights of Lincoln, and he was selected to be a part of the Boys' Student Leaders. Porter also belonged to the Lincoln Letterman's Club, a branch of the National Athletic Scholarship Society of Secondary Schools. He graduated from Lincoln High in 1934. Porter attended Washington State College (WSC) from 1936 through 1941, graduating with a BA in Economics on June 1, 1941. He joined the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, was a "yell duke" for the men's basketball team until 1939, and was elected to the junior class executive committee. During his senior year, Porter was chosen to act as the honorary president of the college for the super Senior day held on March 21, 1941. He was a member of the WSC R.O.T.C., achieving the rank of First Lieutenant in Company C. Porter likely entered the Army soon after graduation; he was commissioned a First Lieutenant in the Infantry, and likely belonged to the United States Army's Philippine Department. Porter was taken prisoner by the Japanese after General Jonathan Wainright surrendered Corregidor on May 7, 1942. Porter was sent to Japanese POW Camp 2, Davao, Mindanao, Philippines. On August 19, 1944, Porter was among the prisoners marched, shoeless, to Tabunco pier, where he was packed into the holds of the transport ship, Shinyo Maru. Thinking the transport ship was a hostile enemy vessel, the U.S. submarine Paddle fired on the Shinyo Maru, sinking it. Of the 750 men aboard, only 83 survived. First Lieutenant Porter's body was never recovered. He posthumously received the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Prisoner of War Medal, and the Purple Heart. He is memorialized at the Walls of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines, as well as the WSU Veterans Memorial.