October 24, 2003
“Some Gave All”
In the words of his high school friend Gertrude Bartley:
Daryl Porter had a younger brother Jim who may still
be in Oroville, and an older brother Charles. Daryl and I
were part of a group of friends who went through high school together
from 1939 to 1943. Daryl was a rather shy, quiet, freckle-faced
boy with an engaging grin. He was well liked by everyone. He was
vice-president of our class in our junior year, editor of the Nugget
yearbook in 1943, and played varsity basketball. In 1942 a government
requested pre-induction course in pre-flight was begun, and Daryl
enrolled. In his senior year he was also a lieutenant in Company
I of the high school cadet corps. After graduation in June 1943
our classmates scattered. I entered U. C. Berkeley’s accelerated
program and have no memory of Daryl’s training experiences although
all of us exchanged letters occasionally. Perhaps someone else can
provide you with that information. My next memory must be about
the Fall of 1944, if you have the date of Daryl’s commission you
will know. Daryl came by our home in Oroville to tell my father
he was now a second lieutenant and had his navigator wings. (In
those days pupils, teachers, and principals were friends) I happened
to be home on vacation from U.C. We had been talking about my cousin
Durston Hildebrand who was also an Air Corps navigator flying
on bombers in England. As we were talking the telephone rang. It
was my Aunt Nell in Oakland telling us they had just been informed
that Durston’s plane had been shot down and he was missing. I remember
that Daryl just wilted. Not long after, Daryl was in the Bay Area
for assignment and had arranged to meet me in Berkeley for dinner
and a movie. The afternoon of that day he telephoned, simply saying
that he could not come and knew I would understand why. When later
he sent me his overseas address, we wrote just chatty letters about
home, mutual friends and school. Then came the day when I received
from a military chaplain a small packet of my last letters to Daryl
marked “Missing in Action”. I said nothing about this until I heard
from my parents that his family had been notified. Of our close
group of friends, only Daryl and Arlin Rhine were killed,
but several were wounded. In 1962-64 we were stationed in the Philippines.
We had the opportunity to go to Manila to see the beautiful war
memorial there. It is dedicated to those who gave their lives in
the battle for the Philippines. Tall pillars bear the name, unit,
and hometown of each person and a directory is available to help
one find the name desired as we found Daryl’s. Whatever the feeling
in the Philippines now, the older generation reveres the men who
gave their lives to free the Philippines.
Oroville Mercury Register July 7, 1944
OROVILLE MEN TRAINING AT TEXAS AIR CENTER
SAN ANTONIO AVIATION CADET CENTER, Tex.
Two Oroville men, Lawrence Cole Phillips and Daryl W.
Porter, are among those undergoing training here. The men are
potential pilots, bombardiers and navigators. They will undergo
a 10-week program of instruction.
Stu’s notes: I wrote before about Daryl, even ran his picture
in the Oroville Mercury Register, Jan. 10,2003. Also I mentioned
the street Daryl Porter Way, the entrance to Hewitt Park. Gertrude
says as far as she knows he was never found. One more reason to
go on with our MIA/POW Ceremony annually, and we will. We will include
more of Gertrude’s stories in the future. Mrs. Esther Bartley, Gertrude’s
mother-in-law, was my 7th grade teacher at Thermalito
School in 1952. We both agree she was a wonderful woman.