William N. Porter

Porter was born in Lima, Ohio on March 15, 1886.{{cite news |title=Today's Birthdays |work=The Key West Citizen |date=15 March 1945 |page=2 |quote=Maj. Gen. William N. Porter, chief, chemical warfare service, born Lima, Ohio, 59 years ago.}} He attended the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, graduating in 1909. After less than a year of active naval service, he resigned as a midshipman on February 7, 1910.{{cite book |author1=United States Navy |author1-link=United States Navy |title=Register of the Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps |date=1911 |publisher=Government Printing Office |location=Washington, DC |page=203 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SHORnunmYdMC |access-date=8 December 2023}} (Until 1912, midshipmen who graduated from the academy had to serve two years in the fleet before being commissioned as ensigns.){{cite web |title=U.S. Naval Academy During World War I |url=https://www.usna.com/news/wwi |website=United States Naval Academy |access-date=8 December 2023}} He then joined the Army as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps.

Porter was transferred to the Army's Chemical Warfare Service in 1921 as a major.{{cite book |author1=Brophy, Leo P. |author2=Fischer, George J.B. |title=United States Army in World War II: The technical services: The Chemical Warfare Service: Organizing For War |date=1959 |publisher=Historical Division, Department of the Army |location=Washington, DC |pages=91–92 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZW41IJ0of54C&dq=William+N.+Porter&pg=PA43 |access-date=8 December 2023 |language=en}} Porter graduated with distinction in 1927 from the Command and General Staff School and then attended both the Army Industrial College and the Army War College.

As a lieutenant colonel from 1934 to 1937, Porter was assigned to the faculty at the Air Corps Tactical School located at Maxwell Field.{{cite book |last1=Finney |first1=Robert T. |title=History of the Air Corps Tactical School: 1920-1940 |date=1998 |publisher=Air Force History and Museums Program |pages=39, 105–108 |edition=Reprint |url=https://archive.org/details/HistoryOfTheAirCorpsTacticalSchool/ |access-date=8 December 2023}}

Porter served as Director of the Chemical Warfare School, located at the time in Washington, DC, and, as a colonel, as Chemical Officer, 9th Corps Area.{{cite journal |editor1-last=Harding |editor1-first=P.N. |title=Naval Reserve Officers' Pool |journal=The Log |date=March 1939 |volume=32 |issue=6 |page=24 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eoAPAAAAIAAJ |access-date=8 December 2023 |publisher=The Log Publications, Inc. |location=San Francisco}}

After the outbreak of World War Two, Porter was appointed head of the Army Chemical Warfare Service and promoted to major general.{{cite news |title=Maj. Gen. W. N. Porter, Ex-Chemical War Chief |work=Miami Herald |date=20 February 1973 |page=26}} He led the service from May 1941 until 1945, despite having had no experience as a chemical officer in the First World War.{{cite book |author1=Kleber, Brooks E. |author2=Birdsell, Dale |title=United States Army in World War II: The Technical Services: The Chemical Warfare Service: Chemicals in Combat |date=1966 |publisher=Office of the Chief of Military History, United States Army |location=Washington, DC |pages=26 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9Pp06rYE97AC |access-date=8 December 2023}} Until March 1942, he reported directly to the Army Chief of Staff, but from then on to the Service of Supply, later renamed the Army Service Forces. The Chemical Warfare Service was responsible for both offensive and defensive chemical weapons usage, including smoke. Under his command, the service fielded flamethrowers, developed and manufactured incendiary bombs and devices, worked to improve the effectiveness of DDT as an insecticide, and developed treatments for the expected effects of chemical weapons such as respiratory disease, burns, and poisoning.

In December 1943, after the Battle of Tarawa, Porter and the Chemical Warfare Service urged the use of chemical warfare in the Pacific Theater to reduce U.S. casualties against fierce Japanese resistance. However, President Franklin Roosevelt and American public opinion opposed the use of poison gas and were not persuaded.{{cite book |last1=Christianson |first1=Scott |title=Fatal Airs: the Deadly History and Apocalyptic Future of Lethal Gasses that Threaten Our World |date=2010 |publisher=Praeger |location=Santa Barbara, CA |isbn=9780313385520 |page=56 |url=https://archive.org/details/fatalairsdeadlyh0000chri/page/56/ |access-date=8 December 2023}}

Porter was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal for his wartime efforts.{{cite web |title=William Porter - Recipient |url=https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/110680 |website=Hall of Valor Project |publisher=Sightline Media Group |access-date=7 December 2023 |language=en}}

Porter retired from active duty on November 13, 1945.

Porter authored articles for professional journals:{{cite book |last1=Floyd |first1=Dale |title=Defending America's Coasts, 1775-1950: a Bibliography |date=1997 |publisher=Office of History, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers |location=Alexandria, VA |url=https://www.publications.usace.army.mil/portals/76/publications/engineerpamphlets/ep_870-1-57.pdf |access-date=7 December 2023}}

• {{cite journal |last1=Porter |first1=William |title=The Service of Security and Information in Coast Defense |journal=The Journal of the United States Artillery |date=January–February 1915 |volume=43 |pages=83–94|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zKs_AQAAMAAJ&dq=William+N.+Porter&pg=PA83}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Porter |first1=William |title=Smoke and the Coast Artillery |journal=Coast Artillery Journal |date=December 1924 |volume=61 |pages=522–528|url=https://archive.org/details/DTIC_ADA497134/page/n57/}}

Following his retirement from the Army, Porter was president of the Chemical Construction Corporation. The company's offices were located in New York City. In 1953, he was elected a director of Cambridge, MA electronics manufacturer Ultrasonic Corp.{{cite journal |title=Who's Where |journal=Aviation Week |date=9 February 1953 |volume=58 |issue=6 |page=11 |url=https://archive.org/details/Aviation_Week_1953-02-09/page/n5/ |access-date=8 December 2023 |publisher=McGraw-Hill}}

Porter also served as president of the New York Chapter of the Armed Forces Chemical Association.{{cite journal |title=Heads New York Chapter |journal=Armed Forces Chemical Journal |date=September–October 1954 |volume=VIII |issue=4 |page=2 |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_armed-forces-chemical-journal_september-october-1954_8_5/page/2/ |access-date=8 December 2023 |publisher=Armed Forces Chemical Association}}

Porter died of a heart attack at his home in Key West, Florida in 1973 at the age of 86. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Porter was married to Mary Porter. At the time of his death, he was survived by a son and a daughter.

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Category:1886 births

Category:1973 deaths

Category:United States Army generals of World War II

Category:United States Naval Academy alumni

Category:United States Army Coast Artillery Corps personnel

Category:Chemical warfare