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thedrifter
11-11-05, 07:19 AM
11/11/2005
Korean War vet's grandson set to deploy to Iraq
PAUL POST , The Saratogian

FORT ANN -- On Veterans Day, Don Porter's thoughts always go back to Korea, where he earned three Purple Hearts and escaped capture twice, as a U.S. Marine.
This year, the welfare of his grandson, Chris Rathbun, also weighs heavily on his mind, because the young Fort Ann resident is awaiting deployment to Iraq.

Porter, 71, was 15 when he stole his older brother's birth certificate and joined the Army in 1949. Two years later, he entered the Marines and was sent overseas 52 years ago this month.

'He loves his country,' said his wife, Carol. 'I'm proud of him, and I'm glad what they did for our country. If it wasn't for them, the country wouldn't be what it is.'

Porter has a vast wealth of stories about his military life. Unfortunately, he can't share them, the result of a stroke he suffered two days after returning from a 1996 trip to see the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

The memorial features life-size sculptures of soldiers in a combat scene, which Carol Porter believes triggered her husband's ailment.

'That was very emotional,' she said.

Their grandson is in the Army, previously served in Kosovo and was recently called back to active duty. At last report, he'll be going to Al Basrah, a city just north of Kuwait in southeast Iraq.

'It's scary, very scary,' Porter said.

Her husband survived many harrowing experiences, but like many soldiers, he never talked about them. Although fully alert and active, with a keen sense of humor, he's unable to communicate verbally.

A scrapbook with dozens of old photos from his service days provides some insight into what life must have been like in Korea. One picture shows Porter standing in front of a makeshift tent, looking a bit bedraggled with his shirt tails hanging out.

On the back, he wrote, 'Don't laugh. We just got done marching for the second time.'

His key chain includes a tiny can opener from his Marine days and a jagged, 1-½-inch piece of shrapnel that doctors pulled out of his midsection.

'Our oldest granddaughter used to tell him he had two belly buttons,' Carol Porter said, laughing. 'He was wounded three times. Once in the leg, once in the thigh and once up in the stomach.'

A sergeant, he was also taken enemy and suffered torture before escaping to freedom. Details are sketchy, but he said in the past that he got away by floating downriver on a log.

'They don't come any tougher than this man here,' said Jeff Johnson, the family's full-time caregiver.

In 1984, Carol Porter was inflicted by a rare spinal virus that left her confined to a wheelchair. For the next dozen years, Don built devices to make her home life easier. Washington County Public Health officials took notice and asked if he'd do the same for others in need.

'They'd go to pay him and he'd say: 'Nope, you get the material and I'll do it,' ' she said.

Then he suffered a stroke, which left both of them in need of assistance. Fortunately, they're still able to enjoy a comfortable, log-style home off Buttermilk Falls Road in rural West Fort Ann.

A colorful American flag with the Marine Corps logo greets visitors, and inside, the Porter household is a mini-museum of Marine memorabilia.

'There's no military like the Marine Corps,' Carol Porter said.

Don Porter sports a bright red jacket with a large Korean War Veterans patch on back. When he touches the bill of his cap, the Marine Corps hymn starts to play, evoking a round of happy laughter.

He plans on attending Veterans Day services in Glens Falls today, and he's a regular at monthly meetings of a local Korean War Veterans chapter.

Among other things, the veterans group sends care packages to U.S. soldiers in Iraq, and Don Porter also belongs to the Marine Corps League and Veterans of Foreign Wars.

'He does a lot,' Johnson said. 'He rides the stationary bike each morning and does arm exercises. He dusts, he polishes, he mows the lawn.

'When we go out for breakfast, he knows everybody. He could be elected mayor of West Fort Ann.'

Ellie

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