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Leo Porter was a young man from Bastrop who volunteered to serve his country in Vietnam and did not return.
For his family back home, Porter’s death in a helicopter crash touched off more than four decades of questions that have only now been answered.
Betty Adams of Bastrop said her brother volunteered for service as soon as he turned 18 years old.
“He wanted to fly helicopters, but he couldn’t be a pilot right away,” said Adams. “So he became a mechanic and a gunner.”
Porter began his tour of duty on Oct. 27, 1966. He held the rank of Specialist Four and was stationed at An Khe, South Vietnam when he perished in a helicopter crash on Aug. 18, 1967.
“He was 19 years old, and he had 63 days left before he could come home.”
Adams said she was 11 years old at the time of her brother’s death. She and her family were never told the details of the accident, and they were not certain the remains they received from the Army were really those of their loved one.
“The whole time, as a kid growing up, there was that uncertainty,” she said. “We didn’t know for 43 years if that was really him.”
Several years ago, the family got in touch with James Wiginton of Brookfield, Ill., who had served with Porter in Vietnam. In 2008 Wiginton bought a headstone engraved with a helicopter to replace the military marker on Porter’s grave in Carter Nicholson Cemetery.
“It was a joy [to serve with Porter],” said Wiginton. “He was a gung-ho volunteer who really enjoyed what he did. We loved him dearly.”
However, Wiginton was not present at the time of the accident and could not answer the family’s questions about what happened.
Shortly before the 43rd anniversary of Porter’s death, the family managed to locate someone who had the answers: William Skidmore of Maryland, who was in the helicopter with Porter at the time of the crash.
“We wanted to find Skidmore so that we could find out the whole truth,” said Adams.
She said the first phone conversation with Skidmore was “very emotional.”
Adams learned that Skidmore and her brother were making their third trip to pick up rockets and ammunition. The helicopter malfunctioned and crashed into a mountainside as it was getting off the base runway. Skidmore was rescued from the crash site and rushed to medical care.
Leo Porter was a young man from Bastrop who volunteered to serve his country in Vietnam and did not return.
For his family back home, Porter’s death in a helicopter crash touched off more than four decades of questions that have only now been answered.
Betty Adams of Bastrop said her brother volunteered for service as soon as he turned 18 years old.
“He wanted to fly helicopters, but he couldn’t be a pilot right away,” said Adams. “So he became a mechanic and a gunner.”
Porter began his tour of duty on Oct. 27, 1966. He held the rank of Specialist Four and was stationed at An Khe, South Vietnam when he perished in a helicopter crash on Aug. 18, 1967.
“He was 19 years old, and he had 63 days left before he could come home.”
Adams said she was 11 years old at the time of her brother’s death. She and her family were never told the details of the accident, and they were not certain the remains they received from the Army were really those of their loved one.
“The whole time, as a kid growing up, there was that uncertainty,” she said. “We didn’t know for 43 years if that was really him.”
Several years ago, the family got in touch with James Wiginton of Brookfield, Ill., who had served with Porter in Vietnam. In 2008 Wiginton bought a headstone engraved with a helicopter to replace the military marker on Porter’s grave in Carter Nicholson Cemetery.
“It was a joy [to serve with Porter],” said Wiginton. “He was a gung-ho volunteer who really enjoyed what he did. We loved him dearly.”
However, Wiginton was not present at the time of the accident and could not answer the family’s questions about what happened.
Shortly before the 43rd anniversary of Porter’s death, the family managed to locate someone who had the answers: William Skidmore of Maryland, who was in the helicopter with Porter at the time of the crash.
“We wanted to find Skidmore so that we could find out the whole truth,” said Adams.
She said the first phone conversation with Skidmore was “very emotional.”
Adams learned that Skidmore and her brother were making their third trip to pick up rockets and ammunition. The helicopter malfunctioned and crashed into a mountainside as it was getting off the base runway. Skidmore was rescued from the crash site and rushed to medical care.
“For the first time, I know with certainty that is my brother in that grave,” said Adams. “We’ve had the uncertainty for 43 years. Now we don’t have to imagine things anymore.”
Wiginton and Skidmore both traveled to Bastrop this week to help the family celebrate the life of Leo Porter on Wednesday, the 43rd anniversary of his death. This has marked the first time Wiginton and Skidmore have seen each other since their time in the service.
At a gathering at Porter’s grave, Skidmore recounted the events of that fateful day 43 years ago.
“Leo was the crew chief on the helicopter and I was the door gunner,” Skidmore said. “When we took off, the pilot knew something was wrong and turned around to head back to base, but crashed before we could get back.
"I was unconscious for three days and when I woke up, they sent me to Okinawa, Japan and then on to Walter Reed. I kept asking about Leo and finally a pilot sent word that he didn’t make it.”
Wiginton said he had tried several times to find Skidmore, but would always back off, because he was scared that he too had died.
“That’s a day you don’t forget,” said Skidmore. “I have thought many times about contacting Leo’s family and coming here, but things would always happen to prevent it.
“I retired last year and when I got a call from the family, I knew that it was time to come and there was no better time than on the anniversary of the crash and his death.”
“I only knew Leo about eight months,” Skidmore said. “But we were together 24 hours a day; if we got passes, we were still together, and I knew I liked him.”
