Hopefully an American military hero who grew up in Marysville and who died more than 74 years ago during World War II will finally be coming home.
Capt. John “Blackie” Porter, a 1934 Marysville High School graduate was killed on Dec. 10, 1943, when his B-25 plane was shot down by enemy fire while flying a rescue mission over the “Hump,” an area that ran from India through Burma to China. Sgt. Harold Neibler, who graduated from MHS two years behind Blackie, was also on board the plane and perished, too. The lone survivor was the copilot who parachuted to safety with Blackie’s help and told the story of his final mission.
The plane was not found until a few years ago when an explorer came across it in a Himalayan Mountain jungle area in India. The Journal-Tribune learned a few days ago through information from Bill Boyd, a Marysville native who has written a “Memories” column for the J-T about growing up here, that an effort to return the remains of Porter and Neibler to the United States and their home in Marysville has been underway for some time, organized by Ellen Vinson. She is the daughter of Jane Smith Porter Watson, who married Blackie in late 1941. Some years after Blackie’s death, Jane remarried Patrick Watson and Ellen is their daughter.
The story of Blackie Porter is fascinating even through it is also tragic. He grew up in Marysville and graduated the same year as my mother, Mary Elizabeth Gaumer Behrens. I remember her telling stories about him and his bravery. Blackie was an outstanding athlete and excellent swimmer working as a lifeguard at the Marysville pool. He lived on North Maple Street with his parents, Rita and John Porter. His grandfather, Edward L. Porter, was Union County Common Pleas Court Judge from 1925-1931 and his uncle, William Porter, was a Union County Prosecutor.
He attended the Ohio State University, and was working at McCall Publishing Co. in Dayton to earn money to finish college when he met Jane Smith whom he married a few days after the Pearl Harbor bombing in December of 1941. He had enlisted in the Army Air Corps, and after learning of his brother George’s death in North Africa, requested overseas duty and was assigned to a base in India.
He became squadron commander and organized a search and rescue team known as “Blackie’s Gang.” Their perilous missions were to find downed planes and rescue their crews. His success rate was phenomenal. Neibler joined the squadron as Blackie’s flight engineer. He had also been a good athlete at MHS. He lived with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ed Neibler on West Eighth Street a few houses up from Court Street. He was a graduate of the Milwaukee School of Engineering and before enlisting in the air corps worked at Curtiss-Wright in Columbus.
On their last mission, the copilot told the story of how Blackie ordered him to put on his parachute and then untangled him after he was caught in the escape hatch and shoved him out.
Porter’s heroic career was featured in several magazines, including Life, Argosy and Yank.
We applaud the efforts of Ellen Vinson to retrieve Blackie’s (and Neibler’s) remains. She has contacted both the congressman from her district in Pensacola, Florida, and Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan from our district. Apparently the problem involves lots of red tape with the government in India, but hopefully U.S. officials will be able to resolve that, and we urge Representative Jordan to do what he can to help.
It is our fervent hope that the last chapter of the lives of these local heroes has not yet been written, and that some day soon Marysville will be able to welcome home Capt. John “Blackie” Porter and Sgt. Harold Neibler.