This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Daniel L Arnes, CMDCM
to remember
Porch, Stephen Letson, LCDR.
If you knew or served with this Sailor and have additional information or photos to support this Page, please leave a message for the Page Administrator(s) HERE.
Contact Info
Home Town Portland, ME
Last Address Sedgewood Commons Nursing Home, Assisted Living, Short Term Care 22 Northbrook Dr Falmouth, ME 04105
Date of Passing Jan 06, 2013
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Steve was cremated, location of ashes unknown.
Other Comments:
http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/k4/kitty_hawk-ii.html 22–23 May 1967: Big Mother 69, an SH-3A, LT(JG) Stephen L. Porch and his crew, HS-2, attempted a nighttime CSAR over North Vietnam for Twerps 2, a USAF F-4C, 1st LT David L. Baldwin, downed by “enemy action” after encountering “an intense wall of flak.” Receiving North Vietnamese small arms, automatic weapons and 75 mm fire, Porch and his crew located the pilot and tried to retrieve him, only disengaging when a crewman was wounded and the crewman’s radar altimeter was knocked out. Porch and his co-pilot, LT(JG) Stuart B. Williams, were each awarded the Silver Star.
http://www.hc7seadevils.org/CACArticle.pdf AX-2 Paul DeGennaro, Coronado, CA served in Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron (HS-2) from June1966 to Sept 1967. Paul was aircrewman in the SH-3A helicopter armed with M-60 machine guns and Thompson sub-machine guns while conducting Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) operations. He shares this most memorable mission; Attempted Night Rescue by Paul DeGennaro.
On the evening of May 22, 1967 aboard the USS Kittyhawk (CVA-63) the men of HS-2 SAR DET 1 were at a relaxed state. This was the final day of the SAR DET 1 tour because air operations were secured and the USS Hornet (CVS-12) and the main body of HS-2 would be arriving on station the next morning. Then the 1MC blared “Big Mother standby crew, man your aircraft “ The crew consisted of aircraft commander Lt. (JG) Stephen L Porch, Co pilot Lt (JG) Stuart B. Williams, First crewman AX2 (AC) Paul DeGennaro, Second crewman AX2 Duane A. Shaffer. We launched about 2100 and flew up to North SAR Station. We orbited for a number of hours while they tried to get a fix on downed Air Force pilot, Lt. David L. Baldwin, who punched out in the mountains north of Haiphong. At this point it was about midnight and it was decided that we would in-flight refuel from a DE. This was tricky because our rescue hoist had an intermittent electrical problem and I didn’t want the problem to get worse. We had the DE crew throw us a line and we pulled up the fuel hose with rope. We successfully refueled this way. The downed pilot was located and the OK was given for us to make the rescue. We had two A1 Spads escorting us. We flew at 6000 ft and flew over numerous coastal islands before hitting the mainland. We drew heavy Anti-aircraft fire from the islands. There were shells exploding above us and below us the whole time we were over the island airspace. After flying about 45 minutes we got to the rescue area which was covered with tall trees and at about 5000 ft in altitude. We were communicating with the downed pilot and the A1’s guided us in. We were hovering over tall trees and could not see through them. I clipped a light I took off a Mae West onto the Jungle Penetrator and lowered the penetrator through trees and we waited. At this point we were drawing heavy small arms fire and lost communication with the downed pilot. The aircraft was taking numerous hits. I was knocked over by one bullet going through my shirt and the other crewman took one through the leg. We could not regain communication with the downed pilot and the aircraft started spinning because the rudder controls were damaged by enemy gunfire. Reluctantly we left the area and headed back to the ship. We drew sporadic gunfire until we got to the islands. Our friends on the islands were waiting for us to return and threw every thing they had at us. It was like the 4th July. We landed on the USS Long Beach (CGN 9). A few minutes after landing the self sealing tanks gave out and all the fuel we had left dumped out on the deck of the Long Beach. At first light the next morning another HS-2 DET 1 helicopter commanded by Lt Richard T Daniels went in and successfully made the rescue. With daylight they could see the enemy positions and F4’s were called in to deal with them. It’s amazing what a few well placed cluster bombs can do.
Vietnam War/Counteroffensive Phase IV Campaign (68)
From Month/Year
April / 1968
To Month/Year
June / 1968
Description This Campaign period was from 2 April to 30 June 1968. The Naval air and gun fire support to operations such as Operation Silver Mace gave ground units the needed firepower while AirForce units were moved to air operations over Laos, Cambodia and North Vietnam. From 7 to 18 April, ground, air, and naval units from each of the American services, the Vietnamese Navy, and the Vietnamese Marine Corps conducted Silver Mace II, a strike operation in the Nam Can Forest on Ca Mau Peninsula. The enemy avoided heavy contact with the allied force, but his logistical system was disrupted.
Enemy air defenses caused aviators more concern for by 1968 the Communists had developed a defensive system that was well-armed, coordinated, and supported. On the ground throughout North Vietnam, South Vietnam, and Laos, the enemy trained skyward thousands of small arms, automatic weapons, and antiaircraft artillery. North Vietnam alone contained 8,000 weapons of many calibers, concentrated around key targets. Beginning in early 1965, surface-to-air missiles (SAM) were added to this defensive arsenal, and by early 1968 over 300 SAM sites dotted the North Vietnamese countryside. The entire defensive system was tied together with a sophisticated network of communications, air alert stations, and early warning, ground control-interceptor, and fire control radars. New and replacement weapons and ammunition were amply supplied by sympathetic Communist countries. The loss in Southeast Asia of 421 fixed-wing aircraft from 1965 to 1968 attested to the strength of these defenses. The aviators killed, missing, or made prisoner totaled 450. The operating environment was especially dangerous in North Vietnam, where 382 Navy planes were shot down, 58 of them by SAMs.
Although only accounting for eight of the Navy's aircraft during this three-year period, the North Vietnamese air units posed a constant threat to U.S. operations, thus requiring a diversion of vital resources for protection. The enemy air force varied from 25 to 100 MiG-15, MiG-17, MiG-19, and MiG-21 jet fighters. The country's jet-capable airfields included Gia Lam, Phuc Yen, Cat Bi, Kep, Kien An, Yen Bai, Son Tay, Bai Thuong, Hoa Lac, and Vinh. The U.S. Navy engaged in its first air-to-air encounter of the war on 3 April 1965, when several MiG-15s unsuccessfully attacked a flight of F-8 Crusaders near Thanh Hoa. On 17 June, two Midway F-4 Phantoms registered the first kills in the long conflict when they downed two MiG-17s south of Hanoi.
