S/SGT
LEE BRENSON PORTER

Lee had just celebrated his 27th birthday on the same day that TF Hogan of which he was a member no longer had any news from its leader who then left to report to the management of SOY on December 21, 1944.

Like everyone else, he will experience the battles of Beffe as well as the encirclement of the Taskforce in the village of Marcouray.

On the evening of December 25, 1944, after the colonel refused to surrender to the Germans, the order was given to render out of use all vehicles and tanks still in combat condition, and to join the American troops 16 km to the north, through enemy lines.

Lee was part of the lead group of this "escape" column, after several hours of furtive marching in the snow, the group came across a German sentry. SGT Lee Brenson Porter made the decision on his own to move away from the column, stealthily approached the sentry and neutralized it with his bayonet.

This heroic act saved the entire column from certain capture (see death - cfr: Malmedy massacre)

All the officers present that evening discussed Lee's feats of arms in a Citation file for a possible medal.

The PORTER Family.

A true American military family, the PORTER family can also be proud of the service rendered to the nation by Lee's two brothers.

Loyd will serve in the Medical Corps on the Pacific front against the Empire of Japan, he will survive the war. Roy had joined the paratroopers of the 17th Airborne, he participated in Operation Varsity in March 1945, where he lost his life.

7 months have passed, but on this June 26, 1945 in Weisbaden, Germany, the war in Europe has been over for a month.

And on this day, on behalf of His Majesty the King, Field Marshal Montgomery presented the British medal to Staff Sergeant Lee Brenson Porter of the 83rd Armored Recon Bat. for his heroic deed on the night of December 25, 1944, the night of the Hogan's 400.