Military Service in Porter CountyMilitary service of Porter County citizens . . . .


Notice appearing in the August 24, 1882, issue of the Porter County Vidette, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana [Volume 26, Number 34, Page 4, Column 3].


American Revolutionary War, 1775-1783

Although Porter County did not exist at the time of the Revolutionary War, two soldiers who served in the war resided and are buried in the county. A third soldier may have also lived in the county as well. Biographical sketches of the two verified Revolutionary War soldiers of Porter County have been developed from a variety of sources.

War of 1812, 1812-1815

The following list of Porter County residents serving in the War of 1812 was extracted from an article published in The Vidette-Messenger on August 18, 1936 (Volume 10, Section 4, Page 12). Additional information concerning these soldiers has been obtained from a variety of sources.

Black Hawk War, 1832

The following list of Porter County residents serving in the Blackhawk War was extracted from an article published in The Vidette-Messenger on August 18, 1936 (Volume 10, Section 4, Page 12). Additional information concerning these soldiers has been obtained from a variety of sources.

Seminole War, 1835-1842

Porter County resident John Baum served as a soldier in the Seminole War.

Mexican War, 1846-1848

The following list of Porter County residents serving in the Mexican War was extracted from an article published in The Vidette-Messenger on August 18, 1936 (Volume 10, Section 4, Page 11). Additional data was obtained from enlistments records archived the National Archives and Records Administration. Note that other individuals residing in Porter County may have also served in this war but are omitted due to the lack of complete muster roll records.

American Civil War, 1861-1865

In 1868, the Indiana Adjutant General, William H. H. Terrell, published an eight volume work enumerating Indiana soldiers that served in the Civil War. The following Indiana Adjutant General's List of Porter County Civil War Soldiers contains 917 records. It should be noted that many names included in the Adjutant General's published list did not include the soldier's place of residence. Therefore, this list is not a complete listing of all Porter County Civil War soldiers.

Published in 1876, the Hardesty List of Porter County Civil War Soldiers contains 1,103 records. Despite its numerous typographical and spelling errors, this is one of the most comprehensive lists of individuals from Porter County who served in the Civil War.

A. G. Hardesty also published a brief historical sketch of Porter County in the Civil War. Although not an extensive work, it provides a good starting point for researching various units that were predominantly formed from enlistees residing in Porter County.

In 1978, Phyllis J. Mefford enumerated the Union veterans of the Civil War listed in membership applications and muster rolls for the Chaplain Brown Post No. 106 of the Grand Army of the Republic, located in Valparaiso. Note that many members of Chaplain Brown Post No. 106 were not residents of Porter County during the Civil War; they had joined the local post when they moved to Porter County after the war. It is known that this is not a complete list of all veterans that were at some point in time a member of the post.

An article concerning Porter County's contributions to the Civil War was reported in an article published in the centennial special edition of The Vidette-Messenger newspaper on August 18, 1936.

Spanish-American War, 1898

The following list of Porter County residents serving in the Spanish-American War was extracted from an article published in The Vidette-Messenger on August 18, 1936 (Volume 10, Section 4, Page 11). The list includes individuals that resided in Porter County before and/or after the war.

An article concerning Porter County's contributions to the Spanish-American War was reported in an article published in the centennial special edition of The Vidette-Messenger newspaper on August 18, 1936.

Mexican Expedition (Pursuit of Pancho Villa), 1916-1917

The following list of Porter County residents that served in Company L, Third Indiana Regiment, in the Mexican Expedition was extracted from the August 18, 1936, issue of The Vidette-Messenger (Volume 10, Section 4, Page 12). The purpose of this expedition was to capture Mexican General Pancho Villa along the US-Mexican border.

World War I (The Great War), 1914-1918

The following list of 1,004 World War I veterans from Porter County was extracted from Cannon, Loring, and Robb's History of the Lake and Calumet Region of Indiana, which was published in 1927.

The following list of Porter County casualties of World War I was extracted from William M. Haulsee's Soldiers of the Great War, which was published in 1920.

An article concerning Porter County's contributions to World War I was reported in an article published in the centennial special edition of The Vidette-Messenger newspaper on August 18, 1936.

World War II, 1941-1945

The following list of Porter County casualties of World War II was extracted from a large number of sources, including newspaper records, government databases, and cemetery records.

Enlistment records of 1,496 individuals claiming Porter County as their county of residence when enlisting in the United States Army between 1938 and 1946 was transcribed from the National Archives and Records Administration's World War II Army Enlistment Records, Record Group 64.

Korean War, 1950-1953

The following list of Porter County casualties of the Korean War was extracted from numerous sources, including Records of the Adjutant General's Office, Record Group 407, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland.

Vietnam War, 1965-1975

The following list of Porter County casualties of the Vietnam War was extracted from Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Record Group 330, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland.

Beirut, Lebanon, Barracks Bombing, October 23, 1983

Staff Sergeant Thomas P. Thorstad, a Chesterton resident, perished in the suicide bombing of the United States Marine barracks by Hezbollah operatives in Beirut, Lebanon, on October 23, 1983.

Iraq War and the Occupation of Iraq, 2003-2011

The following list of Porter County casualties of the Iraq War and Occupation of Iraq was extracted from various newspaper sources.

Operation Enduring Freedom, 2001-2014 and Operation Freedom's Sentinel, 2015-2021 (War in Afghanistan)

The following list of Porter County casualties of the War in Afghanistan was extracted from various newspaper sources.

 

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