Roll of Honor
William Frank Porter
Incident
Federal Prohibition Agent William Porter and Prohibition Officer David Ball, of the West Virginia Department of Prohibition, were accidentally shot and killed in exchange of gunfire between two groups of prohibition officers. A group of federal prohibition officers and a group of state prohibition officers were both conducting raids near Huntington, West Virginia. Neither group knew the other group was in the area. When they encountered each other, each group mistook the other for moonshiners and shots were exchanged. Special Agent Porter and Prohibition Officer George Ball were both fatally wounded in the exchange. A second state agent was wounded.
Survivors
Special Agent Porter was survived by his wife.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-FED-22F2D72E- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Federal Prohibition Agent Porter served with the United States Department of the Treasury.
Thank you for your service. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Federal Prohibition Agent Porter.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Federal Prohibition Agent William Frank Porter is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In DC, 454 of 1,419 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 32% of this state's fallen. That is 1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At United States Department of the Treasury - Internal Revenue Service - Prohibition Unit, 11 of 59 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 18.6% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. William Frank Porter's cause is highlighted.
How William Frank Porter Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. William Frank Porter is highlighted in Jun.
Others Who Wore This Badge
58 officers from United States Department of the Treasury - Internal Revenue Service - Prohibition Unit are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
