O. Henry O. Henry William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American short story writer. His stories are known for their surprise endings. William Sidney Porter was born on September 11, 1862, in Greensboro, North Carolina. He changed the spelling of his middle name to Sydney in 1898. His parents were Dr. Algernon Sidney Porter (1825–88), a physician, and Mary Jane Virginia Swaim Porter (1833–65). William's parents had married on April 20, 1858. When William was three, his mother died after birthing her third child, and he and his
USS William D. Porter (DD-579) way to North Africa carrying President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Cairo and Tehran Conferences. "William D. Porter" was reported to have been involved in a mishap while departing Norfolk when her anchor tore the railing and lifeboat mounts off a docked sister destroyer while maneuvering astern. The next day, a depth charge from the deck of "William D. Porter" fell into the rough sea and exploded, causing "Iowa" and the other escort ships to take evasive maneuvers under the assumption that the task force had come under torpedo attack by a German U-boat. Ships logs from "William D. Porter"