Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
6:57 | His last two months in Korea were in a safe place, held back in reserve. John Kane almost volunteered to go back to the front but he figured he'd used up his quota of close calls. So, when his time was up he returned home, did guard duty for a while and then left the Marine Corps. His only regret was not using the intelligence training he'd received.
Keywords : John Kane Korea 1st Marine Division volunteer Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Battle Fatigue USNS General John Pope (T-AP-110) San Francisco CA Naval Air Station Lakehurst (NAS Lakehurst) Jersey City NJ drinking re-enlist Intelligence (Intel)
As a child, John Kane had trouble with his eardrums. The Army didn't want him. The Navy didn't want him. The Air Force didn't want him. But there was a war on and the Marines said come on in.
John Kane was on a train back to Jersey City after boot camp, along with some fellow Marines heading to the same area. When the train got to North Carolina, they were informed that certain Marines had to move to the back of the train. Someone reached up and pulled the emergency cable, stopping the train.
After completing two grueling months of training at Camp Pendleton, John Kane expected to be sent to Korea but, instead, he was sent to a new brigade with a new commander, the legendary Chesty Puller. Kane really wanted to go to Korea but the General wasn't letting anyone transfer out.
There was no getting off the plane in Hawaii for John Kane. He was on his way to Korea but a previous bunch of Marines had busted up the place in a rowdy night of drunkenness. Then, when he arrived at Seoul, he was assigned to a company with the nickname Suicide Charlie, which was earned at Guadalcanal.
There was the Main Line of Resistance, the MLR, and then there were outposts out in front of it. The North Koreans were gone, it was all Chinese, now. John Kane had just arrived there and, when moving to a trench position, he did something that was either very brave or very foolhardy. Either way, it earned him a Purple Heart.
The Marines crept up to Outpost Warsaw in a bid to oust the Chinese but, when they got there, it was empty. They were relaxing with some coffee when the barrage began. It was devastating and John Kane scrambled for a hole to hide in. Then, the Chinese attacked. Part 1 of 2.
The attacking Chinese had been beaten back but artillery was still falling at Outpost Warsaw. It was our own and John Kane was frantically searching for a radio to tell them to cease fire. He finally found one and grabbed the mic, then, nothing. He couldn't speak because his throat was clogged with smoke and cordite dust. Part 2 of 2.
The Black Watch was a Scottish unit that was fighting alongside the Marines in Korea. This began a lifelong love of bagpipe music for John Kane. The Chinese sent a horde of troops against his position and, during that fight, an artillery shell landed too close and he was knocked out and evacuated.
John Kane couldn't believe it. A fellow Marine, Richard Riffenburg, had been hit by a sniper and was badly wounded but every bit of ground between the outpost and the aid station at the main line was zeroed in by the Chinese. Policy was no one goes out there in daylight. They were just going to put him in a bunker and let him bleed out and he couldn't let that happen. I'll take him.
John Kane had been through some fierce battles but now he was back in the rear putting out concertina wire. No bullets but it was well below zero and miserable. Then he got R&R in Japan. That was much better.
What hazards did he face in Korea? Aside from all the different weaponry, John Kane had other things to deal with. From the extreme cold to the rats to the opportunistic Korean ladies, there was always something,
Either they were gutsy or their officers didn't mind wasting them but the Chinese would come in under their own barrage. They were also well equipped with Czech and Russian weapons. But Marine John Kane enjoyed some advantages, like warming his hands to a nearby napalm drop. And he had good allies with the international forces that were there.
He does have a couple of small issues with the Marine Corps. John Kane was a squad leader in Korea, which is a sergeant's job but they barely promoted him to corporal. So they were stingy with rank and medals, as well. Nevertheless, he is proud that he had a hand in containing communism.
