Hail Columbia

Looking more like a grunt Marine than an Army Air Corps Colonel, John Riley "Killer" Kane was an imposing figure. A former college football player at Baylor before the war, he came into the WWII with a "can do" attitude that served him well as a Colonel with the 98th Bombardment Group of the 9th Air Force when he and the 98th, "The Pyramiders" were called on as one of 5 elements to bomb the oil refineries at Ploesti Romania. For his gallantry and heroism, Col. Kane was award one of 5 Congressional Medals of Honor issued as a result this famous mission. 54 out of 174 B-24 Liberators were lost on this mission.
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The citation for Colonel Kane's Medal of Honor is as follows:

KANE, JOHN R. (Air Mission)"
Rank and organization: Colonel, U.S. Army Air Corps, 9th Air Force.
Place and date: Ploesti Raid, Romania, 1 August 1943.
Entered service at: Shreveport, Louisiana.
Birth: McGregor, Texas.

General Order No.: 54, 9 August 1943:

For conspicuous gallantry in action and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 1 August 1943. On this date he led the third element of heavy bombardment aircraft in a mass low-level bombing attack against the vitally important enemy target of the Ploesti oil refineries. En route to the target, which necessitated a round-trip flight of over 2,400 miles, Col. Kane's element became separated from the leading portion of the massed formation in avoiding dense and dangerous cumulous cloud conditions over mountainous terrain. Rather than turn back from such a vital mission he elected to proceed to his target. Upon arrival at the target area it was discovered that another group had apparently missed its target and had previously attacked and damaged the target assigned to Colonel Kane's element. Despite the thoroughly warned defenses, the intensive antiaircraft fire, enemy fighter airplanes, extreme hazards on a low-level attack of exploding delayed action bombs from the previous element, of oil fires and explosions and dense smoke over the target area, Colonel Kane elected to lead his formation into the attack. By his gallant courage, brilliant leadership, and superior flying skill, he and the formation under his command successfully attacked this vast refinery so essential to our enemies'
war effort. Through his conspicuous gallantry in this most hazardous action against the enemy, and by his intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty, Colonel Kane personally contributed vitally to the success of this daring mission and thereby rendered most distinguished service in the furtherance of the defeat of our enemies."
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Colonel Kane resigned from the Air Force and was honorably discharged in 1954 after a long and illustrious career. He retired to a farm in Logan County, Arkansas, but after the death of his second wife, Phyllis, in 1987, he moved to Pennsylvania to be near his son John F. Kane, and John's wife, Donna. It was here in Pennsylvania, while living at at Veterans Administration Nursing Home that Colonel John Riley "Killer" Kane passed away on May 29, 1996. He was 89 years old.

Colonel John Riley "Killer" Kane was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery on June 18, 1996.

In true heroic and humble fashion, Colonel Kane summed up his feelings about the historic mission to Ploesti like this to air historian Michael Hill for the forward to his book "The Desert Rats":

"I still recall the smoke, fire and B-24's going down, like it was yesterday... Even now, I get a lump in my throat when I think about what we went through ... I didn't get the Medal of Honor. The 98th did."


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