John (Jack) Kearney drew the “short straw.” That meant he was going in with the first wave of landings on Saipan, and they were told to expect that one in three pilots would be killed. Jack was a coxswain pilot of an LCVP - Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel, and it was his job to bring the 2nd Marines into the beach for the fight. The Marianas Islands were important to the American plan for the thrust up the Pacific. They were to provide air bases for further central Pacific air attacks, and they were within striking distance to the Japanese homeland for the B-29 bombers. The invasion took place on June 15, 1944, but was overshadowed by the D-Day landings at Normandy, France, just nine days earlier. At Saipan, over 500 ships participated including fifteen battleships that provided firepower offshore. The final tally included 127,000 Americans participating in a battle that lasted for weeks.

Yes, this landing was big, and Jack remembered that he could see men all the way from one end of the beach to the other. He and his crew brought boatload after boatload of Marines to the battlefront. “We were under fire,” Jack recalled, as the Japanese had a perfect view of the beach. They had tunnels and caves throughout the island, and fired on the Americans from that protection. On one trip in, several Marines were wounded as they tried to get off the LCT. One had a broken back, and Jack said the other one had been hit and was severely wounded. He was “holding his guts,” imploring the pilot to “go faster.” He was accommodated, and Jack high-tailed it out to the hospital ship offshore. They were luckier than the young Marine who never made it off the ship at all before he was fatally hit by an enemy bullet.

As the men moved inland, Jack and his crew were sent around to the other side of Saipan. It was here that they witnessed one of the most horrific sights of the Pacific War. There were over 25,000 natives and Japanese nationals who inhabited the island. They had been told horror stories of the white men, who would torture, rape, and murder them if captured. The order to consider suicide came from the Imperial throne of Japan - Hirohito himself. He was worried that the lower caste Japanese on Saipan would capitulate to the Americans for food, as they were starving, and that this would undermine the fighting spirit of Yamato, the Bushido code of the ancient samurai. The civilians were promised the same elevated status as Imperial soldiers in the afterlife. It was, unfortunately, an offer they found hard to refuse. So the people took fate into their own hands, as they would again at Okinawa. Several U.S. crews were in the waters offshore with loudspeakers, trying to stop the madness, but there was nothing they could do. As the Americans looked on helplessly, the civilians committed suicide en masse, as they jumped from the high sea cliffs at Marpi Point. Of 30,000 civilians on the island, 22,000 died, most from suicide. “We were all crying,” Jack said.

The next island in the Marianas scheduled for invasion was Tinian. It took four days, as Jack brought in the 4th Marines for the job. Tinian had a smaller beach than neighboring Saipan, but the airfield was bigger. It was from here that the Enola Gay flew the atomic bombing missions almost a year later.

After the war ended, Jack returned home and married Lynn. They raised their two children, and now enjoy five granddaughters. While in service, Jack had started to draw pictures of the action during Saipan, and found that he had a talent. He continued to draw, depicting some of the underwater training he later received in Hawaii. This gift served him well after he returned home from the military, as Jack spent his career as an artist of world renown. His sculptures are found everywhere from Michigan Avenue in Chicago to cities and museums around the world. Jack is looking forward to the trip to Washington with Honor Flight Chicago, and we are happy to welcome this fine sailor - and artist - aboard. Thanks for your service, Jack. Well done.

Jody Kopsky

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