John Raymond Kane

T/5 in 603rd Engineer Camouflage Bn : Co B, HQ Platoon

ASN#12162612

Born 1922 in NJ, Died 1997

Artist

County of residence at enlistment: Essex County, NJ

Other residence(s): East Orange, NJ; Rahway, NJ

United States Army, European Theatre of Operations

Occupation before the war: financial institution clerks, n.e.c.

Notes: Formerly Co D; rank changed from PVT in GA Roster to T/5 per New York Area Leave List

Source: 603rd Camouflage Engineer Roster provided by W. Anderson; 603rd Engineer Battalion Christmas Roster; Company B Names and Addresses roster; photo from Kathy Kane Cottier

John Kane was born in Newark, NJ on April 15, 1922, the younger of two sons; his father was a theatre manager. He graduated from East Orange High School in New Jersey in 1940 and by the time he registered for the draft, on June 30, 1942, he was working at Central Hanover Bank & Trust in New York City.

John Kane by Jack Masey in his book of caricatures of members of the 603rd (You on KP)

He enlisted on October 6, 1942 and was assigned to the 603rd Engineer Camouflage Battalion in Fort Meade, MD.

On the 35th anniversary of D-Day, he wrote his daughter a moving letter recalling his landing with the Second Wave at Omaha Beach. He may have been one of the four men that Fred Fox identifies in the Official History of the 23rd HQ Special Troops: "The first group included four sergeants from the 603rd Engr Cam Bn Sp who left the unit at Bristol to go directly to an invasion staging area with the 602nd Engr Cam Bn. Their mission involved the use of phony 'Q lighting' during the first critical nights following D Day. They left from Plymouth on four different LSTs and began landing on D Day H-10. It was soon apparent that there were so many real Q lights—at so many points—that the small deceptive effort would be ridiculous, so it was not tried. Instead, the sergeants busied themselves with the camouflage of early beach installations and supply dumps. Two of the party were wounded. (S/Sgt Chester J. Piasecki and Sgt Tracy B. Slack.)." Fox names only those two men in his writeup, so Kane's presence in that group cannot be officially confirmed.

His brother also served overseas as a radio operator and gunner in the 490th Bomb Group.

John returned from Europe in July, 1945 and was discharged on October 21 with the rank of T/5. Six months to the day after his discharge he married Elizabeth "Betty" Moore in Elkton, MD and they settled in Rahway, NJ.

He went back to work at Central Hanover Bank & Trust as a teller. A year after his marriage, John took a job with Moore Brothers Company (later known as Moore Dispensers, Inc.) with offices in New York City and Rahway. Their main product line was commercial restroom soap dispensers. Betty's father managed the factory, and by 1949 John was a purchasing agent, and he and Betty were the parents of a daughter, Kathy.

John eventually became VP of sales and marketing at Moore; in addition to managing the sales force, he also headed up the advertising department. He executed artwork for Moore's ads, and also served as a freelance commercial artist for local businesses. He retired in 1971.

He was a Mason and an active member of the American Legion in Rahway where the family lived. He also enjoyed playing golf and watching the Brooklyn Dodgers' games.

He died on January 2, 1997 at home, and is buried at Brig. Gen. William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Arneytown, NJ.