John R. Kane

Who was John R. Kane?

John Riley Kane was a colonel in the United States Army Air Forces and later the United States Air Force who received the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, in World War II. A native of Texas, Kane joined the Army Air Forces after graduating from Baylor University. During World War II, he commanded the 98th Bombardment Group, a B-24 Liberator unit, and conducted bombing missions in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for leading the 98th in Operation Tidal Wave, a low-altitude attack on oil refineries in Ploieşti, Romania. After the war, he commanded a series of airfields in the U.S. and served a year and a half in North Africa before his retirement.