Wake Island Pilot: A World War II Memoir

by John F. Kinney, James M. McCaffrey

Wake Pilot is the story of John F. Kinney - hero, POW escapee, and aviation pioneer. It contains the first full-length account of a successful escape by a Marine captured in one of the great battles of World War II.
Within hours of the Pearl Harbor attack, the Japanese struck the small U.S. garrison on Wake Island. As his squadron's engineering officer, young pilot John F. Kinney used all his considerable ingenuity to oversee the cannibalization of crippled planes for spare parts - when he himself was not in the air fighting off the Japanese assault. His gallant efforts helped enable the desperate Marine and Navy defenders to hold out for an incredible two weeks, a truly epic struggle.
After the island's inevitable surrender, Kinney was a Japanese prisoner in China for the next three and a half years. During this time, he put his amazingly inventive mechanical skills to work, creating from scratch numerous items to improve his fellow POWs' situation, including a radio. Toward the end of the war, Kinney escaped from a prison train and, with the assistance of both Nationalist and Communist Chinese troops, made his way to an American airfield. He was thus one of the very few Americans to escape from Japanese captivity outside the Philippines. General Kinney's subsequent Marine Corps career was equally He flew fighters in the Korean War and helped develop the classic A4-D Skyhawk.

Genres: World War II, History

200 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1995

Reviews

[Charlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kept my interest. While Marine pilot John Kenney was on Wake Island - Pearl Harbor is attacked by the Japanese. He describes his experiences as the engineering officer but when the Japanese attacked Wake right after the attack on PH things really got tough. The Japanese won this battle and captured the soldiers. After some 3 plus years, Kenney was able to escape with the help of the Chinese.
It's a story worth reading but all I could give it was high 3. He seemed to take a lot of "I" credit in this memoir.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Retired Marine Brigadier General John Kinney tells the story of his life from the desire to fly as a boy through a career in the Marines and then civilian aviation. The general was one of the pilots at Wake Island during World War II and then a prisoner of the Japanese. After his escape he returned to the Corps. In his story, he constantly extorts his accomplishment as if he was running for political office. Written decades after Wake Island with the help of John McCaffrey, the book bases much information on other sources. The work is worth reading.

[Timothy Gretler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read...General Kinney had an exciting career. Pilot, prisoner, test pilot

[David Engel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Knowing the outcome of Wake's defense early in WWII, I hesitated starting this book on behalf of the defenders. Kinney's experiences and clear narrative were interesting and his perseverance in captivity laudable. This is another good story of one who served his country well.

[Richard Dann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read. This is the story about human endurance and hardship. Captured at the beginning of World War II the author spent nearly the entire war As a prisoner of the Japanese. I recommend this book to anyone interested in World War II