KRAINZ, JOHN J. Feb 6, 1945 age 29 KIA Luzon, Philippines

JOHN J. KRAINZ, JR  b. Mar 5, 1915 Mineral, Kansas d. Feb 6, 1945 Killed in Action

Luzon, Philippines

1^st Lt/Captain O-104905 Army Coast Artillery Corps

Buried Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia

 
Parents: John & Katherine (Kozelle)
Siblings: Helen S. (Shaw), Stanley Anthony   

The parents were born in Slovenia and Austria, an area where cultural borders were overshadowed by the Austrian Empire. They immigrated before the assassination of the Archduke in Sarajevo that triggered WWI. They moved around after arrival as is evidenced by children born in Kansas, Ohio and Michigan.  John worked in a car factory then was janitor in a beer garden. As was a requirement of all men, in 1942 at age 58 John Sr. now employed by Copco Steel, did his draft registration.

Young John graduated from Redford in June 1931. When he registered for the draft in Detroit on Oct 26, 1940 he was 5’9”, 172 lbs with hazel eyes, brown hair and worked as a welder at the Dodge Main Plant. He enlisted at Ft. Custer in Battle Creek Jan 19, 1942 in the Coast Artillery Corps. Brother Stanley was a Corporal in Belgium.

John was with the 29^th Airborne Unit and then the 11^th Airborne Div. The Coast Artillery Corps defended coastal areas of the country but in time they redeployed the personnel usually to field artillery or anti-aircraft units.   In January 1945 the 11^th Airborne Division took part in the invasion of Luzon. A large number of civilian prisoners had been detained by the Japanese, mostly in internment camps scattered around the island. The largest of these was at Los Banos 40 miles SE of Manila. Manila was liberated on Feb. 5^th.

Capt John Krainz was awarded a Silber Star for leading his men out of an enemy ambush. He also received a Bronze Star for bravery on Leyte. Additionally he was honored by the naming of a camp on Hokkaido, Japan in his honor. In 1947 the city of Detroit named 16 parks for war heroes, 14 of whom were killed in action. Krainz Woods is still there, on the east side; it's also the name of the surrounding neighborhood on maps.

 

John’s internment at Arlington was on Oct. 21, 1948.