John Irvine “Jack” Kerns was born on August 9, 1919, in Lincoln, Lancaster County, Nebraska. He was the son of Francis William "Frank" Kerns and Lavinia Young Brooks Kerns. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and volunteered for the elite Marine Raiders, one of the Corps’ earliest specialized combat units. He served in Company A, 2nd Raider Battalion, as a Private and Rifleman during World War II.

On 17–18 August 1942, he took part in the Makin Island Raid, one of the earliest American offensive ground operations of World War II. The Raiders attacked the Japanese-held island to destroy enemy installations, gather intelligence, capture prisoners, and divert Japanese attention from Allied operations at Guadalcanal and Tulagi. During the difficult withdrawal from Makin, heavy surf, mechanical failures, Japanese air attacks, and confusion complicated the evacuation to the submarines USS Argonaut and USS Nautilus. He was among nine Marines who survived the raid but remained behind on Makin after the main Raider force withdrew. With assistance from local islanders, the stranded Marines attempted to evade Japanese forces but eventually fell into enemy hands. They were subsequently transported to Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, where they were held as prisoners of war by the Japanese Sixth Base Unit.

On October 16, 1942, after Japanese Vice Admiral Kōsō Abe ordered their execution, the nine captured Raiders were taken from confinement to an execution site on Kwajalein. One by one, they were blindfolded, forced to kneel, and beheaded. Their bodies were buried in an unmarked grave near the execution site, and their remains have never been recovered or individually identified.
After World War II, investigations and testimony revealed the fate of the missing Marines. Vice Admiral Abe was tried by an American military commission for his responsibility in the executions, convicted of war crimes, and sentenced to death. He was hanged on Guam in 1947.

Pvt Kerns' name is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial in Honolulu, Honolulu County, Hawaii, USA.

Navy Cross Citation:
The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Private John I. Kerns (MCSN: 348233), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for extraordinary heroism and conspicuous devotion to duty while serving as a member of a volunteer boat crew in Company B, SECOND Marine Raider Battalion, during the Marine Raider Expedition against the Japanese-held island of Makin in the Gilbert Islands on 17 and 18 August 1942. Fully aware of the hazards of an imminent enemy air attack, and with complete disregard for his own life, Private Kerns, with four others, volunteered to take a boat to a point just outside a reef and shoot a line ashore to assist in evacuating those men remaining on the beach. Caught on the sea, he was defeated in his valiant efforts by the violent strafing of his boat by withering enemy machine-gun fire. His great personal valor and loyal spirit of self-sacrifice were in keeping with the finest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave up his life in the service of his country.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, navylog.navymemorial.org, weremember.abmc.gov, valor.militarytimes.com