The Boys of Montana : an American memoir -- PRELIMINARY PAGES

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THE BOYS OF

MONTANA .

memozr

by Paul Kerns & James H. "Bud" Kerns

published by

www.paulkerns.com 2002

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James Kerns

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wiih grtlndsonJames {Jim} S. Kerns 'Sum"ier1934

Copyright Š 2002 Kevin C . Bacon All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the written pennission of the copyright holders.

Printed in the United States of America

The Boys of Montana

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Capt. Paul Kerns, USMC (ret.),

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eldest of the Kerns boys, left the f: _ _ _ _ homestead in St. Ignatius, Monta I. I H K A K Y "to see the world." And, indeed, ht. did. In China in 1924, he met the beautiful Anna Loh, who introduced him to a world of high society, including the Emperor's brother, the Soong Sisters, and the young warlord, Chang Hsueh-liang, who would later rule Manchuria. Later, in 1932, Paul won the Navy Cross fighting Sandino's bandits in Nicauargua. He celebrated his 101st birthday on January 10, 2002 in Tacoma, Washington.

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The Boys of Montana ; an American memoir I ~ Paul Ke and James H_ "Bud¡ Kerns

James H. "Bud" Kerns, youngest of the Kerns boys, was last to leave the homestead to find his fortune away from the rigors of ranch life.

Mter leaving college and working through the Depression, Bud took a job as a medical orderly in the surgery ward at a mental hospital in Tacoma, Washington.

Called to duty at the start of WWII, he was in Corregidor when it fell to the Japanese invasion of the Phillipines, Bud became "Doc" for his fellow pows for the next 31,2 years. Bud and his wife, Marge, live near San Diego, California.

www.paulkerns.com cover: St. Ignatius, Montana circa 1920