On April 12, 1944, Second Lieutenant John J. K. C. Kim flew his P-38 Lightning fighter from Salsola, Italy, escorting 140 B-24 bombers on a mission to bomb a Messerschmitt factory at Bad Voslau, Austria. It was only his second combat mission.
The mission was successful. On the return flight, low on fuel, Lt. Kim was forced to land at the emergency airstrip on Vis — which had become operational for fighters just one day earlier.
After refueling, he attempted to take off. One engine failed. The aircraft lost altitude and crashed on the Vis-Komiža road, near an ammunition dump and Partisan positions. An explosion and fire erupted. A British soldier pulled the badly burned pilot from the wreckage.
Lt. Kim was treated at the Podhumlje field hospital by British Major Dr. James Rickett. He died of his injuries two days later, on April 14, 1944. He was 25 years old.
John J. K. C. Kim became the first American airman to die on Vis in World War II.
Early Life
John Jay Ki Chon Kim was born on March 3, 1919, in Honolulu, Hawaii — then a U.S. Territory. He was the son of Korean immigrants Hyung Kak Kim and Sung Gin Hahn, and had three brothers and two sisters.
He attended schools in Delano, California, Bakersfield College, and the University of California at Berkeley, where he earned an Engineering degree.
In 1941, he worked as a draftsman for the U.S. Engineering Department in Honolulu. He was there on December 7, 1941 — Pearl Harbor Day.
On October 17, 1942, he married Victoria Sunghye Chai. Two weeks later, on October 31, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps. He trained at Gardner Field, California and Luke Field, Arizona, becoming a fighter pilot.
He joined the 27th Fighter Squadron at Salsola, Italy on March 31, 1944 — less than two weeks before his death. His comrades considered him “an unusually good pilot.”
The Crash’s Toll
The crash killed eight Yugoslav Partisans and injured twenty more. Three of the injured later died. Eleven Partisans lost their lives that day.
Honors & Burial
Lt. Kim was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on June 4, 1944, along with ten other medals including the Purple Heart. His wife Victoria received the Purple Heart at a ceremony in Honolulu on September 14, 1944.
His remains were reinterred three times — first in the “Old Allied” Cemetery on Vis, then at Milna Allied Military Cemetery, then at U.S. Military Cemetery Belgrade. When that cemetery closed in 1948, his remains were repatriated to Delano Cemetery in California.
In 1983, Lt. Kim’s remains were cremated and placed in the family crypt at Los Gatos Memorial Park in San Jose, alongside his parents.
Recent Discovery
In February 2024, the Croatian Society of Military History (HDVP) discovered parts of Lt. Kim’s P-38 Lightning at the crash site — including the coolant temperature control valve. Eighty years later, the earth still holds pieces of his story.
