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Community Corner

Hometown Salute: Sgt. Michael Kane of the U.S. Army

Saline native Sgt. Michael Kane talks about the Army, and what it is like to serve his country this Memorial Day.

Sgt. Michael Kane is a Saline native who loves his home town. Currently, however, he is far from home, doing what he loves as a soldier in the U.S. Army, stationed at Joint Base Lewis McChord (formerly Fort Lewis) about 40 miles south of Seattle in the Tacoma, Wash. area.

For Kane, the military isn’t just a job, it is a way of life. A life he chose, for the second time.

Originally, Kane enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1994 and served at a Naval Air Station in Italy until 1998. Ten years later, in 2007, he felt the call of return and re-enlisted into the Army. 

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“My wife (Chrissy Kane, also from Saline) and I always enjoyed the military lifestyle,” Kane said. 

But it was the surge in Iraq that really brought him back. 

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“It’s hard to explain, but once you are in the military, the feeling of responsibility never really leaves,” he said.  

Kane said he always new if the surge in Iraq ever really got bad, he’d want to be there. 

“I would look at my wife, Chrissy, and say ‘I’m supposed to be there.'” 

Kane was deployed to Iraq in August of 2009 and stayed until September of 2010. 

“I was fortunate enough to be there during the draw down,” Kane said. “We had a couple of injuries from IEDs, but it wasn’t like it had been.” 

Kane’s area of expertise is in logistics and property, so his unit played a large role in getting equipment ready to be sent back to the U.S. or over to Afghanistan. He admits it was hard to be away from his family, but knows it was probably harder on them. 

“We are working 12 to 15 hours a day over there, six days, sometimes seven days a week, so it can go by pretty quick for us,” he said. “The families have to take on everything at home, full responsibility of the house, the family, everything.”

Kane thinks being in the military is rewarding, but not for reasons you might think. 

“It’s a fairly self-less job,” he said. “This time around, when I re-enlisted, it wasn’t really about me at all. I didn’t need the GI Bill because I had already been fortunate enough to use it the first time I was in,” he said.  “It’s about being a part of something that is bigger than myself.” 

Kane said when he is having a tough day, or if he ever questions his decision he just takes a minute to remind himself, “It’s not about me,” and that does the trick.

When asked about the recent events regarding the death of Osama bin Laden, Kane said he and his unit, and fellow servicemen thought it was a good thing, but know the war on terror is broader than one person. 

“For civilians, bin Laden was the face of the war on terror, for the guys who have been a part of it, they’ve seen what is below the surface and know there is more to it than that.”

Kane plans to spend his Memorial Day holiday with his wife Chrissy and nine-year-old-son Jackson, “just doing what makes us happy.” In fact, Kane feels the best way for people to honor members of the military, especially those from the past, is to live their lives to the fullest. 

“You do the things that overtly make us Americans,” he said. “Have a barbecue, take in a ball game, appreciate what you have and use your freedoms in any way that makes you happy.”

Sergeant Michael Kane is in it for life. 

“After a ten year break, and coming back into the service in my thirties, Chrissy and I had to pick a direction to take,” he said. “As long as the Army will have me, I’ll be here.” 

Kane is proud to be from Saline, and he and his family look forward to being back home as often as they can.

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