According to the book description of Combat Medic: A World War II Memoir, “Fifty-plus years later, Dr. John Kerner has gone through his wartime journals and letters home to come up with an insightful account of what it was like to be an infantry doctor in the most harrowing days of fighting in Europe. His introduction to war was the carnage at Normandy shortly after D-Day. Omaha Beach was still littered with debris of war, and not all the dead had been recovered. Resourceful young Lieutenant Kerner improved on the first aid treatment and transporting methods of the wounded, saving lives of hundreds. He bucked hidebound superiors, insisting on the needed care of frost-bitten soldiers.

Attached to the 320th Infantry Division, the medical units in Kerner's charge pushed through France and Belgium into Germany. On the way, they endured some of the most brutal fighting of the war, the Germans ever more desperate to defend their homeland. Kerner's humanism permeates every page. His concern was for all wounded - friend and foe. Between the times of the mud and blood combat, he viewed the wondrous sights of Paris and Germany's picturesque Mosel Valley. The decorated young medical officer even candidly shars his intimacies with a few women overseas, in a time and place when living beyond each day was in serious question.”

According to the book description of A Combat Medic Comes Home, “John Kerner's story that began with A Combat Medic will bring you inside the mind of a clear-thinking and accomplished physician. The mud and blood of World War II provide a unique education and tell an important story. "John Kerner was not only a fabulous doctor, he can write! This book is a fascinating record of some wonderful-and not so wonderful experiences, as told by a keen and sensitive participant. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll be amazed by Dr. Kerner's ability to say so much in so few words-and so well." -Meria Zellerback, author and editor "It is with great pleasure that I learned through the office of the President of the French Republic of your nomination to the rank of Chevalier in the French Legion of Honor." -Guy Wildenstein, President, the American Society of the French Legion of Honor "Dr. Kerner is a physician's physician...the history of a gifted scholar, teacher, administrator, and most important of all, doctor." -The Honorable Barbara Boxer, United States Senator "Your support, advice and help is more important than ever." -The Honorable Dianne Feinstein, United States Senator”