Active duty John Kizirian joined the United States Navy on May 3, 1945, and was sent to
Sampson Air Force Base,
New York for boot camp. From there he was sent to
San Diego,
California to learn to be a pharmacist mate. While he was acquiring his education, World War II ended. He was then sent to a naval hospital in
Virginia, then to a medical technology school in
Cambridge, Maryland,
Maryland where he became a lab technician. Kizirian spent his third year in the navy on the , a light cruiser which was part of the
Atlantic Fleet. He was then assigned to
Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in
Puerto Rico. He spent approximately a year in Puerto Rico and was discharged on April 3, 1949. After serving the navy, Kizirian returned to Whitinsville and remained in the reserves. He worked in the stock room of the
Whitin Machine Works. Kizirian desired to return to the military and went to a local navy recruiter. The navy recruiter stated that they can only accept him as a hospital apprentice which Kizirian subsequently refused. He then applied to the Army and got accepted as a sergeant in 1949. Kizirian was sent to
Fort Dix in
New Jersey for training and from there he was sent to
Fort Benning,
Georgia where he was assigned to the hospital in the laboratory. He was assigned to the laboratory as a non-commissioned officer and was in charge of the laboratory for approximately a year until the Korean War started.
Korean War John Kizirian was initially sent to Japan as a
Medical Corps and stationed at the
Eighth Army headquarters. Kizirian, who wanted to be an infantryman, was assigned to the
Seventh Infantry Division. Kizirian was ultimately assigned to the 1st Battalion of the
32nd Infantry Division and sent to the front in May 1951. Though Kizirian was still a sergeant, he was given a platoon of 40 troops under the command of A Company. The first task was to take a nearby hill which resulted in a successful removal of enemy troops guarding their positions. In August 1951, Kizirian was then given the task to neutralize enemy forces in the vicinity of Hill 440 just south of
Seoul. The entire battalion attacked and each of the companies were assigned to take a part of the hill. Kizirian's company took the center of the hill while the other companies were forced to withdraw. By nightfall, Kizirian's company was 5000 yards ahead of the Allied position of the
Main Line of Resistance. Kizirian and his unit successfully took the vacated positions of the enemy. On August 27, a Chinese regiment numbering in the thousand's wanted to take back the position and attacked Kizirian's unit of 150 soldiers. During the assault, Kizirian killed a Chinese soldier with his
carbine who nearly threw a grenade at him. However, Kizirian was shot in his abdomen and five of his soldiers were killed. Kizirian was carried to a nearby field where he was transferred onto a
Jeep and taken to a nearby medical facility. Kizirian, who was reported injured on September 24, was transferred to a
field hospital, then to a hospital in
Pusan and ultimately airlifted to a convalescent hospital in
Japan. After making a recovery, Kizirian was sent back to Pusan and rejoined the front. He was made platoon commander of B Company. The B Company participated in the battle of Hill 1243 where it was up against mortar fire from enemy positions. Kizirian was shot in the back while saving a soldier who was injured and laid out in the open. Kizirian was taken to a medical aid station and upon hearing that the platoon was under attack, Kizirian returned to the front. He arrived at a time when the troops captured a Korean prisoner who was part of the attack. When the prisoner threw a grenade and killed a couple of soldiers, Kizirian killed him. Kizirian became the commander of the company after the initial commander committed suicide. After he became a commander for a month, a new commander reinstated, and Kizirian left the front because it was his due-time. Upon leaving, he was awarded the
Army Commendation Medal.
Post-Korea When Kizirian returned from Korea, he was sent to
Special Forces headquarters in
Fort Bragg,
North Carolina. From there, he was sent to
Fort Benning,
Georgia to advanced infantry school and then back to Fort Bragg where he became Special Forces team leader. Kizirian became the adjutant of the Special Welfare Center while receiving an education at the
University of North Carolina and received his degree from there in 1957.
Vietnam War When the Vietnam War started, Kizirian was assigned as a senior intelligence advisor to the
Vietnamese III Corps until 1968, when he became part of the III Corps Military Intelligence Detachment and senior division of the Reconnaissance Unit until the summer of that year. Throughout his time in Vietnam, Kizirian worked closely with General
William Westmoreland who was the commander of the
Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV). As a result of the missions that Kizirian took command of, he was awarded two Purple Hearts and a Distinguished Service Cross. He was then appointed as part of the Army Intelligence, G2,
1st Air Cavalry Division where he served as an assistant. In 1968, Kizirian uncovered the Tet Offensive, a military campaign that was launched on January 30, 1968, by forces of the
Viet Cong and North Vietnam, after studying more than 400 intelligence reports and subsequently briefing General Creighton Adams. Kizirian's prediction of the 1968 Tet Offensive is considered one of Kizirian's greatest achievements of the war effort. Though he did not graduate with his class, Col. Kizirian then attained his high school diploma. After receiving the diploma he studied at the
U.S. Army War College where he graduated in 1970.
Service in Indonesia In 1980, Kizirian became a defence official in Indonesia returning from a five-year active duty break. He was also the military attache to the Indonesian Republic. He finished his service in Indonesia in 1984 and retired once again. ==Later life==