PFC Kenneth J. McCoy is a twenty-nine year old Marine who was from Norristown, Pennsylvania. McCoy had just signed up for a second four years of duty. He is fluent in several different languages including Cantonese. He entered the Marines right out of high school. Coming home from a poker game in Shanghai, he is attacked by four Italian Marines, two of whom he kills. He is scheduled for a court martial but the charges are dropped and he is assigned to Banning in Intelligence and sent to Peking. When he returns to Shanghai, the Italian Marines hold a Welcome Home, Killer McCoy party, which is how he earns his nickname of Killer.