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ML_jfk_bradp.htm
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Lt. John F. Kennedy aboard PT109, 1943. (Courtesy of John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library)
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Lt. John F. Kennedy
The JFK Legend Began With Heroism Of PT 109
By Bradley Peniston
Military.com Staff Writer
Lt. j.g John F. Kennedy had the helm of Motor Torpedo Boat 109 as it crept through the Ferguson Strait in the early morning hours of Aug. 2, 1943. Wakeless, its engine rumbling just above idle, his 70-foot plywood boat was all but invisible.
To the Japanese destroyer Amagiri, running at 40 knots through south Pacific seas, it might as well have been.
For several months, Kennedy and his crew had run nighttime operations in the waters east of New Guinea. They aimed to sink Japanese barges resupplying garrisions at New Georgia, and warn nearby U.S. troops of the approach of enemy warships. On this night, they could have used some warning themselves.
Too swift for thought, the destroyer roared toward -- and through -- PT 109, smashing the wooden boat with its steel prow. Two American sailors were killed instantly. The Amagiri steamed on, its crew unaware of the collision.
Plunged into the water, Kennedy and 10 others grabbed for the wreckage. The young commander took one of his injured shipmates under tow by clamping a
life jacket strap in his teeth. It took 15 hours for the survivors to reach a small island some three miles away. The island had no food or water, so Kennedy soon led them back into the sea. Another island had not just coconuts but inhabitants.
Kennedy carved a message into a coconut shell: "11 alive native knows posit (and) reef Nauru Island Kennedy." Saying "Rendova! Rendova" -- the name of his
PT base -- he handed it to one of the native islanders. The next morning, an islander returned to lead them to an outpost manned by troops from New Zealand, where they were picked up a day later by another PT boat.
Kennedy received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for the rescue of his crew, the Purple Heart for his injuries. |
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