The Great Man Named John F. Kennedy
When Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese the United States went into WW2 (Chen). I believe that was the hardest time of the war for the United States because we had to stop building other stuff like cars and start building ships. During this time John F. Kennedy a future president was signing up for the US Navy. He was declined because his back problems in spring 1941. His dad Joe Kennedy Sr. pulled some strings and guaranteed that John got in even though his back was bad John had no idea about
…show more content…
Kennedy was approved by the United States Navy even though his back was bad, in the fall of 1941. John appeared in a Naval Reserve Officers training school at Northwestern University from July to September 1942 in Chicago, Illinois. He finished the Naval Reserve Officers school and decided to go into the motor torpedo boat squadron training center. Kennedy was advanced to lieutenant at the training center on October 10th. After finishing torpedo boat training he was appointed to torpedo boat PT-101 but was relocated to a base off of Tulagi Island. Nine days after his arrival on April 23rd he took control of PT-109 (Chen). Throughout the night of August 2nd 1943 PT-109 was on night watch near New Georgia. At 02000 trying to be as quiet as possible with no wake, PT-109 avoided any exposure by a Japanese destroyer that was close (Chen). Three boats were on patrol, a PT to the south spotted one of the northern destroyers and attacked but without taking it down. The captain of the ship radioed in a caution signal. At 2:30am, Lieutenant Potter in PT-169 saw the wake of Amagiri the enemy destroyer and radioed in. Kennedy however had no idea …show more content…
Kennedy who used to be on the Harvard swim team took charge of an injured crew member and towed him by the strap of his life jacket with his teeth all the way the the island(Fleming). Four days after the crash John and another crew member Ensign Ross swam to Nauru Island, there they discovered the remains of a small Japanese boat that consisted of crackers, candy, and fresh water. After finding the boat Kennedy and Ross came across two natives. John carved a message on a coconut that said”NARUISL/NATIVE KNOWS POSIT/HE CAN PILOT/11 ALIVE/NEED SMALL BOAT/KENNEDY.” The natives showed Kennedy’s crew members to lieutenant Evans at the Island of Wana Wana. They were saved by PT-157 on 8th of August. Kennedy received the non-combatant Navy and Marine Corps Medal for the way he controlled the situation, he also received his men's respect and gratitude for