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N0KFQ > TODAY 02.08.10 02:13l 53 Lines 2242 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 13450_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Aug 1
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Sent: 100802/0001Z @:N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA #:13450 [Branson] FBB7.00i $:13450_N
From: N0KFQ@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
To : TODAY@WW
Aug 1, 1943:
PT-109 sinks; Lieutenant Kennedy is instrumental in saving crew
On this day in 1943, a Japanese destroyer rams an American PT
(patrol torpedo) boat, No. 109, slicing it in two. The
destruction is so massive other American PT boats in the area
assume the crew is dead. Two crewmen were, in fact, killed, but
11 survived, including Lt. John F. Kennedy.
Japanese aircraft had been on a PT boat hunt in the Solomon
Islands, bombing the PT base at Rendova Island. It was essential
to the Japanese that several of their destroyers make it to the
southern tip of Kolombangara Island to get war supplies to
forces there. But the torpedo capacity of the American PTs was a
potential threat. Despite the base bombing at Rendova, PTs set
out to intercept those Japanese destroyers. In the midst of
battle, Japan's Amaqiri hit PT-109, leaving 11 crewmen
floundering in the Pacific.
After five hours of clinging to debris from the decimated PT
boat, the crew made it to a coral island. Kennedy decided to
swim out to sea again, hoping to flag down a passing American
boat. None came. Kennedy began to swim back to shore, but strong
currents, and his chronic back condition, made his return
difficult. Upon reaching the island again, he fell ill. After he
recovered, the PT-109 crew swam to a larger island, what they
believed was Nauru Island, but was in fact Cross Island. They
met up with two natives from the island, who agreed to take a
message south. Kennedy carved the distress message into a
coconut shell: "Nauru Is. Native knows posit. He can pilot. 11
alive need small boat."
The message reached Lieutenant Arthur Evans, who was watching
the coast of Gomu Island, located next to an island occupied by
the Japanese. Kennedy and his crew were paddled to Gomu. A PT
boat then took them back to Rendova. Kennedy was ultimately
awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, for gallantry in
action.
The coconut shell used to deliver his message found a place in
history-and in the Oval Office.
PT-109, a film dramatizing this story, starring Clift Robertson
as Kennedy, opened in 1963.
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