Manage episode 517487940 series 3652179
On August 2, 1943, a patrol boat commanded by a young John F. Kennedy was rammed by a Japanese destroyer in the waters of the Solomon Islands. Despite his own injuries, the 26-year old Kennedy spent the next week attempting to get himself and the surviving crew to safety. He even used a life jacket strap clenched between his teeth to tow an injured crewman in the water for more than five hours. This is the story of John F. Kennedy and PT 109.
Sources
https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/john-f-kennedy-and-pt-109
https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2003/summer/pt109.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrol_torpedo_boat_PT-109
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PT_boat
Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lt._John_F._Kennedy_skipper_aboard_the_PT-109.jpg
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179 episodes